Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  witii  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/detaiJs/annakareninatolsOOtolsiala 


ANNA   KARENINA 

VOL.   I 


Vronsky  pleading  with  Anna. 

Original  Drawing  by  E.   Boyd  Smith. 


Anna  Karenina 

BY 

LYOF    N.   TOLSTOI 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 
.    BY   NATHAN    HASKELL   DOLE    . 


ILLUSTRATED 


# 


NEW   YORK. 

THOMAS   Y.   CROWELL   &   COMPANY 

PUBLISHEI^S 


m' 


Copyright,  1899, 
By  THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  &  CO. 


INTRODUCTION 


ALEXANDER  PUSHKIN,  Russia's  greatest  poet 
and  the  inspirer  of  the  two  best  works  of  Gogol, 
the  father  of  Russian  realism,  may  perhaps  be  regarded 
as  the  direct  cause  of  Count  Tolstoi's  greatest  novel. 
A  relative  happened  to  be  visiting  at  Yasnaya  Polyana, 
and  had  been  reading  a  volume  of  Pushkin.  Count 
Tolstoi  picked  up  the  work  and  opened  it  casually. 
Some  one  entered  as  he  was  glancing  over  the  pages, 
and  he  exclaimed,  "  Here  is  something  charming !  This 
is  the  way  to  write !  Pushkin  goes  to  the  heart  of  the 
matter." 

Count  Tolstof  was  so  impressed  by  Pushkin's  direct- 
ness that  he  immediately  felt  like  emulating  him.  He 
asked  to  be  kept  free  from  interruptions,  shut  himself 
into  his  library,  and  began  "Anna  Karenina." 

The  publication  of  it  began  in  the  Russky  Viestnik 
or  Ricssian  Messenger  in  1875;  but  it  was  frequently 
interrupted.  Months  and  even  years  elapsed  before  it 
was  concluded ;  yet  it  kept  public  attention.  Not  even 
the  break  of  several  months  between  two  of  the  parts 
was  sufficient  to  cool  the  interest  of  its  reader.  After 
the  appearance  of  the  first  part  he  wrote  a  friend :  — 

"  You  praise  '  Anna  Karenina,'  and  that  is  very  pleas- 
ant to  me ;  the  more  so  as  I  hear  much  in  its  favor ; 
but  I  am  sure  that  there  never  was  an  author  more 
indifferent  to  his  success  than  I  am  in  this  case." 

A  year  later  he  wrote :  — 

"  For  two  whole  months  I  have  forborne  to  stain  my 
hands  with  ink  or  to  burden  my  heart  with  thoughts. 
Now,  however,  I  turn  once  more  to  that  dull  common- 
place *  Anna  Karenina,'  moved  solely  to  rid  my  desk  of 
it  —  to  make  room  for  other  tasks." 


2234S44 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

Even  then  he  did  not  finish  it.  The  next  year  he 
wrote :  "  The  end  of  winter  and  the  opening  of  spring 
are  my  busiest  months  for  work.  I  must  finish  the 
novel  of  which  I  have  grown  so  tired."  But  when  he 
once  took  hold  of  it  the  spirit  of  it  quickly  seized  him 
again,  and  much  of  it  was  written,  as  any  one  can  see, 
with  almost  breathless  haste. 

Polevoif,  in  his  illustrated  "  History  of  Russian  Litera- 
ture," says  of  this  story:  "Count  Tolsto'f  dwells  with 
especial  fondness  on  the  sharp  contrast  between  the 
frivolity,  the  tinsel  brightness,  the  tumult  and  vanity,  of 
the  worldly  life,  and  the  sweet,  holy  calm  enjoyed  by 
those  who,  possessing  the  soil,  live  amid  the  beauties  of 
Nature  and  the  pleasures  of  the  family." 

This  contrast  will  strike  the  attention  of  every  reader. 
It  is  the  outgrowth  of  Count  Tolstoi's  own  life  ;  his  dual 
nature  is  portrayed  in  the  contrasting  careers  of  Levin 
and  Vronsky.  The  interweaving  of  two  stories  is  done 
with  a  masterly  hand.  One  may  take  them  separately 
or  together ;  each  strand  of  the  twisted  rope  follows  its 
own  course,  and  yet  each  without  the  other  would  be 
evidently  incomplete. 

As  one  reads,  one  forgets  that  it  is  fiction.  It  seems 
like  a  transcript  of  real  life,  and  one  is  constantly  im- 
pressed by  the  vast  accumulation  of  pictures,  each  illus- 
trating and  explaining  the  vital  elements  of  the  epopee. 
At  times  one  is  startled  by  the  vivifying  flashes  of 
genius.  The  death  of  Anna  is  dimly  suggested  by  the 
tragic  occurrence  of  the  brakeman's  death  in  the  Mos- 
cow railway  station.  A  still  more  suggestive  intimation 
of  the  approaching  tragedy  is  found  in  the  death  of 
Vronsky's  horse  during  the  officers'  handicap  race  at 
Peterhof.  If  one  may  so  speak,  the  atmosphere  of  the 
story  is  electrified  with  fate.  In  this  respect  it  is  Hke 
a  Greek  drama.     There  is  never  a  false  touch. 

Count  Tolstoi's  brother-in-law  says  there  is  no  doubt 
that  Levin  is  the  portrait  of  the  novehst  himself,  but 
represented  as  being  "extremely  simple  in  order  to  bring 
him  into  still  greater  contrast  with  the  representatives 
of  high  life  in  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg."     He  also 


INTRODUCTION  vii 

says  that  the  description  of  the  way  that  Levin  and 
Kitty  make  use  of  the  initial  letters  of  the  words  in 
which  they  wish  to  express  to  each  other  their  mutual 
love  is  faithful  in  its  minutest  details  to  the  history  of 
Count  Tolstoi's  own  wooing.  And  undoubtedly  many 
of  the  experiences  of  Levin  on  his  estate  are  also  tran- 
scripts of  Count  Tolstoi's  own  experiences. 

Tolstoi,  like  Levin,  sought  to  reform  and  to  better 
everything  about  him,  and  took  part  in  the  Liberal 
movements  of  the  time ;  but  his  schemes  came  to  naught, 
one  after  the  other,  and  his  nihilism,  —  for  he  declares 
in  his  confession  that  he  was  a  Nihilist  in  the  actual 
meaning  of  the  word,  —  his  nihilism  triumphs  in  bitter- 
ness on  their  ruins.  The  struggle  in  Levin's  mind  and 
the  horror  of  his  despair  tempting  him  also  to  suicide 
are  marvelously  depicted.  At  length,  as  in  Tolstoi's 
real  life,  the  muzhik  comes  to  his  aid,  light  illumines 
his  soul,  and  the  work  ends  in  a  burst  of  mystic  happi- 
ness, a  hymn  of  joy,  which  he  sings  to  his  inmost  soul, 
not  sharing  it  with  his  beloved  wife,  though  he  knows 
that  she  knows  the  secret  of  his  happiness. 

Interesting  and  instructive  as  this  idyllic  romance  is, 
the  chief  power  of  the  novelist  is  expended  in  portray- 
ing the  illicit  love  of  Vronsky  and  Anna.  Its  moral 
is  the  opposition  of  duty  to  passion.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  love  that  unites  the  two  protagonists  is  sincere, 
deep,  almost  holy  despite  its  illegality.  They  were  born 
for  each  other ;  it  was  love  at  first  sight,  a  love  which 
overleapt  all  bonds  and  bounds.  But  its  gratification  at 
the  expense  of  honor  brings  the  inevitable  torment,  espe- 
cially to  the  woman  who  had  sacrificed  so  much.  The 
agony  of  remorse,  intensified  by  the  mortifications  and 
humiliations  caused  by  her  position,  unites  itself  with 
an  almost  insane  jealousy,  product  also  of  the  unstable 
relation  in  which  she  is  placed.  At  last  the  union 
becomes  so  irksome,  so  painful,  so  hateful,  that  the  only 
escape  from  it  is  in  suicide. 

Count  Tolstoi  manages  with  consummate  skill  to  retain 
his  own  respect  for  the  guilty  woman.  Consequently 
the  reader's  love  and  sympathy  for  the  unhappy  woman 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

never  flag.  He  lays  bare  each  throb  of  her  tortured 
heart.     He  is  the  Parrhasius  of  novehsts. 

Mr.  Howells  says :  "  The  warmth  and  Hght  of  Tol- 
stoi's good  heart  and  right  mind  are  seen  in  'Anna 
Karenina,'  that  saddest  story  of  guilty  love  in  which 
nothing  can  save  the  sinful  woman  from  herself,  —  not 
her  husband's  forgiveness,  her  friend's  compassion,  her 
lover's  constancy,  or  the  long  intervals  of  quiet  in  which 
she  seems  safe  and  happy  in  her  sin.  It  is  she  who 
destroys  herself  persistently,  step  by  step,  in  spite  of  all 
help  and  forbearance ;  and  yet  we  are  never  allowed  to 
forget  how  good  and  generous  she  was  when  we  first 
met  her ;  how  good  and  generous  she  is  fitfully,  and 
more  and  more  rarely  to  the  end.  Her  lover  works  out 
a  sort  of  redemption  through  his  patience  and  devotion ; 
he  grows  gentler,  wiser,  worthier  through  it ;  but  even 
his  good  destroys  her." 

Mr.  Howells  also  comments  on  the  extraordinary 
vitality  of  the  work. 

"  A  multitude  of  figures  pass  before  us,"  he  says, 
"recognizably  real,  never  caricatured  nor  grotesqued, 
noP*in  any  way  unduly  accented,  but  simple  and  actual 
in  t]^ir  evil  or  their  good.  There  is  lovely  family  Ufe, 
the  tenderness  of  father  and  daughter,  the  rapture  of 
young  wife  and  husband,  the  innocence  of  girlhood,  the 
beauty  of  fidelity  ;  there  is  the  unrest  and  folly  of  fashion, 
the  misery  of  wealth,  and  the  wretchedness  of  wasted 
and  mistaken  Ufe,  the  hollowness  of  ambition,  the  cheer- 
ful emptiness  of  some  hearts,  the  dull  emptiness  of 
others.  It  is  a  world,  and  you  Hve  in  it  while  you  read 
and  long  afterward,  but  at  no  step  have  you  been  be- 
trayed, not  because  your  guide  has  warned  or  exalted 
you,  but  because  he  has  been  true,  and  has  shown  you 
all  things  as  they  are." 

It  is  hardly  worth  while  to  particularize  the  immortal 
scenes  with  which  the  panoramic  canvas  is  crowded, 
though  the  Vicomte  de  Vogii^  characterizes  the  death- 
bed scene  of  NikolaY  Levin  as  "  one  of  the  most  finished 
masterpieces  of  which  Uterature  has  reason  to  be  proud," 
and  the  description  of  the  races  at  Tsarskoye-Selo,  apart 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

from  its  tragic  moment,  is  amazing  for  its  vividness  and 
beauty.  Indeed,  there  are  dozens  of  wonderful  pictures 
of  life  and  death  in  the  story.  And  no  translation, 
however  faithful,  can  do  justice  to  the  quiet  humor 
packed  away  often  in  a  single  word  of  the  staccato  mu- 
zhik dialect,  which  no  one  ever  handled  more  success- 
fully than  Count  Tolstoi. 

The  translation  has  been  thoroughly  revised  and 
largely  rewritten.  All  passages  formerly  omitted  have 
been  restored,  and  the  occasional  temptation  to  em- 
broider by  paraphrase  on  what  the  author  left  purposely 
simple,  plain,  and  direct,  has  been  resisted. 

The  Russian  words  and  interjections  (which,  with  the 
idea  of  giving  local  color,  were  employed  in  the  first 
edition)  have  been  for  the  most  part  eliminated,  and  the 
glossary  is  therefore  superfluous.  The  translator's  whole 
purpose  has  been  to  give  a  faithful  presentation  of  this 
immortal  work. 


CHIEF  PERSONS  OF  THE  STORY 


Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  Karenin. 

Anna  Arkadyevna  Karenina  (Madame  Karenin). 

Count  Aleksei  (Alosha)  Kirillovitch  Vronsky. 

His  mother,  the  Countess  Vronsky  or  Vronskaya. 

His  brother,  Aleksandr  Kirillovitch  Vronsky. 

Prince  {Kniaz)  Stephan  (Stiva)  Arkadyevitch  Oblonsky. 

Princess  {Kniaginya)  Darya  (Dolly,  Dolinka,  Dashenka)  Aleksandrovna 

Oblonsky  or  Oblonskaya. 
Konstantin  (Kostia)  Dmitriyevitch  (Dmitritch)  Levin,  proprietor  of  Po- 

krovsky. 
His  brother,  Nikolai  Dmitriyevitch  Levin. 
His  mistress,  Marya  Nikolayevna. 

His  kalf-brother,  Sergyel  Ivanovitch  (Ivanuitch,  Ivanitch)  Koznuishef. 
Prince  Aleksandr  Shcherbatsky. 
Princess  Shcherbatsky  or  Shcherbatskaya. 
Their  daughter,  the  Princess  (^Kniazhna)  Yekaterina  (Kitty,  Katyonka, 

Katerina,    Katya)    Aleksandrovna    Shcherbatsky  or   Shcherbatskaya 

(afterwards  Levin  or  Levina). 
Their  nephew,  Prince  Nikolai  Shcherbatsky. 


ANNA   KARENINA 


PART   FIRST 

"  Vengeance  is  mine,  I  will  repay  " 

CHAPTER   I 

ALL  happy  families  resemble  one  another;  every 
unhappy  family  is  unhappy  in  its  own  way. 

All  was  confusion  in  the  house  of  the  Oblonskys. 
The  wife  had  discovered  that  her  husband  was  having 
an  intrigue  with  a  French  governess  who  had  been  in 
their  employ,  and  she  declared  that  she  could  not  live 
in  the  same  house  with  him.  This  condition  of  things 
had  lasted  now  three  days,  and  was  causing  deep  dis- 
comfort, not  only  to  the  husband  and  wife,  but  also  to  all 
the  members  of  the  family  and  the  domestics.  All  the 
members  of  the  family  and  the  domestics  felt  that  there 
was  no  sense  in  their  living  together,  and  that  in  any 
hotel  people  meeting  casually  had  more  mutual  inter- 
ests than  they,  the  members  of  the  family  and  the 
domestics  of  the  house  of  Oblonsky.  The  wife  did  not 
come  out  of  her  own  rooms ;  the  husband  had  not  been 
at  home  for  two  days.  The  children  were  running  over 
the  whole  house  as  if  they  were  crazy ;  the  English 
maid  was  angry  with  the  housekeeper  and  wrote  to  a 
friend  begging  her  to  find  her  a  new  place.  The  head 
cook  had  departed  the  evening  before  just  at  dinner- 
time ;  the  kitchen-maid  and  the  coachman  demanded 
their  wages. 

On  the  third  day  after  the  quarrel,  Prince  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  Oblonsky  —  Stiva,  as  he  was  called  in 
society  —  awoke  at  the  usual  hour,  that  is  to  say  about 

VOL.  I.  —  I  I 


2  ANNA    KARENINA 

eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  not  in  his  wife's  chamber, 
but  in  his  library,  on  a  leather-covered  divan.  He 
turned  his  portly  pampered  body  on  the  springs  of  the 
divan,  as  if  intending  to  go  to  sleep  again,  and  as  he 
did  so  threw  his  arm  round  the  cushion  and  pressed  his 
cheek  to  it.     But  suddenly  he  sat  up  and  opened  his  eyes. 

"  Well,  well !  how  was  it .-' "  he  mused,  recalling  a 
dream.  "  Yes,  how  was  it .''  Yes  !  Alabin  was  giving  a 
dinner  at  Darmstadt ;  no,  not  at  Darmstadt,  but  it  was 
something  American.  Yes,  but  that  Darmstadt  was  in 
America.  Yes,  Alabin  was  giving  a  dinner  on  glass 
tables,  yes,  and  the  tables  sang  '//  inio  tesoro '  /  no,  not 
'//  mio  tesoro,'  but  something  better;  and  some  little 
water-bottles,  they  were  women ! "  said  he,  continuing 
his  recollections. 

Prince  Stepan's  eyes  flashed  gayly  and  he  smiled  as 
he  said  to  himself  :  — 

"  Yes,  it  was  very  good,  very  good.  There  was  some- 
thing extremely  elegant  about  it,  but  you  can't  tell  it  in 
words,  and  when  you  are  awake  you  can't  express  the 
reality  even  in  thought." 

Then,  as  he  noticed  a  ray  of  sunlight  which  came  in  at 
the  side  of  one  of  the  heavy  window-curtains,  he  gayly 
set  his  feet  down  from  the  divan,  found  his  gilt  morocco 
slippers  —  they  had  been  embroidered  for  him  by  his  wife 
the  year  before  as  a  birthday  present  —  and,  according 
to  an  old  custom  which  he  had  kept  up  for  nine  years, 
he,  without  rising,  stretched  out  his  hand  to  the  place 
where  in  his  chamber  hung  his  dressing-gown.  And  then 
he  suddenly  remembered  how  and  why  he  had  been 
sleeping,  not  in  his  wife's  chamber,  but  in  the  library; 
the  smile  vanished  from  his  face  and  he  frowned. 

"  Akh  !  akh  !  akh  !  akh  !  "  he  groaned,  as  he  recol- 
lected everything  that  had  occurred.  And  before  his 
mind  arose  once  more  all  the  details  of  the  quarrel  with 
his  wife,  all  the  hopelessness  of  his  situation,  and  most 
lamentable  of  all,  his  own  fault. 

"  No  !  she  will  not  and  she  cannot  forgive  me.  And 
what  is  the  worst  of  it,  't  was  my  own  fault  —  my  own 
fault,  and  yet  I  am  not  to  blame.     In  that  lies  all  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  3 

tragedy  of  it,"  he  said  to  himself.  "Akh  !  akh  !  akh  !  " 
he  kept  murmuring  in  his  despair,  as  he  thought  over 
the  exceedingly  unpleasant  consequences  that  would 
result  to  him  from  this  quarrel. 

The  most  disagreeable  moment  was  at  the  very  first, 
when,  as  he  came  home  from  the  theater,  happy  and 
self-satisfied,  bringing  a  monstrous  pear  for  his  wife,  he 
did  not  find  her  in  the  sitting-room,  nor,  to  his  surprise, 
was  she  in  the  library,  and  at  last  he  saw  her  in  her  cham- 
ber holding  the  fatal,  all-revealing  letter  in  her  hand. 

She  —  Dolly,  that  forever  busy  and  fussy  and  foolish 
creature  as  he  always  considered  her  —  was  sitting  mo- 
tionless with  the  note  in  her  hand,  and  looked  at  him 
with  an  expression  of  terror,  despair,  and  wrath. 

"  What  is  this  ?  This  ?  "  she  demanded,  pointing  to 
the  note. 

And  as  often  happens,  Stepan's  torment  at  this  recollec- 
tion was  caused  less  by  the  fact  itself  than  by  the  answer 
which  he  gave  to  those  words  of  his  wife.  His  experi- 
ence at  that  moment  was  the  same  as  other  people  have 
had  when  unexpectedly  detected  in  some  shameful  deed. 
He  was  unable  to  prepare  his  face  for  the  situation  caused 
by  his  wife's  discovery  of  his  sin.  Instead  of  getting 
offended,  denying  it,  justifying  himself,  asking  forgive- 
ness, or  even  showing  indifference  —  anything  would 
have  been  better  than  what  he  really  did  —  in  spite  of 
himself  (by  a  reflex  action  of  the  brain  as  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch  explained  it,  for  he  loved  Physiology)  abso- 
lutely in  spite  of  himself  he  suddenly  smiled  with  his 
ordinary  good-humored  and  therefore  stupid  smile. 

He  could  not  forgive  himself  for  that  stupid  smile. 
When  Dolly  saw  that  smile,  she  trembled  as  with  phys- 
ical pain,  poured  forth  a  torrent  of  bitter  words,  quite 
in  accordance  with  her  natural  temper,  and  fled  from 
the  room.  Since  that  time  she  had  not  been  willing  to 
see  her  husband. 

"  That  stupid  smile  caused  the  whole  trouble," 
thought  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

"  But  what  is  to  be  done  about  it,  what  is  to  be  done  } " 
he  asked  himself  in  despair,  and  found  no  answer. 


ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER  II 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  a  sincere  man  as  far  as 
he  himself  was  concerned.  He  could  not  practise  self- 
deception  and  persuade  himself  that  he  repented  of  his 
behavior.  He  could  not,  as  yet,  feel  sorry  that  he,  a 
handsome,  susceptible  man  of  four  and  thirty,  was  not 
now  in  love  with  his  wife,  the  mother  of  his  five  living 
and  two  buried  children,  though  she  was  only  a  year 
his  junior.  He  regretted  only  that  he  had  not  suc- 
ceeded in  hiding  it  better  from  her.  But  he  felt  the 
whole  weight  of  his  situation  and  pitied  his  wife,  his 
children,  and  himself.  Possibly  he  would  have  had  bet- 
ter success  in  hiding  his  peccadilloes  from  his  wife  had 
he  realized  that  this  knowledge  would  have  had  such  an 
effect  upon  her.  He  had  never  before  thought  clearly  of 
this  question,  but  he  had  a  dim  idea  that  his  wife  had 
long  been  aware  that  he  was  not  faithful  to  her,  and 
looked  at  it  through  her  fingers.  As  she  had  lost  her 
freshness,  was  beginning  to  look  old,  was  no  longer 
pretty  and  far  from  distinguished  and  entirely  common- 
place, though  she  was  an  excellent  mother  of  a  family, 
he  had  thought  that  she  would  allow  her  innate  sense 
of  justice  to  plead  for  him.  But  it  had  proved  to  be 
quite  the  contrary. 

"  Akh,  how  wretched !  aJ !  ai' !  ai" !  how  wretched !  " 
said  Prince  Stepan  to  himself  over  and  over  and  could 
not  find  any  way  out  of  the  difficulty.  "  And  how  well 
everything  was  going  until  this  happened !  How  de- 
lightfully we  lived !  She  was  content,  happy  with  the 
children  ;  I  never  interfered  with  her  in  any  way,  I 
allowed  her  to  do  as  she  pleased  with  the  children  and 
the  household !  To  be  sure  it  was  bad  that  she 
had  been  the  governess  in  our  own  house ;  that 
was  bad.  There  is  something  trivial  and  common  in 
playing  the  gallant  to  one's  own  governess  !  But  what 
a  governess ! " 

He  vividly  recalled  Mile.  Roland's  black  roguish  eyes 
and  her  smile. 


ANNA   KARENINA  ^ 

"But  then,  while  she  was  here  in  the  house  with  us,  I 
did  not  permit  myself  any  liberties.  And  the  worst  of 
all  is  that  she  is  already....  All  this  must  needs  happen 
just  to  spite  me.  Al!  ail  al'l  But  what,  what  is  to  be 
done  ? " 

There  was  no  answer  except  that  common  answer 
which  life  gives  to  all  the  most  complicated  and  unsolva- 
ble  questions,  —  this  answer :  You  must  live  according 
to  circumstances,  in  other  words,  forget  yourself.  But 
as  you  cannot  forget  yourself  in  sleep  —  at  least  till 
night,  as  you  cannot  return  to  that  music  which  the 
water-bottle  woman  sang,  therefore  you  must  forget 
yourself  in  the  dream  of  life ! 

"We  shall  see  by  and  by,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
to  himself,  and  rising  he  put  on  his  gray  dressing-gown 
with  blue  silk  lining,  tied  the  tassels  into  a  knot,  and 
took  a  full  breath  into  his  ample  lungs.  Then  with  his 
usual  firm  step,  his  legs  spread  somewhat  apart  and 
easily  bearing  the  solid  weight  of  his  body,  he  went 
over  to  the  window,  lifted  the  curtain,  and  loudly  rang 
the  bell.  It  was  instantly  answered  by  his  old  friend 
and  valet  Matve,  who  came  in  bringing  his  clothes, 
boots,  and  a  telegram.  Behind  Matve  came  the  barber 
with  the  shaving  utensils. 

"  Are  there  any  papers  from  the  court-house  } "  asked 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  taking  the  telegram  and  taking 
his  seat  in  front  of  the  mirror. 

...."On  the  breakfast-table,"  replied  Matve,  looking 
inquiringly  and  with  sympathy  at  his  master,  and  after 
an  instant's  pause,  added  with  a  sly  smile,  "  They  have 
come  from  the  boss  of  the  livery-stable." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  made  no  reply  and  only  looked 
at  Matve  in  the  mirror.  By  the  look  which  they  inter- 
changed it  could  be  seen  how  they  understood  each 
other.  The  look  of  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  seemed  to 
ask,  "  Why  did  you  say  that  .■*     Don't  you  know.?" 

Matve  thrust  his  hands  in  his  jacket  pockets,  kicked 
out  his  leg,  and  silently,  good-naturedly,  almost  smiling, 
looked  back  to  his  master :  — 

"  I  ordered  him  to  come  on  Sunday,  and  till  then  that 


$  ANNA   KARENINA 

you  and  I  should  not  be  annoyed  without  reason,"  said 
he,  with  a  phrase  evidently  ready  on  his  tongue. 

Stepan  Arkady evitch  perceived  that  Matve  wanted  to 
make  some  jesting  reply  and  attract  attention  to  him- 
self. Tearing  open  the  telegram,  he  read  it,  using  his 
wits  to  make  out  the  words,  that  were  as  usual  blindly 
written,  and  his  face  brightened. 

.... "  Matve,  sister  Anna  Arkadyevna  will  be  here 
to-morrow,"  said  he,  staying  for  a  moment  the  plump 
gleaming  hand  of  his  barber,  who  was  making  a  pink 
path  through  his  long,  curly  whiskers. 

"Thank  God,"  cried  Matve,  showing  by  this  excla- 
mation that  he  understood  as  well  as  his  master  the 
significance  of  this  arrival,  that  it  meant  that  Anna 
Arkadyevna,  Prince  Stepan's  loving  sister,  might  effect 
a  reconciliation  between  husband  and  wife. 

"  Alone,  or  with  her  husband  ^  "  asked  Matve. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  could  not  speak,  as  the  barber 
was  engaged  on  his  upper  lip,  but  he  lifted  one  finger. 
Matve  nodded  his  head  toward  the  mirror. 

"Alone.     Get  her  room  ready .-* " 

"  Report  to  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  and  let  her  decide." 

"To  Darya  Aleksandrovna.?  "repeated  Matve,  rather 
skeptically. 

"Yes!  report  to  her.  And  here,  take  the  telegram, 
give  it  to  her,  and  do  as  she  says." 

"  You  want  to  try  an  experiment,"  was  the  thought 
in  Matve's  mind ;  but  he  only  said,  "  I  will  obey! " 

By  this  time  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  finished  his 
bath  and  his  toilet,  and  was  just  putting  on  his  clothes, 
when  Matve,  stepping  slowly  with  squeaking  boots,  and 
with  the  telegram  in  his  hand,  returned  to  the  room. 
The  barber  was  no  longer  there. 

"  Darya  Aleksandrovna  bade  me  tell  you  she  is  going 
away. ...do  just  as  he  —  as  you — please  about  it," 
said  Matve,  with  a  smile  lurking  in  his  eyes.  Thrust- 
ing his  hands  into  his  pockets,  and  bending  his  head  to 
one  side,  he  looked  at  his  master.  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
was  silent.  Then  a  good-humored  and  rather  pitiful 
smile  lighted  up  his  handsome  face. 


ANNA    KARENINA  7 

"  Well,  Matve?"  he  said,  shaking  his  head. 

"  It 's  nothing,  sir ;  she  will  come  to  her  senses," 
answered  Matve. 

"  Will  come  to  her  senses  ?" 

"  Sure  she  will !  " 

"Do  you  think  so?  —  Who  is  there?"  asked  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  hearing  the  rustle  of  a  woman's  dress 
behind  the  door. 

"  It 's  ine^'  said  a  powerful  and  pleasant  female  voice, 
and  in  the  doorway  appeared  the  severe  and  pimply 
face  of  Matriona  Filimonovna,  the  nurse. 

"Well,  what  is  it,  Matriosha?"  asked  Stepan  Ar- 
kadyevitch, going  to  meet  her  at  the  door. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
was  entirely  in  the  wrong  as  regarded  his  wife,  and  he 
himself  acknowledged  it,  still  almost  every  one  in  the 
house,  even  the  old  nurse,  Darya  Aleksandrovna's  chief 
friend,  was  on  his  side. 

"  Well,  what  ?  "  he  asked  gloomily. 

"  You  go  down,  sir,  ask  her  forgiveness,  just  once. 
Perhaps  the  Lord  will  bring  it  out  right.  She  is  tor- 
menting herself  grievously,  and  it  is  pitiful  to  see  her; 
and  everything  in  the  house  is  going  criss-cross.  The 
children,  sir,  you  must  have  pity  on  them.  Ask  her 
forgiveness,  sir !  What  is  to  be  done  ?  No  gains  with- 
out pains."  .... 

"But  you  see  she  won't  accept  an  apology.".... 

"  But  you  do  your  part.  God  is  merciful,  sir ;  pray  to 
God.     God  is  merciful." 

"Very  well,  then,  come  on,"  said  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch, suddenly  turning  red  in  the  face.  —  "Very  well,  let 
me  have  my  clothes,"  said  he,  turning  to  Matve,  and 
resolutely  throwing  off  his  dressing-gown. 

Matve  had  everything  all  ready  for  him,  and  stood 
blowing  off  something  invisible  from  the  shirt  stiff  as  a 
horse-collar,  and  with  evident  satisfaction  he  put  it  over 
his  master's  well-groomed  body. 


ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER  III 


Having  dressed,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  sprinkled 
himself  with  perfume,  straightened  the  sleeves  of  his 
shirt,  according  to  his  usual  routine  put  into  his  various 
pockets  cigarettes,  his  letter-case,  matches,  his  watch 
with  its  double  chain  and  locket,  and,  shaking  out  his 
handkerchief,  feeling  clean,  well-perfumed,  healthy,  and 
physically  happy  in  spite  of  his  unhappiness,  went  out 
somewhat  unsteadily  to  the  dining-room,  where  his  cof- 
fee was  already  waiting  for  him,  and  next  the  coffee  his 
letters  and  the  papers  from  the  court-house. 

He  read  his  letters.  One  was  very  disagreeable,  — 
from  a  merchant  who  was  negotiating  for  the  purchase 
of  a  forest  on  his  wife's  estate.  It  was  necessary  to  sell 
this  forest,  but  now  nothing  could  be  done  about  it  until 
a  reconciliation  was  effected  with  his  wife.  Most  un- 
pleasant it  was  to  think  that  his  pecuniary  interests  in 
this  approaching  transaction  were  complicated  with  his 
reconciliation  to  his  wife.  And  the  thought  that  he 
might  be  influenced  by  this  interest,  that  his  desire  for 
a  reconciliation  with  his  wife  was  on  account  of  the  sale 
of  the  forest,  this  thought  mortified  him. 

Having  finished  his  letters  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  took 
up  the  papers  from  the  court-house,  rapidly  turned  over 
the  leaves  of  two  deeds,  made  several  notes  with  a  big 
pencil,  and  then  pushing  them  away,  took  his  coffee. 
While  he  was  drinking  it  he  opened  a  morning  journal 
still  damp,  and  began  to  read. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  subscribed  to  a  liberal  paper,  and 
read  it.  It  was  not  extreme  in  its  views,  but  advocated 
those  principles  which  the  majority  held.  And  though 
he  was  not  really  interested  in  science  or  art  or  politics, 
he  strongly  adhered  to  such  views  on  all  these  subjects 
as  the  majority,  including  his  paper,  advocated,  and  he 
changed  them  only  when  the  majority  changed  them ; 
or  more  correctly,  he  did  not  change  them,  but  they 
themselves  imperceptibly  changed  in  him. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  never  chose  principles  or  opin- 


ANNA   KARENINA  9 

ions,  but  these  principles  and  opinions  came  to  him,  just 
as  he  never  chose  the  shape  of  a  hat  or  coat,  but  took 
those  that  others  wore.  And,  living  as  he  did  in  fash- 
ionable society,  through  the  necessity  of  some  mental 
activity,  developing  generally  in  a  man's  best  years,  it 
was  as  indispensable  for  him  to  have  views  as  to  have 
a  hat.  If  there  was  any  reason  why  he  preferred 
liberal  views  rather  than  the  conservative  direction  which 
many  of  his  circle  followed,  it  was  not  because  he  found 
a  liberal  tendency  more  rational,  but  because  he  found  it 
better  suited  to  his  mode  of  life. 

The  liberal  party  declared  that  everything  in  Russia 
was  wretched;  and  the  fact  was  that  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch  had  a  good  many  debts  and  was  decidedly  short  of 
money.  The  liberal  party  said  that  marriage  was  a  de- 
funct institution  and  that  it  needed  to  be  remodeled,  and 
in  fact  domestic  life  afforded  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  very 
little  pleasure,  and  compelled  him  to  lie,  and  to  pretend 
what  was  contrary  to  his  nature.  The  liberal  party  said, 
or  rather  took  it  for  granted,  that  religion  is  only  a  curb 
on  the  barbarous  portion  of  the  community,  and  in  fact 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  could  not  bear  the  shortest  prayer 
,  without  pain  in  his  knees,  and  he  could  not  comprehend 
the  necessity  of  all  these  awful  and  high-sounding  words 
about  the  other  world  when  it  is  so  very  pleasant  to  live 
in  this.  Moreover,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who  liked  a 
merry  jest,  was  sometimes  fond  of  scandalizing  a  quiet 
man  by  saying  that  any  one  who  was  proud  of  his  origin 
ought  not  to  stop  at  Rurik  and  deny  his  earliest  ancestor 
—  the  monkey. 

Thus  the  liberal  tendency  had  become  a  habit  with 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  and  he  liked  his  paper,  just  as  he 
liked  his  cigar  after  dinner,  because  of  the  slight  hazi- 
ness which  it  caused  in  his  brain.  He  was  now  reading 
the  leading  editorial,  which  proved  that  in  our  day  a  cry  is 
raised,  without  reason,  over  the  danger  that  radicalism 
may  swallow  up  all  the  conservative  elements,  and  that 
government  ought  to  take  measures  to  crush  the  hydra 
of  revolution,  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  "  according  to 
our  opinion,  the  danger  lies  not  in  this  imaginary  hydra 


lo  ANNA    KARENINA 

of  revolution,  but  in  the  inertia  of  traditions  which  block 
progress,"  and  so  on.  He  read  through  another  article 
on  finance  which  made  mention  of  Bentham  and  Mill, 
and  dropped  some  sharp  hints  for  the  ministry.  With 
his  peculiar  quickness  of  comprehension  he  appreciated 
each  point,  —  from  whom  and  against  whom  and  on 
what  occasion  it  was  directed  ;  and  this  as  usual  afforded 
him  some  amusement.  But  his  satisfaction  was  poisoned 
by  the  remembrance  of  Matriona's  advice  and  of  the  un- 
fortunate state  of  his  domestic  affairs.  He  read  also 
that  Count  von  Beust  was  reported  to  have  gone  to 
Wiesbaden,  that  there  was  to  be  no  more  gray  hair  ;  he 
read  about  the  sale  of  a  light  carriage  and  a  young- 
woman's  advertisement  for  a  place.  But  these  items 
did  not  afford  him  quiet,  ironical  satisfaction  as  usual. 

Having  finished  his  paper,  his  second  cup  of  coffee, 
and  a  buttered  roll,  he  stood  up,  shook  the  crumbs  of  the 
roll  from  his  waistcoat,  and,  filling  his  broad  chest, 
smiled  joyfully,  not  because  there  was  anything  extraor- 
dinarily pleasant  in  his  mind,  but  the  joyful  smile  was 
caused  by  good  digestion. 

But  this  joyful  smile  immediately  brought  back  the 
memory  of  everything,  and  he  sank  into  thought. 

The  voices  of  two  children  —  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
knew  they  were  Grisha,  his  youngest  boy,  and  Tania, 
his  eldest  daughter  —  were  now  heard  behind  the  door. 
They  were  dragging  something  and  upset  it. 

"  I  told  you  not  to  put  passengers  on  top,"  cried  the 
little  girl  in  English. —  "  Now  pick  them  up." 

"  Everything  is  in  confusion,"  said  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch to  himself.  "  Now  here  the  children  are,  running 
wild!"  And  going  to  the  door,  he  called  to  them.  They 
dropped  the  little  box  which  served  them  for  a  railway- 
train,  and  ran  to  their  father. 

The  little  girl,  her  father's  favorite,  ran  in  boldly, 
threw  her  arms  around  his  neck  and  laughingly  hugged 
him,  enjoying  as  usual  the  odor  which  exhaled  from  his 
whiskers.  Then  kissing  his  face,  reddened  by  his  bend- 
ing position  and  beaming  with  tenderness,  the  little  girl 
unclasped  her  hands  and  wanted  to  runaway  again,  but 
her  father  held  her  back. 


ANNA    KARENINA  ii 

"  What  is  mamma  doing  ? "  he  asked,  caressing  his 
daughter's  smooth,  soft  neck.  "How  are  you?"  he 
added,  smiling  at  the  boy,  who  stood  saluting  him.  He 
acknowledged  he  had  less  love  for  the  little  boy,  yet  he 
tried  to  be  impartial.  But  the  boy  felt  the  difference, 
and  did  not  smile  back  in  reply  to  his  father's  chilling 
smile. 

"  Mamma.?     She  's  up,"  answered  the  little  girl. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  sighed.  "  Of  course  she  has 
spent  another  sleepless  night,"  he  said  to  himself. 

"  Well,  is  she  cheerful  ?  " 

The  little  girl  knew  that  there  was  trouble  between 
her  father  and  her  mother,  and  that  her  mother  could 
not  be  cheerful,  and  that  her  father  ought  to  know  it, 
and  that  he  was  dissembling  when  he  questioned  her  so 
lightly.  And  she  blushed  for  her  father.  He  instantly 
perceived  it  and  also  turned  red. 

"  I  don't  know,"  she  said  ;  "  she  told  me  that  we  were 
not  to  have  lessons  this  morning  but  were  to  go  with 
Miss  Hull  over  to  grandmother's." 

"  Well,  then,  run  along,  TancJmrotcJika  nioya.  —  Oh, 
yes,  wait,"  said  he,  still  detaining  her  and  smoothing  her 
delicate  little  hand. 

He  took  down  from  the  mantelpiece  a  box  of  candy 
which  he  had  placed  there  the  day  before,  and  gave 
her  two  pieces,  selecting  her  favorite  chocolate  and 
vanilla. 

"  For  Grisha .-' "  she  asked,  pointing  to  the  chocolate. 

"Yes,  yes ;  "  and  still  smoothing  her  soft  shoulder  he 
kissed  her  on  the  neck  and  hair,  and  let  her  go. 

"The  carriage  is  at  the  door,"  said  Matve,  and  he 
added,  "A  woman  is  here  —  a  petitioner." 

"  Has  she  been  here  long  ? "  demanded  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch. 

"  Half  an  hour." 

"  How  many  times  have  you  been  told  to  announce 
visitors  instantly .'' " 

"  I  had  to  get  your  coffee  ready,"  replied  Matve  in 
his  kind,  rough  voice,  at  which  it  was  impossible  to  take 
offense. 


12  ANNA    KARENINA 

"Well,  show  her  in  quick!"  said  Oblonsky,  frowning 
with  annoyance. 

The  petitioner,  the  wife  of  Captain  Kalanin,  asked 
some  impossible  and  nonsensical  favor;  but  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  according  to  his  custom,  gave  her  a  com- 
fortable seat,  listened  to  her  story  without  interrupting, 
and  then  gave  her  careful  advice  to  whom  and  how  to 
make  her  application,  and  in  lively  and  eloquent  style 
wrote,  in  his  big,  scrawling,  but  handsome  and  legible 
hand,  a  note  to  the  person  who  might  aid  her.  Having 
dismissed  the  captain's  wife,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  took 
his  hat  and  stood  for  a  moment  trying  to  remember 
whether  he  had  forgotten  anything.  He  seemed  to 
have  forgotten  nothing  except  what  he  wanted  to  forget 
—  his  wife. 

"Ah,  yes!" 

He  dropped  his  head,  and  a  gloomy  expression  came 
over  his  handsome  face. 

"To  go  or  not  to  go,"  he  said  to  himself;  and  an 
inner  voice  told  him  that  it  was  not  advisable  to  go,  that 
there  was  no  way  out  of  it  except  through  deception, 
that  to  straighten,  to  smooth  out,  their  relations  was 
impossible,  because  it  was  impossible  to  make  her 
attractive  and  lovable  again,  or  to  make  him  an  old  man 
insensible  to  passion.  Nothing  but  deception  and  lying 
could  come  of  it,  and  deception  and  lying  were  opposed 
to  his  nature. 

"  But  it  must  be  done  sometime ;  it  can't  remain 
so  always,"  he  said,  striving  to  gain  courage.  He 
straightened  himself,  took  out  a  cigarette,  lighted  it, 
puffed  at  it  two  or  three  times,  threw  it  into  a  mother- 
of-pearl-lined  ash-tray,  went  with  quick  steps  through 
the  sitting-room,  and  opened  the  door  into  his  wife's 
sleeping-room. 


ANNA   KARENINA  13 


CHAPTER   IV 

Darya  Aleksandrovna,  surrounded  by  all  sorts  of 
things  thrown  in  confusion  about  the  room,  was  stand- 
ing before  an  open  chiffonnier  from  which  she  was 
removing  the  contents.  She  had  on  a  dressing-sack,  and 
the  thin  braids  of  her  once  luxuriant  and  beautiful  hair 
were  pinned  back.  Her  face  was  thin  and  sunken,  and 
her  big  eyes,  protruding  from  her  pale,  worn  face,  had 
an  expression  of  terror.  When  she  heard  her  husband's 
steps  she  stopped  in  her  work  and,  gazing  at  the  door, 
vainly  tried  to  give  her  face  a  stern  and  forbidding 
expression.  She  was  conscious  that  she  feared  him  and 
that  she  dreaded  the  coming  interview.  She  was  in  the 
act  of  doing  what  she  had  attempted  to  do  a  dozen  times 
during  those  three  days :  gathering  up  her  own  effects 
and  those  of  her  children  to  carry  to  her  mother's 
house  ;  and  again  she  could  not  bring  herself  to  do  it,  yet 
now,  as  before,  she  said  to  herself  that  things  could  not 
remain  as  they  were,  that  she  must  take  some  measures  to 
punish  him,  to  put  him  to  shame,  to  have  some  revenge 
on  him,  if  only  for  a  small  part  of  the  anguish  that  he 
had  caused  her.  She  ctill  kept  saying  that  she  should 
leave  him,  but  she  felt  that  it  was  impossible ;  it  was 
impossible  because  she  could  not  cease  to  consider  him 
her  husband  and  to  love  him.  Moreover,  she  confessed 
that  if  here  in  her  own  home  she  had  barely  succeeded 
in  looking  after  her  five  children,  it  would  be  far  worse 
where  she  was  going  with  them.  In  the  course  of  these 
three  days  the  youngest  child  had  been  made  ill  by  eat- 
ing some  poor  soup,  and  the  rest  had  been  obliged 
to  go  almost  dinnerless  the  night  before.  She  felt  that 
it  was  impossible  to  leave,  yet  for  the  sake  of  deceiving 
herself  she  was  collecting  her  things  and  pretending 
that  she  was  going. 

When  she  saw  her  husband,  she  thrust  her  hands  into 
a  drawer  of  the  chiffonnier,  as  if  trying  to  find  some- 
thing, and  looked  at  him  only  when  he  came  close  up 
to  her.     But  her  face,  to  which  she  had  intended  to  give 


14  ANNA    KARENINA 

a  stern  and  resolute  expression,  showed  her  confusion 
and  anguish  of  mind. 

"  Dolly,"  said  he,  in  a  gentle,  subdued  voice.  He 
hung  his  head  and  tried  to  assume  a  humble  and  sub- 
missive mien,  but  nevertheless  he  was  radiant  with  fresh 
life  and  health.  She  gave  him  a  quick  glance  which 
took  in  his  whole  figure  from  head  to  foot,  radiant  with 
life  and  health. 

"  Yes,  he  is  happy  and  contented,"  she  said  to  her- 
self, ....  "  but  I  ? ....  And  this  good  nature  which  makes 
everybody  like  him  so  well  and  praise  him  is  revolting 
to  me  !     I  hate  this  good  nature  of  his." 

Her  mouth  grew  firm,  the  muscles  of  her  right  cheek 
contracted,  she  looked  pale  and  nervous. 

"What  do  you  •want.''"  she  demanded,  in  a  quick, 
unnatural  tone. 

"  Dolly,"  he  repeated,  with  a  quaver  in  his  voice, 
"Anna  is  coming  to-day." 

"  Well,  what  is  that  to  me }  I  cannot  receive  her," 
she  cried. 

"  Still,  it  must  be  done,  Dolly."  .... 

"Go  away!  go  away!  go  away!"  she  cried,  without 
looking  at  him,  and  as  if  her  words  were  torn  from  her 
by  physical  agony. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  might  be  calm  enough  as  his 
thoughts  turned  to  his  wife,  he  might  have  some  hope 
that  it  would  all  straighten  itself  out  according  to  Matve's 
prediction,  and  he  might  be  able  tranquilly  to  read  his 
morning  paper  and  drink  his  coffee ;  but  when  he  saw 
her  tortured,  suffering  face,  when  he  heard  that  resigned 
and  hopeless  tone  of  her  voice,  he  breathed  hard,  some- 
thing rose  in  his  throat,  and  his  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

"My  God!  What  have  I  done.!*  for  God's  sake!.... 
See...." 

He  could  not  say  another  word  for  the  sobs  that 
choked  him. 

She  shut  the  drawer  violently,  and  looked  at  him. 

"  Dolly,  what  can  I  say  ? ....  Only  one  thing  :  forgive 
me.  Just  think !  Cannot  nine  years  of  my  life  pay  for 
a  single  moment,  a  moment ....  " 


ANNA    KARENINA  15 

She  let  her  eyes  fall,  and  listened  to  what  he  was 
going  to  say,  as  if  beseeching  him  in  some  way  to  per- 
suade her  of  his  innocence. 

"  A  single  moment  of  temptation,"  he  ended,  and  was 
going  to  continue ;  but  at  that  word,  Dolly's  lips  again 
closed  tight  as  if  from  physical  pain,  and  again  the  mus- 
cles of  her  right  cheek  contracted. 

"  Go  away,  go  away  from  here,"  she  cried  still  more 
impetuously,  "  and  don't  speak  to  me  of  your  tempta 
tions  and  your  wretched  conduct." 

She  attempted  to  leave  the  room,  but  she  almost  feii, 
and  was  obliged  to  lean  upon  a  chair  for  support. 
Oblonsky's  face  grew  melancholy,  his  lips  trembled, 
and  his  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

"  Dolly,"  said  he,  almost  sobbing,  "  for  God's  sake 
think  of  the  children.  They  are  not  to  blame ;  I  am 
the  one  to  blame.     Punish  me !     Tell  me  how  I  can 

atone  for  my  fault I  am  ready  to  do  anything.     I 

am  guilty !     No  words  can  tell  how  guilty  I  am.     But, 
Dolly,  forgive  me ! " 

She  sat  down.  He  heard  her  quick,  hard  breathing, 
and  his  soul  was  filled  with  pity  for  her.  She  tried 
several  times  to  speak,  but  could  not  utter  a  word.  He 
waited. 

"  You  think  of  the  children,  because  you  like  to  play 
with  them ;  but  I  think  of  them,  too,  and  I  know  what 
they  have  lost,"  said  she,  repeating  one  of  the  phrases 
that  during  the  last  three  days  she  had  many  times 
repeated  to  herself. 

She  had  used  the  familiar  tin  (thou),  and  he  looked 
at  her  with  gratitude,  and  made  a  movement  as  if  to 
take  her  hand,  but  she  turned  from  him  with  abhor- 
rence. 

"  I  have  consideration  for  my  children,  and  therefore 
I  would  do  all  in  the  world  to  save  them ;  but  I  do  not 
myself  know  how  I  can  best  save  them :  by  taking  them 
from  their  father,  or  by  leaving  them  with  a  father  who 
is  a  libertine,  —  yes,  a  libertine  ! ....  Now  tell  me  after 
this,  —  this  that  has  happened,  can  we  live  together } 
Is  it  possible.?     Tell  me,  is  it  possible?"  she  demanded, 


i6  ANNA    KARENINA 

raising  her  voice.  "When  my  husband,  the  father  of 
my  children,  has  a  love-affair  with  their  governess  .... " 

" ....  But  what  is  to  be  done  about  it .''  what  is  to  be 
done  ? "  said  he,  interrupting  with  broken  voice,  not 
knowing  what  he  said,  and  letting  his  head  sink  lower 
and  lower. 

"You  are  revolting  to  me,  you  are  insulting,"  she 
cried,  with  increasing  anger.  "  Your  tears  are  water  ! 
You  never  loved  me ;  you  have  no  heart,  no  honor. 
You  are  abominable,  revolting,  and  henceforth  you  are 
a  stranger  to  me, — yes,  a  perfect  stranger,"  and  she 
repeated  with  spiteful  anger  this  word  "stranger"  which 
was  so  terrible  to  her  own  ears. 

He  looked  at  her,  and  the  anger  expressed  in  her  face 
alarmed  and  surprised  him.  He  had  no  realizing  sense 
that  his  pity  exasperated  his  wife.  She  saw  that  he  felt 
sympathy  for  her,  but  not  love.  "  No,  she  hates  me,  she 
will  not  forgive  me,"  he  said  to  himself. 

"  This  is  terrible,  terrible !  "  he  cried. 

At  this  moment  one  of  the  children  in  the  next  room, 
having  apparently  had  a  fall,  began  to  cry.  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  listened  and  her  face  suddenly  softened. 
She  seemed  to  collect  her  thoughts  for  a  few  seconds, 
as  if  she  did  not  know  where  she  was  and  what  was 
happening  to  her,  then,  quickly  rising,  she  hastened  to 
the  door. 

"At  any  rate  she  loves  my  child,"  thought  Oblonsky, 
who  had  noticed  the  change  in  her  face  as  she  heard 
the  little  one's  cry.  "  My  child  ;  how  then  can  she  hate 
me.?" 

"  Dolly !  just  one  word  more,"  he  said,  following  her. 

"  If  you  follow  me,  I  will  call  the  domestics,  the 
children  !  Let  them  all  know  that  you  are  infamous ! 
I  leave  this  very  day,  and  you  may  live  here  with  your 
paramour." 

And  she  went  out  and  slammed  the  door. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  sighed,  wiped  his  face,  and 
softly  left  the  room. 

"  Matve  says  this  can  be  settled  ;  but  how  ?  I  don't 
see   the  possibility.     Akh !    akh !    how    terrible !    and 


ANNA    KARENINA  17 

how  foolishly  she  shrieked,"  said  he  to  himself,  as  he 
recalled  her  cry  and  the  words  "infamous"  and  "para- 


mour 


"  Perhaps  the  chambermaids  heard  her !  horribly 
foolish,  horribly !  " 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  stood  by  himself  a  few  seconds, 
rubbed  his  eyes,  sighed,  and  then,  throwing  out  his 
chest,  left  the  room. 

It  was  Friday,  and  in  the  dining-room  the  German 
clock-maker  was  winding  the  clock.  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch remembered  a  joke  that  he  had  made  about 
this  punctilious  German  clock-maker,  to  the  effect  that 
"  he  must  have  been  wound  up  himself  for  a  lifetime  for 
the  purpose  of  winding  clocks,"  and  he  smiled.  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  loved  a  good  joke.  "Perhaps  it  will 
straighten  itself  out.  That 's  a  good  little  phrase ! 
straighten  itself  out,"  he  thought ;   "  I  must  tell  that." 

"Matve!"  he  shouted;  and  when  the  old  servant 
appeared,  he  said,  "  Have  Marya  put  the  best  room  in 
order  for  Anna  Arkadyevna." 

"Very  well." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  took  his  fur  coat,  and  started 
down  the  steps. 

"  Shall  you  dine  at  home  ? "  asked  Matve,  as  he 
escorted  him  down. 

"  That  depends.  Here,  take  this  if  you  need  to  spend 
anything,"  said  he,  taking  out  a  bill  of  ten  rubles  from 
his  pocket-book.     "That  will  be  enough." 

"  Whether  it  is  enough  or  not,  it  will  have  to  do," 
said  Matve,  as  he  shut  the  carriage-door  and  went  up 
the  steps. 

Meantime,  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  having  pacified  the 
child,  and  knowing  by  the  sound  of  the  carriage  that  he 
was  gone,  came  back  to  her  room.  This  was  her  sole 
refuge  from  the  domestic  troubles  that  besieged  her  as 
soon  as  she  went  out.  Even  during  the  short  time  that 
she  had  been  in  the  nursery,  the  English  maid  and 
Matriona  Filimonovna  asked  her  all  sorts  of  questions 
demanding  immediate  attention,  questions  which  she 
alone  could  answer, — what  clothes  should  they  put  on 


i8  ANNA    KARENINA 

the  children  for  their  walk  ?  should  they  give  them 
milk  ?  should  they  send  for  another  cook  ? 

"  Akh  !  leave  me  alone,  leave  me  alone  !  "  she  cried, 
and,  hastening  back  to  the  chamber,  she  sat  down  in 
the  place  where  she  had  been  talking  with  her  husband. 
Then,  clasping  her  thin  hands,  on  whose  fingers  the  rings 
would  scarcely  stay,  she  reviewed  the  whole  conversation. 

"He  has  gone!  But  has  he  broken  with  her?"  she 
asked  herself.  "  Does  he  still  continue  to  see  her } 
Why  did  n't  I  ask  him  }  No,  no,  we  cannot  live  together. 
Even  if  we  continue  to  live  in  the  same  house,  we  are 
only  strangers,  strangers  forever !  "  she  repeated,  with 
a  strong  emphasis  on  the  word  that  hurt  her  so  cruelly. 
"How  I  loved  him!  my  God,  how  I  loved  him!..,. 
How  I  loved  him !  and  even  now  do  I  not  love  him } 
Do  I  not  love  him  even  more  than  before .''  that  is  the 
most  terrible  thing,"  she  was  beginning  to  say,  but  she 
did  not  finish  out  her  thought,  because  Matriona  Fili- 
monovna  put  her  head  in  at  the  door.  "  Give  orders  to 
send  for  my  brother,"  said  she  ;  "  he  will  get  dinner.  If 
you  don't,  it  will  be  like  yesterday,  when  the  children 
did  not  have  anything  to  eat  for  six  hours." 

"  Very  good,  I  will  come  and  give  the  order.  Have 
you  sent  for  some  fresh  milk  .-*  " 

And  Darya  Aleksandrovna  entered  into  her  daily 
tasks,  and  in  them  forgot  her  sorrow  for  the  time  being. 


CHAPTER   V 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  done  well  at  school,  by 
reason  of  his  excellent  natural  gifts,  but  he  was  lazy  and 
mischievous,  and  consequently  had  been  at  the  foot  of  his 
class  ;  but,  in  spite  of  his  irregular  habits,  his  low  rank  in 
the  Service,  and  his  youth,  he,  nevertheless,  held  an  im- 
portant salaried  position  as  nachalnik,  or  president  of 
one  of  the  courts  in  Moscow.  This  place  he  had  secured 
through  the  good  offices  of  his  sister  Anna's  husband, 
Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  Karenin,  who  occupied  one  of 
the  most  influential  positions  in  the  ministry  of  which  he 


ANNA    KARENINA  19 

was  a  member.  But  even  if  Karenin  had  not  been  able 
to  get  this  place  for  his  brother-in-law,  a  hundred  other 
people  —  brothers,  sisters,  cousins,  second  cousins,  uncles, 
aunts — would  have  got  it  for  Stiva  Oblonsky,  or  some 
place  as  good,  together  with  the  six  thousand  rubles' 
salary  which  he  needed  for  his  establishment,  his  affairs 
being  somewhat  out  of  order  in  spite  of  his  wife's  con- 
siderable fortune. 

Half  the  people  of  Moscow  and  St.  Petersburg  were 
relatives  or  friends  of  Stepan  Arkadyevitch ;  he  was 
born  into  the  society  of  the  rich  and  powerful  of  this 
world.  A  third  of  the  older  officials  attached  to  the 
court  and  in  government  employ  had  been  friends  of  his 
father,  and  had  known  him  from  the  time  when  he  wore 
petticoats ;  a  second  third  addressed  him  familiarly  in 
the  second  person  singular ;  the  others  were  "  hail  fel- 
lows well  met."  He  had,  therefore,  as  his  friends,  all 
those  whose  function  it  is  to  dispense  earthly  blessings 
in  the  shape  of  places,  leases,  concessions,  and  the  like, 
and  who  could  not  neglect  their  own.  And  so  Oblonsky 
had  no  special  difficulty  in  obtaining  an  excellent  place. 
All  he  had  to  do  was  not  to  shirk,  not  to  be  jealous,  not 
to  be  quarrelsome,  not  to  be  thin-skinned,  and  he  never 
gave  way  to  these  faults,  because  of  his  natural  good 
temper.  It  would  have  seemed  ridiculous  to  him  if  he 
had  been  told  that  he  could  not  have  any  salaried  place 
that  he  wanted,  because  it  did  not  seem  to  him  that  he 
demanded  anything  extraordinary.  He  asked  only  for 
what  his  companions  were  obtaining,  and  he  felt  that  he 
was  as  capable  as  any  of  them  of  performing  the  duties 
of  such  a  position. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  liked  by  every  one  for  his 
good  and  amiable  character  and  his  unimpeachable 
honesty.  There  was  moreover  something  in  his  brilliant 
and  attractive  personality,  in  his  bright,  sparkling  eyes, 
his  black  brows,  his  hair,  his  vivid  coloring,  which  exer- 
cised a  strong  physical  influence  as  of  friendliness  and 
gayety  on  those  who  came  in  touch  with  him. 

"  Aha,  Stiva  !  Oblonsky !  Here  he  is !  "  people 
would  generally  say,  with  a  smile  of  pleasure.     Even  if 


ao  ANNA   KARENINA 

it  happened  that  the  results  of  meeting  him  were  not 
particularly  gratifying,  nevertheless  people  were  just  as 
glad  to  meet  him  the  second  day  and  the  third. 

After  filling  for  three  years  the  office  of  nachalnik  of 
one  of  the  chief  judiciary  positions  in  Moscow,  Stepan  Ar- 
kadyevitch  had  gained,  not  only  the  friendship,  but  also 
the  respect  of  his  colleagues,  both  those  above  and  those 
below  him  in  station,  as  well  as  of  all  who  had  had  dealings 
with  him.  The  principal  qualities  that  had  gained  him 
this  universal  esteem  were,  first,  his  extreme  indulgence 
for  people,  and  this  was  founded  on  his  knowledge  of  his 
own  weaknesses  ;  secondly,  his  absolute  liberality,  which 
was  not  the  liberalism  which  he  read  about  in  the  news- 
papers, but  that  which  was  in  his  blood,  and  caused  him 
to  be  agreeable  to  every  one,  in  whatever  station  in  life ; 
and  thirdly  and  principally,  his  perfect  indifference  to 
the  business  which  he  transacted,  so  that  he  never  lost 
his  temper,  and  therefore  never  made  mistakes. 

As  soon  as  he  reached  his  tribunal,  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch,  escorted  by  the  solemn  Swiss  who  bore  his  port- 
folio, went  to  his  little  private  office,  put  on  his  uniform, 
and  proceeded  to  the  court-room.  The  clerks  and  other 
employees  all  stood  up,  bowing  eagerly  and  respectfully. 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  as  usual,  hastened  to  his  place, 
shook  hands  with  his  colleagues,  and  took  his  seat.  He 
got  off  some  pleasantry  and  made  some  remark  suitable 
to  the  occasion,  and  then  opened  the  session.  No  one 
better  than  he  understood  how  far  to  go  within  the  limits 
of  freedom,  frankness,  and  that  official  dignity  which  is 
so  useful  in  the  expedition  of  official  business.  A 
clerk  came  with  papers,  and,  with  the  free  and  yet  re- 
spectful air  common  to  all  who  surrounded  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  spoke  in  the  familiarly  liberal  tone  which 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  introduced  :  — 

"  We  have  at  last  succeeded  in  obtaining  reports  from  the 
Government  of  Penza.     Here  they  are,  if  you  care  to  ...." 

"  So  we  have  them  at  last,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
touching  the  document  with  his  finger.  "  Now,  then, 
gentlemen  ...." 

And  the  proceedings  began. 


ANNA    KARENINA  21 

"  If  they  knew,"  he  said  to  himself,  as  he  bent  his  head 
with  an  air  of  importance  while  the  report  was  read, "  how 
much  their  president,  only  half  an  hour  since,  looked  like 
a  naughty  school-boy!"  and  a  gleam  of  amusement  came 
into  his  eyes  as  he  listened  to  the  report. 

The  session  generally  lasted  till  two  o'clock  without 
interruption,  and  was  followed  by  recess  and  luncheon. 
The  clock  had  not  yet  struck  two,  when  the  great  glass 
doors  of  the  court-room  were  suddenly  thrown  open, 
and  some  one  entered.  All  the  members,  glad  of  any 
diversion,  looked  round  from  where  they  sat  under  the 
Emperor's  portrait  and  behind  the  zertsdlo,  or  procla- 
mation-table ;  but  the  doorkeeper  instantly  ejected  the 
intruder,  and  shut  the  door  on  him. 

After  the  business  was  read  through,  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch  arose,  stretched  himself,  and  in  a  spirit  of  sacri- 
fice to  the  liberalism  of  the  time  took  out  his  cigarette, 
while  still  in  the  court-room,  and  then  passed  into  his 
private  office.  Two  of  his  colleagues,  the  aged  veteran 
Nikitin,  and  the  chamberlain  Grinevitch,  followed  him. 

"  There  '11  be  time  enough  to  finish  after  luncheon," 
said  Oblonsky. 

"How  we  are  rushing  through  with  it!"  replied 
Nikitin. 

"  This  Famin  must  be  a  precious  rascal,"  said  Grine- 
vitch, alluding  to  one  of  the  characters  in  the  affair 
which  they  had  beqn  investigating. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  knitted  his  brows  at  Grinevitch's 
words,  as  if  to  signify  that  it  was  not  the  right  thing  to 
form  snap  judgments,  and  he  made  no  reply. 

"  Who  was  it  came  into  the  court-room .?"  he  asked  of 
the  doorkeeper. 

''  Some  one  who  entered  without  permission,  your 
excellency,  while  my  back  was  turned.  He  asked  to 
see  you  :  I  said,  *  When  the  court  adjourns,  then .... '  " 

"  Where  is  he  .?  " 

"  Probably  in  the  vestibule ;  he  ,was  there  just  now. 
Ah !  there  he  is,"  said  the  doorkeeper,  pointing  to  a 
solidly  built,  broad-shouldered  man  with  curly  beard, 
who,  without  taking  off  his  sheepskin  cap,  was  lightly 


21  ANNA    KARENINA 

and  quickly  running  up  the  well-worn  steps  of  the  stone 
staircase.  A  lean  chinovnik,  on  his  way  down,  with  a 
portfolio  under  his  arm,  stopped  to  look,  with  some  indig- 
nation, at  the  newcomer's  feet,  and  turned  to  Oblonsky 
with  a  glance  of  inquiry.  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  stood 
at  the  top  of  the  staircase,  and  his  bright,  good-natured 
face,  set  off  by  the  embroidered  collar  of  his  uniform, 
was  still  more  radiant  when  he  recognized  the  visitor. 

"  Here  he  is  !  Levin,  at  last,"  he  cried,  with  a  friendly, 
ironical  smile,  as  he  looked  at  his  approaching  friend. 
"  What !  you  got  tired  of  waiting  for  me,  and  have 
come  to  find  me  in  this  den } "  he  went  on  to  say,  not 
satisfied  with  pressing  his  hand,  but  kissing  him  affec- 
tionately.    "  Have  you  been  in  town  long  ?  " 

"  I  just  got  here,  and  was  in  a  hurry  to  see  you,"  said 
Levin,  looking  about  him  timidly,  and  at  the  same  time 
with  a  fierce  and  anxious  expression. 

"Well,  come  into  my  office,"  said  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch, who  was  aware  of  his  visitor's  egotistic  sensi- 
tiveness, and,  taking  him  by  the  hand,  he  led  him  along 
as  if  he  were  conducting  him  through  manifold  dangers. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  addressed  almost  all  his  acquain- 
tances with  the  familiar  "thou," — old  men  of  three- 
score, young  men  of  twenty,  actors  and  ministers, 
merchants  and  generals,  so  that  there  were  very  many 
of  these  familiarly  addressed  acquaintances  from  both 
extremes  of  the  social  scale,  and  they  would  have  been 
astonished  to  know  that  through  Oblonsky  they  had 
something  in  common.  He  thus  addressed  all  with 
whom  he  had  drunk  champagne,  and  he  had  drunk 
champagne  with  every  one,  and  so  when  in  the  presence 
of  his  subordinates  he  met  any  of  his  shameful  intimates, 
as  he  jestingly  called  some  of  his  acquaintances,  his 
characteristic  tact  was  sufficient  to  diminish  the  dis- 
agreeable impressions  that  they  might  have. 

Levin  was  not  one  of  his  shameful  intimates,  but 
Oblonsky  instinctively  felt  that  Levin  might  think  he 
would  not  like  to  make  a  display  of  their  intimacy  be- 
fore his  subordinates,  and  so  he  hastened  to  take  him 
into  his  private  office. 


ANNA    KARENINA  23 

Levin  was  about  the  same  age  as  Oblonsky,  and  their 
intimacy  was  not  based  on  champagne  alone.  Levin 
was  a  friend  and  companion  from  early  boyhood.  In 
spite  of  the  difference  in  their  characters  and  their 
tastes,  they  were  fond  of  each  other  as  friends  are  who 
have  grown  up  together.  And  yet,  as  often  happens  among 
men  who  have  chosen  different  spheres  of  activity,  each, 
while  approving  the  work  of  the  other,  really  despised  it. 
Each  believed  his  own  mode  of  life  to  be  the  only  rational 
way  of  living,  while  that  led  by  his  friend  was  only  illusion. 

At  the  sight  of  Levin,  Oblonsky  could  not  repress  a 
slight  ironical  smile.  How  many  times  had  he  seen  him  in 
Moscow  just  in  from  the  country,  where  he  had  been  doing 
something,  though  Oblonsky  did  not  know  exactly  what 
and  scarcely  took  any  interest  in  it.  Levin  always  came 
to  Moscow  anxious,  hurried,  a  trifle  annoyed,  and  vexed 
because  he  was  annoyed,  and  generally  bringing  with 
him  entirely  new  and  unexpected  views  of  things. 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  laughed  at  this  and  yet  liked  it. 

In  somewhat  the  same  way  Levin  despised  the  city 
mode  of  his  friend's  life,  and  his  official  employment, 
which  he  considered  trifling,  and  made  sport  of  it.  But 
the  difference  between  them  lay  in  this  :  that  Oblonsky, 
doing  what  every  one  else  was  doing,  laughed  self-con- 
fidently  and  good-naturedly,  while  Levin,  because  he  was 
not  assured  in  his  own  mind,  sometimes  lost  his  temper. 

"  We  have  been  expecting  you  for  some  time,"  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  as  he  entered  his  office,  and  let 
go  his  friend's  hand  to  show  that  the  danger  was  past. 
"  I  am  very,  very  glad  to  see  you,"  he  continued.  "  How 
goes  it  .-*  how  are  you .''     Wheo  did  you  come  ?  " 

Levin  was  silent,  and  looked  at  the  unknown  faces  of 
Oblonsky's  two  colleagues,  and  especially  at  the  elegant 
Grinevitch's  hand,  with  its  long,  white  fingers  and  their 
long,  yellow,  and  pointed  nails,  and  his  cuffs,  with  their 
huge,  gleaming  cuff-buttons.  It  was  evident  that  his 
hands  absorbed  all  of  his  attention  and  allowed  him  to 
think  of  nothing  else.  Oblonsky  instantly  noticed  this, 
and  smiled. 

"  Ah,  yes,"  said  he,  "  allow  me  to  make  you  acquainted 


24  ANNA   KARENINA 

with  my  colleagues,  Filipp  Ivanuitch  Nikitin,  Mikhail 
Stanislavitch  Grinevitch ; "  then  turning  to  Levin,  "A 
landed  proprietor,  a  rising  man,  a  member  of  the 
zemstsvo,  and  a  gymnast  who  can  lift  two  hundred 
pounds  with  one  hand,  a  raiser  of  cattle,  and  huntsman, 
and  my  friend,  Konstantin  Dmitrievitch  Levin,  the 
brother  of  SergyeT  Ivanuitch  Koznuishef." 

"  Very  happy,"  said  the  little  old  man.  *'  I  have  the 
honor  of  knowing  your  brother,  Sergyei'  Ivanuitch," 
said  Grinevitch,  extending  his  delicate  hand  with  its  long 
nails. 

Levin  frowned ;  he  coldly  shook  hands,  and  turned 
to  Oblonsky.  Although  he  had  much  respect  for  his 
half-brother,  a  writer  universally  known  in  Russia,  it 
was  none  the  less  unpleasant  for  him  to  be  addressed, 
not  as  Konstantin  Levin,  but  as  the  brother  of  the  famous 
Koznuishef. 

"  No,  I  am  no  longer  a  worker  in  the  zemstsvo.  I 
have  quarreled  with  everybody,  and  I  don't  go  to  the 
assemblies,"  said  he  to  Oblonsky. 

"  This  is  a  sudden  change,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
with  a  smile.     "  But  how  .-'  why  .-'  " 

"  It  is  a  long  story,  and  I  will  tell  it  some  other  time," 
replied  Levin  ;  but  he  nevertheless  went  on  to  say,  "  To 
make  a  long  story  short,  I  was  convinced  that  no  action 
amounts  to  anything,  or  can  amount  to  anything,  in 
our  provincial  assembles."  He  spoke  as  if  some  one  had 
insulted  him.  "  On  the  one  hand,  they  try  to  play  Parlia- 
ment, and  I  am  not  young  enough  and  not  old  enough 
to  amuse  myself  with  toys ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,"  — 
he  hesitated,  —  "  this  serves  the  district  ring  to  make  a 
little  money.  There  used  to  be  guardianships,  judg- 
ments ;  but  now  we  have  the  zemstsvo,  not  in  the  way 
of  bribes,  but  in  the  way  of  unearned  salaries." 

He  spoke  hotly,  as  if  some  one  present  had  attacked 
his  views. 

"  Aha !  here  you  are,  I  see,  in  a  new  phase,  on  the 
conservative  side,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "  Well, 
we  '11  speak  about  this  by  and  by." 

"Yes,  by  and  by.     But  I  want  to  see  you  particu- 


ANNA   KARENINA  25 

larly,"  said  Levin,  looking  with  disgust  at  Grinevitch's 
hand. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  smiled  imperceptibly.  "  Did  n't 
you  say  that  you  would  never  again  put  on  European 
clothes  ? "  he  asked,  examining  his  friend's  new  suit, 
evidently  made  by  a  French  tailor.  "  Indeed,  I  see ; 
'tis  a  new  phase." 

Levin  suddenly  grew  red,  not  as  grown  men  grow 
red,  without  perceiving  it,  but  as  boys  blush,  conscious 
that  they  are  ridiculous  by  reason  of  their  bashfulness, 
and  therefore  ashamed  and  made  to  turn  still  redder  till 
the  tears  almost  come.  It  gave  his  intelligent,  manly 
face  such  a  strange  appearance  that  Oblonsky  turned 
away  and  refrained  from  looking  at  him. 

"But  where  can  we  meet.''  You  see  it  is  very, 
very  necessary  for  me  to  have  a  talk  with  you,"  said 
Levin. 

Oblonsky  seemed  to  reflect. 

"  How  is  this  .''  We  will  go  and  have  luncheon  at 
Gurin's,  and  we  can  talk  there.  At  three  o'clock  I 
shall  be  free." 

*'  No,"  answered  Levin  after  a  moment's  thought; 
**  I  've  got  to  take  a  drive." 

"Well,  then,  let  us  dine  together." 

"  Dine  ?  But  I  have  nothing  very  particular  to  say, 
only  two  words,  to  ask  a  question ;  afterward  we  can 
gossip." 

"In  that  case,  speak  your  two  words  now;  we  will 
chat  while  we  are  at  dinner." 

"  These  two  words  are  ....  however,  it 's  nothing  very 
important." 

His  face  suddenly  assumed  a  hard  expression,  due 
to  his  efforts  in  conquering  his  timidity.  "  What  are 
the  Shcherbatskys  doing .''  —  just  as  they  used  to  .-*" 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who  had  long  known  that 
Levin  was  in  love  with  his  sister-in-law  Kitty,  almost 
perceptibly  smiled,  and  his  eyes  flashed  gayly.  "  You 
said  '  two  words ' ;  but  I  cannot  answer  in  two  words, 
because  ....  excuse  me  a  moment." 

The   secretary   came   in   at   this    juncture  with   his 


26  ANNA    KARENINA 

familiar  but  respectful  bearing,  and  with  that  modest 
assumption  characteristic  of  all  secretaries  that  he  knew 
more  about  business  than  his  superior.  He  brought 
some  papers  to  Oblonsky  ;  and,  under  the  form  of  a 
question,  he  attempted  to  explain  some  difficulty.  With- 
out waiting  to  hear  the  end  of  the  explanation,  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  laid  his  hand  affectionately  on  the  secre- 
tary's arm. 

"  No,  do  as  I  asked  you  to,"  said  he,  tempering  his 
remark  with  a  smile ;  and,  having  briefly  given  his  own 
explanation  of  the  matter,  he  pushed  away  the  papers, 
and  said,  "  Do  it  so,  I  beg  of  you,  Zakhar  Nikititch." 

The  secretary  went  off  confused.  Levin  during  this 
scene  with  the  secretary  had  entirely  recovered  from 
his  embarrassment,  and  was  standing  with  both  arms 
resting  on  a  chair ;  on  his  face  was  an  ironical  expres- 
sion. 

"  I  don't  understand,  I  don't  understand,"  said  he. 

"What  don't  you  understand.''"  asked  Oblonsky, 
smiling,  and  taking  out  a  cigarette.  He  was  expecting 
some  sort  of  strange  outbreak  from  Levin. 

"  I  don't  understand  what  you  are  up  to,"  said  Levin, 
shrugging  his  shoulders.  "  How  can  you  do  this  sort 
of  thing  seriously  ?  " 

"Why  not.?" 

"  Why,  because  it  is  doing  nothing." 

"  You  think  so .''     We  are  overwhelmed  with  work." 

"  On  paper !  Well,  yes,  you  have  a  special  gift  for 
such  things,"  added  Levin. 

"You  mean  that  I ....  there  is  something  that  I  lack.-*" 

"  Perhaps  so,  yes.  However,  I  cannot  help  admiring 
your  high  and  mighty  ways,  and  rejoicing  that  I  have 
for  a  friend  a  man  of  such  importance.  But,  you 
did  not  answer  my  question,"  he  added,  making  a  des- 
perate effort  to  look  Oblonsky  full  in  the  face. 

"  Now  that 's  very  good,  very  good  !  Go  ahead,  and 
you  will  succeed.  'T  is  well  that  you  have  eight  thou- 
sand acres  of  land  in  the  district  of  Karazinsk,  such 
muscles,  and  the  complexion  of  a  little  girl  of  twelve; 
but  you  will  catch  up  with  us  all  the  same Yes,  as  to 


ANNA    KARENINA  27 

what  you  asked  me.  There  is  no  change,  but  I  am 
sorry  that  it  has  been  so  long  since  you  were  in  town." 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  Levin  in  alarm. 

"  Well,  it 's  nothing,"  replied  Oblonsky;  "we  will  talk 
things  over.     What  has  brought  you  now  especially.-'" 

"  Akh !  we  will  speak  also  of  that  by  and  by,"  said 
Levin,  again  reddening  to  his  very  ears. 

"Very  good.  I  understand  you,"  said  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch.  "You  see,  I  should  have  taken  you  home 
with  me  to  dinner,  but  my  wife  is  not  well  to-day.  If 
you  want  to  see  tliem,  you  will  find  them  at  the  Zoologi- 
cal Gardens  from  four  to  five.  Kitty  is  skating.  You 
go  there;  I  will  join  you  later,  and  we  will  get  dinner 
together  somewhere." 

"  Excellent.     Da  svidanya !  " 

"  Look  here  —  you  see  I  know  you  —  you  will  forget 
all  about  it,  or  will  suddenly  be  starting  back  to  your 
home  in  the  country,"  cried  Stepan  Arkady evitch,  with 
a  laugh. 

"  No,  truly  I  won't." 

Levin  left  the  room,  and  only  when  he  had  passed 
the  door  realized  that  he  had  forgotten  to  salute  Oblon- 
sky's  colleagues. 

"  That  must  be  a  gentleman  of  great  energy/'  said 
Grinevitch,  after  Levin  had  taken  his  departure. 

"Yes,  batyushka,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  throw- 
ing his  head  back.  "  He  is  a  likely  fellow.  Eight 
thousand  acres  in  the  Karazinsky  district !  He  has 
a  future  before  him,  and  how  vigorous  he  is!  He  is 
not  like  the  rest  of  us." 

"  What  have  you  to  complain  about,  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch .-' "  ^ 

"  Well,  things  are  bad,  bad,"  replied  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch, sighing  heavily. 


28  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER  VI 

When  Oblonsky  asked  Levin  for  what  special  rea- 
son he  had  come,  Levin  grew  red  in  the  face,  and  he 
was  angry  with  himself  because  he  grew  red ;  but  how 
could  he  have  replied,  **  I  have  come  to  ask  the  hand  of 
your  sister-in-law  "  ?  Yet  he  had  come  for  that  single 
purpose. 

The  Levin  and  the  Shcherbatsky  families,  belonging 
to  the  old  nobility  of  Moscow,  had  always  been  on  inti- 
mate and  friendly  terms.  During  Levin's  student  life 
the  bond  had  grown  stronger.  He  and  the  young 
Prince  Shcherbatsky,  the  brother  of  Dolly  and  Kitty, 
had  taken  their  preparatory  studies,  and  gone  through 
the  university  together.  At  that  time  Levin  was  a  fre- 
quent visitor  at  the  Shcherbatskys,  and  was  in  love  with 
the  house.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  he  was  in  love  with 
the  house  itself,  with  the  family,  especially  with  the  femi- 
nine portion.  Konstantin  Levin  could  not  remember  his 
mother,  and  his  only  sister  was  much  older  than  he 
was,  so  that  for  the  first  time  he  found  in  the  house 
of  the  Shcherbatskys  that  charming  cultivated  life  so 
peculiar  to  the  old  nobility,  and  of  which  the  death  of 
his  parents  had  deprived  him.  All  the  members  of 
this  family,  but  especially  the  ladies,  seemed  to  him 
to  be  surrounded  with  a  mysterious  and  poetic  halo. 

Not  only  did  he  fail  to  discover  any  faults  in  them,  but 
underneath  this  poetic  and  mysterious  halo  surrovmding 
them,  he  saw  the  loftiest  sentiments  and  the  most  ideal 
perfections.  Why  these  three  young  ladies  were  obliged 
to  speak  French  and  English  every  day ;  why  they  had 
to  take  turns  in  playing  for  hours  at  a  time  on  the  piano, 
the  sounds  of  which  floated  up  to  their  brother's  room, 
where  the  young  students  were  at  work  ;  why  professors 
of  French  literature,  of  music,  of  drawing,  of  dancing, 
came  to  give  them  lessons ;  why  the  three  young 
ladies,  at  a  certain  hour,  accompanied  by  Mile.  Linon, 
drove  out  in  their  carriage  to  the  TverskoT  Boulevard, 
wearing    satin    shubkas,    Dolly's    very   long,    Natalie's 


ANNA   KARENINA  29 

of  half  length,  and  Kitty's  very  short,  showing  her 
shapely  ankles  and  close-fitting  red  stockings ;  and  why 
when  they  went  to  the  Tverskoi"  Boulevard  they  had  to 
be  accompanied  by  a  lackey  with  a  gilt  cockade  on  his 
hat, —  all  these  things  and  many  others  v/ere  absolutely 
incomprehensible  to  him.  But  he  felt  that  all  that 
took  place  in  this  mysterious  sphere  was  beautiful,  and 
he  was  in  love  especially  with  this  mystery  of  accom- 
plishment. 

While  he  was  a  student  he  almost  fell  in  love  with 
Dolly,  the  eldest ;  but  she  soon  married  Oblonsky  ;  then 
he  began  to  be  in  love  with  the  second.  It  was  as  if  he 
felt  it  to  be  a  necessity  to  love  one  of  the  three,  only  he 
could  not  decide  which  one  he  liked  the  best.  But  Na- 
talie entered  society,  and  soon  married  the  diplomat, 
Lvof.  Kitty  was  only  a  child  when  Levin  left  the  uni- 
versity. Young  Shcherbatsky  joined  the  fleet,  and  was 
drowned  in  the  Baltic  ;  and  Levin's  relations  with  the 
family  became  more  distant,  in  spite  of  his  friendship 
with  Oblonsky.  At  the  beginning  of  the  winter,  how- 
ever, after  a  year's  absence  in  the  country,  he  had  met 
the  Shcherbatskys  again,  and  learned  for  the  first  time 
which  of  the  three  he  was  destined  really  to  love. 

It  would  seem  as  if  there  could  be  nothing  simpler  for 
a  young  man  of  thirty-two,  of  good  family,  possessed  of 
a  fair  fortune,  and  likely  to  be  regarded  as  an  eligible 
suitor,  than  to  ask  the  young  Princess  Shcherbatskaya 
in  marriage,  and  probably  Levin  would  have  been  ac- 
cepted as  an  excellent  match.  But  he  was  in  love,  and 
consequently  it  seemed  to  him  Kitty  was  a  creature  so 
accomplished,  her  superiority  was  so  above  everything 
earthly,  and  he  himself  was  such  an  earthly  insignificant 
being,  that  he  was  unwilling  to  admit,  even  in  thought, 
that  others  or  Kitty  herself  would  regard  him  as  worthy 
of  her. 

Having  spent  two  months  in  Moscow,  as  in  a  dream, 
meeting  Kitty  almost  every  day  in  society,  which  he  al- 
lowed himself  to  frequent  on  account  of  her,  he  suddenly 
concluded  that  this  alliance  was  impossible,  and  took  his 
departure  for  the  country.     Levin's  conclusion  that  it 


30  ANNA    KARENINA 

was  impossible  was  reached  by  reasoning  that  in  her 
parents'  eyes  he  was  not  a  suitor  sufficiently  advanta- 
geous or  suitable  for  the  beautiful  Kitty,  and  that  Kitty 
herself  could  not  love  him.  In  her  parents'  eyes,  he 
was  engaged  in  no  definite  line  of  activity,  and  at  his 
age  had  no  position  in  the  world,  while  his  comrades 
were  colonels  or  staff-officers,  distinguished  professors, 
bank  directors,  railway  officials,  presidents  of  tribunals 
like  Oblonsky  ;  but  he  —  and  he  knew  very  well  how  he 
was  regarded  by  his  friends  —  was  only  a  pomyeshchik, 
or  country  proprietor,  busy  with  breeding  of  cows, 
hunting  woodcock,  and  building  farmhouses :  in  other 
words,  he  was  an  incapable  youth  who  had  accomplished 
nothing,  and  who,  in  the  eyes  of  society,  was  doing  just 
what  men  do  who  have  made  a  failure. 

Surely,  the  mysterious,  charming  Kitty  could  not  love 
a  man  so  ill-favored,  dull,  and  good-for-nothing  as  he 
felt  that  he  was.  Moreover,  his  former  relations  with 
her,  consequent  upon  his  friendship  with  her  brother, 
were  those  of  a  grown  man  with  a  child,  and  seemed  to 
him  only  an  additional  obstacle  to  love. 

It  was  possible,  he  thought,  for  a  girl  to  have  a  friend- 
ship for  a  good,  homely  man,  such  as  he  considered 
himself  to  be  ;  but  if  he  is  to  be  loved  with  a  love  such 
as  he  felt  for  Kitty,  he  must  be  good-looking,  and  above 
all,  a  man  of  distinction. 

He  had  heard  that  women  often  fall  in  love  with  ill- 
favored,  stupid  men,  but  he  did  not  believe  that  such 
would  be  his  own  experience,  just  as  he  felt  that  it  would 
be  impossible  for  him  to  love  a  woman  who  was  not 
beautiful,  brilliant,  and  poetic. 

But,  having  spent  two  months  in  the  solitude  of  the 
country,  he  became  convinced  that  this  was  not  one  of 
his  youthful  passions,  that  the  state  of  his  feelings  al- 
lowed him  not  a  moment  of  rest,  and  that  he  could  not 
live  without  settling  this  mighty  question — whether  she 
would,  or  would  not,  be  his  wife ;  that  his  despair  arose 
wholly  from  his  imagination,  and  that  he  had  no  absolute 
certainty  that  she  would  refuse  him. 

He  had  now  returned  to  Moscow  with  the  firm  inten- 


ANNA    KARENINA  31 

tion  of  offering  himself  and  of  marrying  her  if  she  would 
accept  him.  If  not ....  he  could  not  think  what  would 
become  of  him. 

CHAPTER   VII 

Coming  to  Moscow  by  the  morning  train,  Levin  had 
stopped  at  the  house  of  his  half-brother,  Koznuishef. 
After  making  his  toilet,  he  went  to  the  library  with  the 
intention  of  telling  him  why  he  had  come,  and  asking 
his  advice ;  but  his  brother  was  not  alone.  He  was 
talking  with  a  famous  professor  of  philosophy  who  had 
come  up  from  Kharkof  expressly  to  settle  a  vexed 
question  which  had  arisen  between  them  on  some  very 
important  philosophical  subject.  The  professor  was 
waging  a  bitter  war  on  materialists,  and  Sergei"  Koznui- 
shef followed  his  argument  with  interest ;  and,  having 
read  the  professor's  latest  article,  he  had  written  him  a 
letter  expressing  some  objections.  He  blamed  the  pro- 
fessor for  having  made  too  large  concessions  to  the 
materialists,  and  the  professor  had  come  on  purpose  to 
explain  what  he  meant.  The  conversation  turned  on 
the  question  then  fashionable :  Is  there  a  dividing  line 
between  the  psychical  and  the  physiological  phenomena 
of  man's  action  ?  and  where  is  it  to  be  found .'' 

Sergei  Ivanovitch  welcomed  his  brother  with  the 
same  coldly  benevolent  smile  which  he  bestowed  on 
all,  and,  after  introducing  him  to  the  professor,  con- 
tinued the  discussion. 

The  professor,  a  small  man  with  spectacles,  and 
narrow  forehead,  stopped  long  enough  to  return  Levin's 
bow,  and  then  continued  without  noticing  him  further. 
Levin  sat  down  to  wait  till  the  professor  should  go,  but 
soon  began  to  feel  interested  in  the  discussion. 

He  had  read  in  the  reviews  articles  on  this  subject,  but 
he  had  read  them  with  only  that  general  interest  which 
a  man  who  has  studied  the  natural  sciences  at  the  uni- 
versity is  likely  to  take  in  their  development ;  but  he 
had  never  appreciated  the  connection  that  exists  between 
these  learned  questions  of  the  origin  of  man,  of  reflex 


32  ANNA    KARENINA 

action,  of  biology,  of  sociology,  and  those  touching  the 
significance  of  life  and  of  death  for  himself,  which  had 
of  late  been  more  and  more  engaging  his  attention. 

As  he  listened  to  the  discussion  between  his  brother 
and  the  professor,  he  noticed  that  they  agreed  to  a  cer- 
tain kinship  between  scientific  and  psychological  ques- 
tions, that  several  times  they  almost  took  up  this  subject ; 
but  each  time  that  they  came  near  what  seemed  to  him 
the  most  important  question  of  all,  they  instantly  took 
pains  to  avoid  it,  and  sought  refuge  in  the  domain  of 
subtile  distinctions,  explanations,  citations,  references  to 
authorities,  and  he  found  it  hard  to  understand  what 
they  were  talking  about. 

"  I  cannot  accept  the  theory  of  Keis,"  said  Sergef 
Ivanovitch  in  his  characteristically  elegant  and  correct 
diction  and  expression,  "  and  I  cannot  at  all  admit  that 
my  whole  conception  of  the  exterior  world  is  derived 
from  my  sensations.  The  most  fundamental  concept  of 
being  does  not  arise  from  the  senses,  nor  is  there  any 
special  organ  by  which  this  conception  is  produced." 

"  Yes;  but  Wurst  and  Knaust  and  Pripasof  will  reply 
that  your  consciousness  of  existence  is  derived  from  an 
accumulation  of  all  sensations,  that  it  is  only  the  result 
of  sensations.  Wurst  himself  says  explicitly  that  where 
sensation  does  not  exist,  there  is  no  consciousness  of 
existence." 

"  I  will  say,  on  the  other  hand  ....  "  began  Sergei  Ivan- 
ovitch  

But  here  Levin  noticed  that,  just  as  they  were  about 
to  touch  the  root  of  the  whole  matter,  they  again  steered 
clear  of  it,  and  he  determined  to  put  the  following  ques- 
tion to  the  professor. 

"  Suppose  my  sensations  ceased,  if  my  body  were 
dead,  would  further  existence  be  possible  .''  " 

The  professor,  with  some  vexation,  and,  as  it  were, 
intellectual  anger  at  this  interruption,  looked  at  the 
strange  questioner  as  if  he  took  him  for  a  clown 
rather  than  a  philosopher,  and  turned  his  eyes  to 
Sergei"  Ivanovitch  as  if  to  ask,   "What  does  this  man 


mean  i 


ANNA    KARENINA  33 

But  Sergeif  Ivanovitch,  who  was  not  nearly  so  one- 
sided and  zealous  a  partisan  as  the  professor,  and  who 
had  sufficient  health  of  mind  both  to  answer  the  pro- 
fessor and  to  see  the  simple  and  natural  point  of  view 
from  which  the  question  was  asked,  smiled  and  said :  — 

"  We  have  not  yet  gained  the  right  to  answer  that 
question.".... 

"Our  capacities  are  not  sufficient,"  continued  the  pro- 
fessor, taking  up  the  thread  of  his  argument.  "  No,  I 
insist  upon  this,  that  if,  as  Pripasof  says  plainly,  sensa- 
tions are  based  upon  impressions,  we  cannot  too  closely 
distinguish  between  the  two  notions." 

Levin  did  not  listen  any  longer,  and  waited  until  the 
professor  took  his  departure. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

When  the  professor  was  gone,  Sergeif  Ivanovitch 
turned  to  his  brother. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you.  Shall  you  stay  long } 
How  are  things  on  the  estate .-' " 

Levin  knew  that  his  elder  brother  took  little  interest 
in  the  affairs  of  the  estate,  and  only  asked  out  of  cour- 
tesy ;  and  so  in  reply  he  merely  spoke  of  the  sale  of 
wheat,  and  the  money  he  had  received. 

It  had  been  his  intention  to  speak  with  his  brother 
about  his  marriage  project,  and  to  ask  his  advice ;  but, 
after  the  conversation  with  the  professor,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  the  involuntarily  patronizing  tone  in  which  his 
brother  had  asked  about  their  affairs,  —  for  their  real  estate 
had  never  been  divided  and  Levin  managed  it  as  a  whole, 
—  he  felt  that  he  could  not  begin  to  talk  about  his  proj- 
ect of  marriage.  He  had  an  instinctive  feeling  that  his 
brother  would  not  look  upon  it  as  he  should  wish  him  to. 

"  How  is  it  with  the  zemstvo .'' "  asked  Sergei  Ivan- 
ovitch, who  took  a  lively  interest  in  these  provincial 
assemblies,  to  which  he  attributed  great  importance. 

"  Fact  is,  I  don't  know....  " 

"  What !  aren't  you  a  member  of  the  assembly  ? " 


34  ANNA    KARENINA 

"No,  I  am  no  longer  a  member:  I  have  not  been 
going  and  don't  intend  to  go  any  more,"  said  Levin. 

"It's  too  bad,"  murmured  Sergef  Ivanovitch,  frown- 
ing. 

Levin,  in  justification,  described  what  had  taken  place 
at  the  meetings  of  his  district  assembly. 

"  But  it  is  forever  thus,"  exclaimed  Sergef  Ivanovitch, 
interrupting.  "  We  Russians  are  always  like  this.  Pos- 
sibly it  is  one  of  our  good  traits  that  we  are  willing  to 
see  our  faults,  but  we  exaggerate  them  ;  we  take  delight 
in  irony,  which  comes  natural  to  our  language.  If  such 
rights  as  we  have,  if  our  provincial  institutions,  were 
given  to  any  other  people  in  Europe,  —  Germans  or 
English,  —  I  tell  you,  they  would  derive  liberty  from 
them;    but  we  only  turn  them  into  sport." 

"But  what  is  to  be  done.-'"  asked  Levin,  penitently. 
"  It  was  my  last  attempt.  I  tried  with  all  my  heart ;  I 
cannot  do  it.     I  am  helpless." 

"Not  helpless!"  said  SergeT  Ivanovitch;  "you  did 
not  look  at  the  matter  in  the  right  light." 

"  Perhaps  not,"  replied  Levin,  in  a  melancholy  tone. 

"  Do  you  know,  brother  Nikolai  has  been  in  town 
again .'' " 

Nikolai  was  Konstantin  Levin's  own  brother,  and 
Sergef  Ivanovitch's  half-brother,  standing  between  them 
in  age.  He  was  a  ruined  man,  who  had  wasted  the 
larger  part  of  his  fortune,  had  mingled  with  the  strangest 
and  most  disgraceful  society,  and  had  quarreled  with 
his  brothers. 

"What  did  you  say .'' "  cried  Levin,  startled.  "How 
did  you  know.? " 

"  Prokofi  saw  him  in  the  street." 

"  Here  in  Moscow  .<*  Where  is  he  ?  "  and  Levin  stood 
up,  as  if  with  the  intention  of  instantly  going  to  find 
him. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  I  told  you  this,"  said  Sergei  Ivan- 
ovitch, shaking  his  head  when  he  saw  his  younger 
brother's  emotion.  "  I  sent  out  to  find  where  he  was 
staying ;  and  I  sent  him  his  letter  of  credit  on  Trubin, 
the  amount  of  which  I  paid.     This  is  what  he  wrote  me 


ANNA   KARENINA  35 

in  reply,"  and  Sergei  Ivanovitch  handed  his  brother  a 
note  which  he  took  from  a  letter-press. 

Levin  read  the  letter,  which  was  written  in  the 
strange  hand  which  he  knew  so  well :  — 

I  humbly  beg  to  be  left  in  peace.  It  is  all  that  I  ask  from 
my  dear  brothers.  Nikolai  Levin. 

Konstantin,  without  lifting  his  head,  stood  motionless 
before  his  brother  with  the  letter  in  his  hand. 

The  desire  arose  in  his  heart  now  to  forget  his  un- 
fortunate brother,  and  the  consciousness  that  it  would 
be  wrong. 

"  He  evidently  wants  to  insult  me,"  continued  Serge'f 
Ivanovitch ;  "  but  that  is  impossible.  I  wish  with  all 
my  soul  that  I  might  help  him,  and  yet  I  know  that 
I  shall  not  succeed." 

"  Yes,  yes,"  replied  Levin.  "  I  understand,  and  I 
appreciate  your  treatment  of  him  ;  but  I  am  going  to 
him." 

"  Go,  by  all  means,  if  it  will  give  you  any  pleasure," 
said  Sergef  Ivanovitch ;  "  but  I  would  not  advise  it. 
Not  on  my  account,  because  I  fear  that  he  might 
make  a  quarrel  between  us,  but,  on  your  own  account, 
I  advise  you  not  to  go.  He  can't  be  helped.  How- 
ever, do  as  you  think  best." 

"  Perhaps  he  can't  be  helped,  but  I    feel  especially 

at   this  moment  ....  this  is   quite  another  reason I 

feel  that  I  could  not  be  contented...." 

"Well,  I  don't  understand  you,"  said  SergeY  Ivano- 
vitch; "but  one  thing  I  do  understand,"  he  added: 
"this  is  a  lesson  in  humility.  Since  brother  Nikolai" 
has  become  the  man  he  is,  I  look  with  greater  indul- 
gence on  what  people  call  'abjectness.' ....  Do  you 
know  what  he  has  done .-' "  .... 

"  Akh  !  it  is  terrible,  terrible,"  replied  Levin. 

Having  obtained  from  his  brother's  servant  NikolaY's 
address.  Levin  set  out  to  find  him,  but  on  second  thought 
changed  his  mind,  and  postponed  his  visit  till  evening. 
Before  all,  he  must  decide  the  question  that  had  brought 


S6  ANNA    KARENINA 

him  to  Moscow,  in  order  that  his  mind  might  be  free. 
He  had  therefore  gone  directly  to  Oblonsky;  and, 
having  learned  where  he  could  find  the  Shcherbatskys, 
he  went  where  he  was  told  that  he  would  meet  Kitty. 


CHAPTER   IX 

About  four  o'clock  Levin  dismissed  his  izvoshchik 
at  the  entrance  of  the  Zoological  Garden,  and  with 
beating  heart  followed  the  path  that  led  to  the  ice- 
mountains  and  the  skating-pond,  for  he  knew  that  he 
should  find  Kitty  there,  having  seen  the  Shcherbatskys' 
carriage  at  the  gate. 

It  was  a  clear  frosty  day.  At  the  entrance  of  the 
garden  were  drawn  up  rows  of  carriages  and  sleighs ; 
hired  drivers  and  policemen  stood  on  the  watch.  Hosts 
of  fashionable  people,  with  their  hats  gayly  glancing 
in  the  bright  sunlight,  were  gathered  around  the  doors 
and  on  the  paths  cleared  of  snow,  among  the  pretty 
Russian  cottages  with  their  carved  balconies.  The  an- 
cient birch  trees  of  the  garden,  their  thick  branches 
all  laden  with  snow,  seemed  clothed  in  new  and  solemn 
chasubles. 

Levin  followed  the  foot-path,  saying  to  himself :  — 

"  Be  calm !  there  is  no  reason  for  being  agitated ! 
What  do  you  desire  }  what  ails  you  ?    Be  quiet,  you  fool !  " 

Thus  Levin  addressed  his  heart.  And  the  more  he 
endeavored  to  calm  his  agitation,  the  more  he  was  over- 
come by  it,  till  at  last  he  could  hardly  breathe.  An 
acquaintance  spoke  to  him  as  he  passed,  but  Levin  did 
not  even  notice  who  it  was.  He  drew  near  the  ice- 
mountains,  on  which  creaked  the  ropes  that  let  down 
the  sledges  and  drew  them  up  again.  The  sleds  flew 
with  a  rush  down  the  slopes,  and  there  was  a  tumult 
of  happy  voices. 

He  went  a  few  steps  farther,  and  before  him  spread 
the  skating-ground ;  and  among  the  skaters  he  soon 
discovered  /ler.  He  knew  that  he  was  near  her  from 
the   joy   and   terror   that   seized   his    heart.     She   was 


ANNA    KARENINA  37 

standing  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  pond  engaged  in 
conversation  with  a  lady ;  and  nothing  either  in  her 
toilet  or  in  her  position  was  remarkable,  but  for  Levin 
she  stood  out  from  the  rest  like  a  rose-bush  among 
nettles.  Everything  was  made  radiant  by  her.  She 
was  the  smile  that  lightened  the  whole  place. 

"  Do  I  dare  to  go  and  meet  her  on  the  ice  ? "  he 
asked  himself.  The  place  where  she  was  seemed  like 
an  unapproachable  sanctuary,  and  for  a  moment  he 
almost  turned  to  go  away  again,  so  full  of  awe  it  was. 
He  had  to  master  himself  by  a  supreme  effort  to  think 
that,  as  she  was  surrounded  by  people  of  every  sort, 
he  had  as  much  right  as  the  rest  to  go  on  there  and 
skate.  So  he  went  down  on  the  ice,  not  letting  him- 
self look  long  at  her,  as  if  she  were  the  sun ;  but  he 
saw  her,  as  he  saw  the  sun,  even  though  he  did  not 
look  at  her. 

On  this  day  and  at  this  hour,  the  ice  formed  a  com- 
mon meeting-ground  for  people  of  one  clique,  all  of 
whom  were  well  acquainted.  There  were  also  masters 
in  the  art  of  skating,  who  came  to  show  off  their 
skill ;  others  were  learning  to  skate  by  holding  on 
chairs,  and  making  awkward  and  distressing  gestures ; 
there  were  young  lads  and  old  men,  who  skated  as  a 
gymnastic  exercise :  all  seemed  to  Levin  to  be  the 
happy  children  of  fortune  because  they  were  near 
Kitty. 

And  all  these  skaters,  with  apparently  perfect  un- 
concern, glided  around  her,  came  close  to  her,  even 
spoke  to  her,  and  with  absolute  indifference  to  her 
enjoyed  themselves,  making  the  most  of  the  good 
skating  and  splendid  weather. 

Nikolai  Shcherbatsky,  Kitty's  cousin,  in  short  jacket 
and  knickerbockers,  was  seated  on  a  bench  with  his 
skates  on,  and  seeing  Levin,  he  cried  :  — 

"  Ah  !  the  best  skater  in  Russia !  Have  you  been 
here  long }  The  ice  is  first-rate  !  Put  on  your  skates 
quick !  " 

"  I  have  not  my  skates  with  me,"  replied  Levin,  sur- 
prised at  this  freedom  and  audacity  in  her  presence,  and 


38  ANNA    KARENINA 

not  losing  her  out  of  his  sight  a  single  instant,  although 
he  did  not  look  at  her.  He  felt  that  the  sun  was  shin- 
ing nearer  to  him.  She  was  at  one  corner  and  came 
gliding  toward  him,  putting  together  her  slender  feet 
in  high  boots,  and  evidently  feeling  a  little  timid.  A 
boy  in  Russian  costume  was  clumsily  trying  to  get 
ahead  of  her,  desperately  waving  his  arms  and  bending 
far  forward.  Kitty  herself  did  not  skate  with  much 
confidence.  She  had  taken  her  hands  out  of  her  little 
muff,  suspended  by  a  ribbon,  and  held  them  ready  to 
grasp  the  first  object  that  came  in  her  way.  Looking 
at  Levin,  whom  she  had  recognized,  she  smiled  at  him 
and  at  her  own  timidity.  As  soon  as  this  evolution 
was  finished,  she  struck  out  with  her  elastic  little  foot, 
and  skated  up  to  Shcherbatsky,  seized  him  by  the  arm, 
and  gave  Levin  a  friendly  welcome.  She  was  more 
charming  even  than  he  had  imagined  her  to  be. 

Whenever  he  thought  of  her,  he  could  easily  recall 
her  whole  appearance,  but  especially  the  charm  of  her 
small  blond  head,  set  so  gracefully  on  her  pretty  shoul- 
ders, and  her  expression  of  childlike  frankness  and 
goodness.  The  combination  of  childlike  grace  and  deli- 
cate beauty  of  form  was  her  special  charm,  and  Levin 
thoroughly  appreciated  it.  But  what  struck  him  like 
something  always  new  and  unexpected  was  the  look 
in  her  sweet  eyes,  her  calm  and  sincere  face,  and  her 
smile,  which  transported  him  to  a  world  of  enchantment, 
where  he  felt  at  peace  and  at  rest,  as  he  remembered 
occasionally  feeling  in  the  days  of  his  early  childhood. 

"  Have  you  been  here  long  ? "  she  asked,  giving  him 
her  hand. 

"Thank  you,"  she  added,  as  he  picked  up  her  hand- 
kerchief, which  had  dropped  out  of  her  muff. 

"I.''  No,  not  long;  I  came  yesterday ....  that  is,  to- 
day," answered  Levin,  so  agitated  that  at  first  he  did 
not  get  the  drift  of  her  question.  "  I  wanted  to  call 
upon  you,"  said  he ;  and  when  he  remembered  what 
his  errand  was,  he  grew  red,  and  was  more  distressed 
than  ever.  "I  did  not  know  that  you  skated,  and  so 
well." 


ANNA   KARENINA  39 

She  looked  at  him  closely,  as  if  trying  to  divine  the 
reason  of  his  embarrassment. 

"  Your  praise  is  precious.  A  tradition  that  you  are 
the  best  of  skaters  is  still  floating  about,"  said  she, 
brushing  off  with  her  little  hand,  in  its  black  glove,  the 
pine  needles  that  had  fallen  on  her  muff. 

"  Yes,  I  used  to  be  passionately  fond  of  skating.  I 
had  the  ambition  to  reach  perfection." 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  you  do  all  things  passionately," 
said  she,  with  a  smile.  "  I  should  like  to  see  you  skate. 
Put  on  your  skates,  and  we  will  skate  together." 

"  Skate  together  .-* "  he  thought,  as  he  looked  at  her. 
"  Is  it  possible.?" 

"  I  will  go  and  put  them  right  on,"  he  said  ;  and  he 
hastened  to  find  a  pair  of  skates. 

"  It  is  a  long  time,  sir,  since  you  have  been  with  us," 
said  the  katalshchik,  as  he  lifted  his  foot  to  fit  the  heel 
to  it.  "  Since  your  day,  we  have  not  had  any  one  who 
deserved  to  be  called  a  master  in  the  art.  Are  they 
going  to  suit  you  ?"  he  asked,  as  he  tightened  the  strap. 

"Excellent,  excellent;  only  please  make  haste,"  said 
Levin,  unable  to  hide  the  smile  of  joy  which,  in  spite 
of  him,  irradiated  his  face.  "Yes,"  said  he  to  himself, 
"  this  is  life,  this  is  happiness.  '  We  will  skate  together^ 
she  said.  Shall  I  speak  to  her  now.-*  But  I  am  afraid 
to  speak,  because  I  am  happy,  happy  only  in  the 
hope ....  Yet  when  .-'....  But  it  must  be,  it  must,  it  must. 
Down  with  weakness !  " 

Levin  stood  up,  took  off  his  cloak,  and,  after  making 
his  way  across  the  rough  ice  around  the  little  house,  he 
skated  out  on  the  glare  surface  without  effort,  hasten- 
ing, shortening,  and  directing  his  pace  as  if  by  the 
mere  effort  of  his  will.  He  felt  timid  about  coming  up 
to  her,  but  again  her  smile  assured  him. 

She  gave  him  her  hand,  and  they  skated  side  by  side, 
gradually  increasing  speed ;  and  the  faster  they  went, 
the  closer  she  held  his  hand. 

"  I  should  learn  very  quickly  with  you,"  she  said. 
"  I  somehow  feel  confidence  in  you." 

"I  am   confident  in   myself  when  you  cling  to  my 


40  ANNA    KARENINA 

hand,"  he  answered,  and  immediately  he  was  startled  at 
what  he  had  said,  and  grew  red  in  the  face.  In  fact, 
he  had  scarcely  uttered  the  words,  when,  just  as  the  sun 
goes  under  a  cloud,  her  face  lost  all  its  kindliness,  and 
Levin  became  aware  of  the  well-remembered  play  of 
her  face  indicating  the  force  of  her  thoughts ;  a  slight 
frown  wrinkled  her  smooth  brow  ! 

"  Has  anything  disagreeable  happened  to  you  ?  but  I 
have  no  right  to  ask,"  he  added  quickly. 

"  Why  so  .''  No,  nothing  disagreeable  has  happened 
to  me,"  she  said  coolly,  and  immediately  continued, 
"  Have  you  seen  Mile.  Linon  yet .-'  " 

"  Not  yet." 

"  Go  to  see  her ;  she  is  so  fond  of  you." 

"  What  does  this  mean  ?  I  have  offended  her  !  Lord  ! 
have  pity  upon  me  !  "  thought  Levin,  and  skated  swiftly 
toward  the  old  French  governess,  with  little  gray  curls, 
who  was  watching  them  from  a  bench.  She  received 
him  like  an  old  friend,  smiling,  and  showing  her  false 
teeth. 

"Yes,  but  how  we  have  grown  up,"  she  said,  indicat- 
ing Kitty  with  her  eyes ;  "  and  how  demure  we  are ! 
Tiny  bear  has  grown  large,"  continued  the  old  gover- 
ness, still  smiling ;  and  she  recalled  his  jest  about  the 
three  young  ladies  whom  he  had  named  after  the  three 

bears  in  the  English  story "  Do  you  remember  that 

you  used  to  call  them  so  ."^ " 

He  had  entirely  forgotten  it,  but  she  had  laughed  at 
this  pleasantry  for  ten  years,  and  still  enjoyed  it. 

"  Now  go,  go  and  skate.  Does  n't  our  Kitty  take  to  it 
beautifully } " 

When  Levin  rejoined  Kitty,  her  face  was  no  longer 
severe ;  her  eyes  had  regained  their  frank  and  kindly 
expression ;  but  it  seemed  to  him  that  her  very  kindli- 
ness had  a  peculiar  premeditated  tone  of  serenity,  and 
he  felt  troubled.  After  speaking  of  the  old  governess 
and  her  eccentricities,  she  asked  him  about  his  own  life. 
•*  Is  n't  it  a  bore  living  in  the  country  in  the  winter  .? " 
she  asked. 

"  No,  it  is  not  a  bore;  I  am  very  busy,"  he  replied, 


ANNA    KARENINA  ^i 

conscious  that  she  was  bringing  him  into  the  atmosphere 
of  serene  friendliness  from  which  he  could  not  escape 
now,  any  more  than  he  could  at  the  beginning  of  the 
winter. 

"  Shall  you  stay  long  ?  "  asked  Kitty. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  he  answered,  without  regard  to 
what  he  was  saying.  The  thought  that,  if  he  fell  back 
into  that  tone  of  calm  friendship,  he  might  return  home 
without  reaching  any  decision,  occurred  to  him,  and  he 
resolved  to  rebel  against  it. 

"  Why  don't  you  know .''  " 

"  I  don't  know  why.  It  depends  on  you,"  he  said, 
and  instantly  he  was  horrified  at  his  own  words. 

She  either  did  not  understand  his  words,  or  did  not 
want  to  understand  them,  for,  seeming  to  stumble  once 
or  twice,  catching  her  foot,  she  hurriedly  skated  away 
from  him;  and,  having  spoken  to  Mile.  Linon,  she  went 
to  the  little  house,  where  her  skates  were  removed  by 
the  waiting-women. 

"  My  God  !  what  have  I  done  ?  O  Lord  God  !  have 
pity  upon  me,  and  come  to  my  aid  !  "  was  Levin's  secret 
prayer ;  and,  feeling  the  need  of  taking  some  violent 
exercise,  he  began  to  describe  outer  and  inner  curves  on 
the  ice. 

At  this  instant  a  young  man,  the  best  among  the  re- 
cent skaters,  came  out  of  the  caf/  with  his  skates  on, 
and  a  cigarette  in  his  mouth ;  with  one  spring  he  slid 
down,  slipping  and  leaping  from  step  to  step,  and,  with- 
out even  changing  the  easy  position  of  his  arms,  skated 
down  and  out  upon  the  ice. 

"  Ah,  that  is  a  new  trick,"  said  Levin  to  himself,  and 
he  climbed  up  to  the  top  of  the  bank  to  try  the  new  trick. 

"  Don't  you  kill  yourself !  it  needs  practice,"  shouted 
Nikolai  Shcherbatsky. 

Levin  went  up  to  the  platform,  got  as  good  a  start  as 
he  could,  and  then  flew  down  the  steps  preserving  his 
balance  with  his  arms ;  but  at  the  last  step  he  stumbled, 
made  a  violent  effort  to  recover  himself,  regained  his 
equilibrium,  and  with  a  laugh  glided  out  upon  the  ice. 

"Charming,  glorious  fellow,"  thought  Kitty,  at  this 


42  ANNA    KARENINA 

moment  coming  out  of  the  little  house  with  Mile.  Linon, 
and  looking  at  him  with  a  gentle,  affectionate  smile,  as  if 
he  were  a  beloved  brother.  "Is  it  my  fault  ?  Have  I 
done  anything  very  bad?  People  say,  'Coquetry.'  I 
know  that  I  don't  love  him,  but  it  is  pleasant  to  be  with 
him,  and  he  is  such  a  splendid  fellow.  But  what  made 
him  say  that  .-*  ".... 

Seeing  Kitty  departing  with  her  mother,  who  had 
come  for  her,  Levin,  flushed  with  his  violent  exercise, 
stopped  and  pondered.  Then  he  took  off  his  skates, 
and  joined  the  mother  and  daughter  at  the  gate. 

"Very  glad  to  see  you,"  said  the  princess;  "we  re- 
ceive on  Thursdays,  as  usual." 

"To-day,  then.?" 

"We  shall  be  very  glad  to  see  you,"  she  answered 
coolly. 

This  coolness  troubled  Kitty,  and  she  could  not  re- 
strain her  desire  to  temper  her  mother's  chilling  man- 
ner. She  turned  her  head,  and  said,  with  a  smile,  "  We 
shall  see  you,  I  hope."^ 

At  this  moment  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  with  hat  on 
one  side,  with  animated  face  and  bright  eyes,  entered 
the  garden.  But  as  he  came  up  to  his  wife's  mother, 
he  assumed  a  melancholy  and  humiliated  expression, 
and  replied  to  the  questions  which  she  asked  about 
Dolly's  health.  When  he  had  finished  speaking  in  a 
low  and  broken  voice  with  his  mother-in-law,  he  straight- 
ened himself  up,  and  took  Levin's  arm. 

"  Now,  then,  shall  we  go  .''  I  have  been  thinking  of 
you  all  the  time,  and  I  am  very  glad  that  you  came," 
he  said,  with  a  significant  look  into  his  eyes. 

"Come  on,  come  on,"  replied  the  happy  Levin,  who 
did  not  cease  to  hear  the  sound  of  a  voice  saying,  "  We 
shall  see  yon,  I  Jiope,''  or  to  recall  the  smile  that  accom- 
panied the  words. 

"At  the  Anglia,  or  at  the  Hermitage  .-'  " 

"  It 's  all  the  same  to  me." 

"At  the  Anglia,  then,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
making  this  choice  because  he  owed  more  there  than  at 

1  Simply  da  svidanya,  equivalent  to  au  revoir. 


ANNA   KARENINA  43 

the  Hermitage,  and  it  seemed  unworthy  of  him,  so  to 
speak,  to  avoid  this  restaurant.  "You  have  an  izvosh- 
chik  ?  So  much  the  better,  for  I  sent  off  my  car- 
riage." 

While  they  were  on  the  way,  the  friends  did  not 
exchange  a  word.  Levin  was  pondering  on  the  mean- 
ing of  the  change  in  the  expression  of  Kitty's  face,  and 
at  one  moment  persuaded  himself  that  there  was  hope, 
and  at  the  next  plunged  into  despair,  and  he  saw  clearly 
that  his  hope  was  unreasonable.  Nevertheless,  he  felt 
that  he  was  another  man  since  he  had  heard  those 
words,  "We  shall  see  you,  I  hope,"  and  seen  her  smile. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  meantime  making  out  the 
'tnenu  for  their  dinner. 

"  You  like  turbot,  don't  you .-' "  were  his  first  words 
on  entering  the  restaurant. 

"What.''"    exclaimed  Levin "Turbot.?      Yes,  I 

am  excessively  fond  of  turbot." 


CHAPTER   X 

Levin  could  not  help  noticing,  as  they  entered  the 
restaurant,  how  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's  face  and  whole 
person  seemed  to  shine  with  restrained  happiness.  Ob- 
lonsky  took  off  his  overcoat,  and,  with  hat  over  one  ear, 
marched  toward  the  dining-room,  giving,  as  he  went,  his 
orders  to  the  Tatars  who  in  swallow-tails  and  with  nap- 
kins came  hurrying  to  meet  him.  Bowing  right  and  left 
to  his  acquaintances,  who  here  as  everywhere  seemed 
delighted  to  see  him,  he  went  directly  to  the  bar  and 
took  some  vodka  and  a  little  fish,  and  said  something 
comical  to  the  barmaid,  a  pretty,  curly-haired  French 
girl,  painted,  and  covered  with  ribbons  and  lace,  so  that 
she  burst  into  a  peal  of  laughter.  But  Levin  would  not 
drink  any  vodka  simply  because  the  sight  of  this  French 
creature,  all  made  up,  apparently,  of  false  hair,  rice- 
powder,  and  vinaigre  de  toilette  was  revolting  to  him. 
He  turned  away  from  her  quickly,  with  disgust,  as  from 
some    horrid    place.     His    whole    soul  was    filled   with 


44  ANNA    KARENINA 

memories  of  Kitty,  and  his  eyes  shone  with  triumph  and 
happiness, 

"  This  way,  your  excellency ;  come  this  way,  and 
your  excellency  will  not  be  disturbed,"  said  a  specially 
obsequious  old  Tatar,  whose  monstrous  hips  made  the 
tails  of  his  coat  stick  out  behind.  "  Will  you  come  this 
way,  your  excellency?"  said  he  to  Levin,  as  a  sign  of 
respect  for  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  whose  guest  he  was. 
In  a  twinkling  he  had  spread  a  fresh  cloth  on  the  round 
table,  which,  already  covered,  stood  under  the  bronze 
chandelier;  then,  bringing  two  velvet  chairs,  he  stood 
waiting  for  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's  orders,  holding  in 
one  hand  his  napkin,  and  his  order-card  in  the  other. 

"  If   your   excellency  would   like  to  have  a  private 

room,  one  will  be  at  your  service  in  a  few  moments 

Prince  Galitsuin  and  a  lady.  We  have  just  received 
fresh  oysters." 

"Ah,  oysters!  " 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  reflected.  "  Supposing  we 
change  our  plan.  Levin,"  said  he,  with  his  finger  on 
the  bill  of  fare.     His  face  showed  serious  hesitation. 

"  But  are  the  oysters  good  ?     Pay  attention  !  " 

**  They  are  from  Flensburg,  your  excellency ;  there 
are  none  from  Ostend." 

**  Flensburg  oysters  are  well  enough,  but  are  they 
fresh.?" 

"  They  came  yesterday." 

"Very  good!  What  do  you  say.' — to  begin  with 
oysters,  and  then  to  make  a  complete  change  in  our 
menu  f     What  say  you  .''  " 

"  It 's  all  the  same  to  me.  I  'd  like  best  of  all  some 
skchi^  and  kasJia^  but  you  can't  get  them  here." 

"  Kasha  a  la  riisse,  if  you  would  like  to  order  it,"  said 
the  Tatar,  bending  over  toward  Levin  as  a  nurse  bends 
toward  a  child. 

"  No.  Jesting  aside,  whatever  you  wish  is  good.  I 
have  been  skating  and  should  like  something  to  eat. 
Don't  imagine,"  he  added,  as  he  saw  an  expression  of 
disappointment  on    Oblonsky's   face,   "  that   I    do   not 

1  Cabbage  soup.  *  Wheat  gruel. 


ANNA   KARENINA  45 

appreciate  your  selection.  I  can  eat  a  good  dinner  with 
pleasure." 

"  It  should  be  more  than  that !  You  should  say  that 
it  is  one  of  the  pleasures  of  life,"  said  Stepan  Arkady e- 
vitch.  "  In  this  case,  little  brother  mine,  give  us  two, 
or.... no,  that 's  not  enough,  three  dozen  oysters,  vegetable 
soup ....  " 

"  Printanikre,"  suggested  the  Tatar. 

But  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  did  not  allow  him  the 
pleasure  of  enumerating  the  dishes  in  French,  and  con- 
tinued :  — 

"  Vegetable  soup,  you  understand ;  then  turbot,  with 
thick  sauce ;  then  roast  beef,  but  see  to  it  that  it 's  all 
right.     Yes,  some  capon,  and  lastly,  some  preserve." 

The  Tatar,  remembering  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's  ca- 
price of  not  calling  the  dishes  by  their  French  names, 
instead  of  repeating  them  after  him,  waited  till  he  had 
finished;  then  he  gave  himself  the  pleasure  of  repeating 
the  order  according  to  the  bill  of  fare  :  — 

"  Potage  printanih'e,  turbot,  sauce  Beatimarchais, 
ponlarde  a  V estragon,  macidoine  de  fruits^ 

Then  instantly,  as  if  moved  by  a  spring,  he  substi- 
tuted for  the  bill  of  fare  the  wine-list,  which  he  presented 
to  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

"  What  shall  we  drink  .? " 

"Whatever  you  please,  only  not  much.... champagne," 
suggested  Levin. 

**  What !  at  the  very  beginning  ?  But  you  may  be 
right ;  why  not .''     Do  you  like  the  white  seal } 

"  Cachet  blanc^'  repeated  the  Tatar. 

"  Well,  then,  give  us  that  brand  with  the  oysters. 
Then  we  '11  see." 

"  It  shall  be  done,  sir.  And  what  table  wine  shall  I 
bring  you } " 

"Some  Nuits ;  no,  hold  on  —  give  us  some  classic 
Chablts." 

"  It  shall  be  done,  sir ;  and  will  you  order  some  of 
f02er  cheese .'' " 

"Yes,  somQ parmesan.  Or  do  you  prefer  some  other 
kind?" 


46  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  No,  it 's  all  the  same  to  me,"  replied  Levin,  who 
could  not  keep  from  smiling. 

The  Tatar  disappeared  on  the  trot,  with  his  coat 
tails  flying  out  behind  him.  Five  minutes  later  he  came 
with  a  platter  of  oysters  opened  and  on  the  shell,  and 
with  a  bottle  in  his  hand.  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  crum- 
pled up  his  well-starched  napkin,  tucked  it  into  his 
waistcoat,  calmly  stretched  out  his  hands,  and  began 
to  attack  the  oysters. 

"  Not  bad  at  all,"  he  said,  as  he  lifted  the  succulent 
oysters  from  their  shells  with  a  silver  fork,  and  swal- 
lowed them  one  by  one.  "  Not  at  all  bad,"  he  repeated, 
looking  from  Levin  to  the  Tatar,  his  eyes  gleaming 
with  satisfaction. 

Levin  also  ate  his  oysters,  although  he  would  have 
preferred  white  bread  and  cheese ;  but  he  could  not 
help  admiring  Oblonsky.  Even  the  Tatar,  after  un- 
corking the  bottle  and  pouring  the  sparkling  wine  into 
wide,  delicate  glass  cups,  looked  at  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
with  a  noticeable  smile  of  satisfaction  while  he  adjusted 
his  white  necktie. 

"  You  are  not  very  fond  of  oysters,  are  you  .''  "  asked 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  draining  his  glass.  "  Or  you  are 
preoccupied.'*     Hey.-'" 

He  wanted  Levin  to  be  in  good  spirits,  but  Levin  was 
anxious,  if  he  was  not  downcast.  His  heart  being  so 
full,  he  found  himself  out  of  his  element  in  this  restau- 
rant, amid  the  confusion  of  guests  coming  and  going, 
surrounded  by  the  private  rooms  where  men  and  women 
were  dining  together ;  everything  was  repugnant  to  his 
feelings, — the  whole  outfit  of  bronzes  and  mirrors,  the 
gas  and  the  Tatars.  He  feared  that  the  sentiment 
that  occupied  his  soul  would  be  defiled. 

"  I .''  Yes,  I  am  a  little  absent-minded ;  but  besides, 
everything  here  confuses  me.  You  can't  imagine,"  he 
said,  "how  strange  all  these  surroundings  seem  to  a 
countryman  like  myself.  It 's  like  the  finger-nails  of 
that  gentleman  whom  I  met  at  your  office." .... 

"  Yes,  I  noticed  that  poor  Grinevitch's  finger-nails  inter- 
ested you  greatly,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  laughing. 


ANNA    KARENINA  47 

"  It  is  of  no  use,"  replied  Levin.  "  Suppose  you  come 
to  me  and  try  the  standpoint  of  a  man  accustomed  to 
living  in  the  country.  We  in  the  country  try  to  have 
hands  suitable  to  work  with;  therefore  we  cut  off  our 
finger-nails,  and  oftentimes  we  even  turn  back  our 
sleeves.  But  here  men  let  their  nails  grow  as  long  as 
possible,  and  so  as  to  be  sure  of  not  being  able  to  do 
any  work  with  their  hands,  they  fasten  their  sleeves  with 
plates  for  buttons." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  smiled  gayly  :  — 

"That  is  a  sign  that  he  has  no  need  of  manual  labor; 
it  is  brain-work  ....  " 

"  Perhaps  so.  Yet  it  seems  strange  to  me,  no  less 
than  this  that  we  are  doing  here.  In  the  country  we 
make  haste  to  get  through  our  meals  so  as  to  be  at  work 
again  ;  but  here  you  and  I  are  doing  our  best  to  eat  as 
long  as  possible  without  getting  satisfied,  and  so  we  are 
eating  oysters.  " .... 

"  Well,  there 's  something  in  that,"  replied  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  ;  "  but  the  aim  of  civilization  is  to  trans- 
late everything  into  enjoyment." 

"  If  that  is  its  aim,  I  should  prefer  to  be  untamed." 

"  And  you  are  untamed  I  All  you  Levins  are  un- 
tamed." 

Levin  sighed.  He  thought  of  his  brother  Nikolai", 
and  felt  mortified  and  saddened,  and  his  face  grew 
dark  ;  but  Oblonsky  introduced  a  topic  which  had  the 
immediate  effect  of  diverting  him. 

"  Very  well,  come  this  evening  to  our  house.  I  mean 
to  the  Shcherbatskys',"  said  he,  pushing  away  the 
empty  oyster-shells,  drawing  the  cheese  toward  him, 
and  flashing  his  eyes  significantly. 

"Yes,  I  will  surely  come,"  replied  Levin;  "though 
it  did  not  seem  that  the  princess  was  very  cordial  in  her 
invitation." 

"What  rubbish  !     It  was  only  her  manner Come, 

friend,  bring  us  the  soup It  was  only  her  graiidc  da^ne 

manner,"  replied  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "  I  shall  come 
there  immediately  after  a  rehearsal  at  .the  Countess 
Bonina's How  can  we   help  calling  you  untamed .-' 


48  ANNA    KARENINA 

How  can  you  explain  your  flight  from  Moscow  ?  The 
Shcherbatskys  have  kept  asking  me  about  you,  as  if  I 
were  Ukely  to  know !  I  only  know  one  thing,  that  you 
are  always  likely  to  do  things  that  no  one  else  did." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Levin,  slowly,  and  with  emotion  ;  "  you 
are  right,  I  am  untamed  ;  yet  it  was  not  that  I  went, 
but  that  I  have  come  back  proves  me  so !  I  have  come 
now...." 

"  Oh,  what  a  lucky  fellow  you  are !  "  interrupted 
Oblonsky,  looking  into  Levin's  eyes. 

"Why.?" 

"  I  know  fiery  horses  by  their  brand,  and  I  know 
young  people  who  are  in  love  by  their  eyes,"  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  dramatically  ;  "  everything  is  be- 
fore you !  " 

"  And  yourself,  —  is' everything  behind  you  .-'  " 

"  No,  not  altogether,  but  you  have  the  future ;  and  I 
have  the  present,  and  this  present  is  between  the  devil 
and  the  deep  sea  !  " 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?  " 

"  Nothing  good.  But  I  don't  want  to  talk  about  my- 
self, especially  as  I  cannot  explain  the  circumstances," 
replied  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "  What  did  you  come  to 
Moscow  for  .-*....  Here!  clear  off  the  things!"  he  cried 
to  the  Tatar. 

"  Can't  you  imagine  ?  "  answered  Levin,  not  taking 
his  glowing  eyes  from  Oblonsky's  face. 

"  I  can  imagine,  but  it  is  not  for  me  to  be  the  first  to 
speak  about  it.  By  this  you  can  tell  whether  I  am 
right  in  my  conjecture,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
looking  at  Levin  with  a  sly  smile. 

"  Well,  what  have  you  to  tell  me  ?  "  asked  Levin, 
with  a  trembling  voice,  and  feeling  all  the  muscles  of 
his  face  quiver.     "  How  do  you  look  at  this  ?  " 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  slowly  drank  his  glass  of  Chablis 
while  he  looked  steadily  at  Levin. 

"  I .''  "  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "There  is  nothing 
that  I  should  like  so  much  —  nothing.  It  is  the  best 
thing  that  could  possibly  be  !  " 

"  But  are  n't  you  mistaken  ?     Do  you  know  what  we 


ANNA    KARENINA  49 

are  talking  about  ? "  murmured  Levin,  with  his  eyes  fixed 
on  his  companion.   "Do  you  beHeve  that  this  is  possible  ? " 

"  I  think  it  is  possible.     Why  should  n't  it  be  .-*  " 

"  No,  do  you  really  think  that  it  is  possible  .-'  No  ! 
tell  me  what  you  really  think.  If....  if  she  should  refuse 
me....  and  I  am  almost  certain  that....  " 

"Why  should  you  be  ?  "  asked  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
smiling  at  this  emotion. 

"  It  is  my  intuition.  It  would  be  terrible  for  me  and 
for  her." 

"  Oh !  in  any  case,  I  can't  see  that  it  would  be  very 
terrible  for  her ;  a  young  girl  is  always  flattered  to  be 
asked  in  marriage." 

"  Young  girls  in  general,  perhaps,  not  she." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  smiled ;  he  perfectly  under- 
stood Levin's  feeling,  knew  that  for  him  all  the  young 
girls  in  the  universe  were  divided  into  two  categories  : 
in  the  one,  all  the  young  girls  in  existence  except  her  — 
and  these  girls  had  all  the  faults  common  to  humanity, 
in  other  words,  ordinary  girls  ;  in  the  other,  she  alone, 
without  any  faults,  and  placed  above  the  rest  of 
humanity. 

"  Hold  on !  take  some  gravy,"  said  he,  stopping 
Levin's  hand,  who  was  pushing  away  the  gravy. 

Levin  took  the  gravy  in  all  humility,  but  he  did  not 
give  Oblonsky  a  chance  to  eat. 

"  No,  just  wait,  wait,"  said  he ;  "  you  understand 
this  is  for  me  a  question  of  life  and  death.  I  have 
never  spoken  to  any  one  else  about  it,  and  I  cannot 
speak  to  any  one  else  but  you.  I  know  we  are  very 
different  from  each  other,  have  different  tastes,  views, 
everything  ;  but  I  know  also  that  you  love  me,  and 
that  you  understand  me,  and  that 's  the  reason  I  am  so 
fond  of  you.  Now,  for  God's  sake,  be  perfectly  sincere 
with  me." 

"  I  will  tell  you  what  I  think,"  said  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch, smiHng.  "  But  I  will  tell  you  more  :  my  wife 
—  a  most  extraordinary  woman  "  —  and  Stepan  Ar- 
kadyevitch sighed,  as  he  remembered  his  relations  with 
his  wife  —  then  after  a  moment's  silence  he  proceeded 


50  ANNA    KARENINA 

—  "she  has  a  gift  of  second  sight,  and  sees  through 
people,  but  that  is  nothing !  she  knows  what  is  going  to 
happen,  especially  when  there  is  a  question  of  marriage. 
Thus,  she  predicted  that  Brenteln  would  marry  Sha- 
khovskaya ;  no  one  would  believe  it,  and  yet  it  came  to 
pass.     Well,  my  wife  is  on  your  side." 

"  What  do  you  mean  }  " 

"  I  mean  that  she  likes  you  ;  she  says  that  Kitty  will 
be  your  wife." 

As  he  heard  these  words,  Levin's  face  suddenly 
lighted  up  with  a  smile  which  was  near  to  tears  of 
emotion. 

"  She  said  that !  "  he  cried.  "  I  always  said  that  your 
wife  was  charming.  But  enough,  enough  of  this  sort  of 
talk,"  he  added,  and  rose  from  the  table. 

"  Good  !  but  sit  a  little  while  longer." 

But  Levin  could  not  sit  down.  He  strode  two  or 
three  times  up  and  down  the  little  square  room,  wink- 
ing his  eyes  to  hide  the  tears,  and  then  he  sat  down 
again  at  the  table. 

"  Understand  me,"  he  said  ;  "  this  is  not  love.  I  have 
been  in  love,  but  this  is  not  the  same  thing.  This  is 
more  than  a  sentiment ;  it  is  an  inward  power  that  con- 
trols me.  You  see,  I  went  away  because  I  had  made 
up  my  mind  that  such  happiness  could  not  exist,  that 
such  good  fortune  could  not  be  on  earth.  But  after  a 
struggle  with  myself,  I  find  that  I  cannot  live  without 
this.     This  question  must  be  decided...." 

"  But  why  did  you  go  away  .-*  " 

"  Akh  !  wait !  Akh  !  so  many  things  to  think  about ! 
so  much  to  ask  !  Listen,  you  cannot  imagine  what  your 
words  have  done  for  me !  I  am  so  happy  that  I  have 
already  grown  detestable  !  I  am  forgetting  everything ; 
and  yet  this  very  day  I  heard  that  my  brother  Nikolai  — 
you  know  —  he  is  here,  and  I  had  entirely  forgotten  him. 
It  seems  to  me  that  he,  too,  ought  to  be  happy.  But  this 
is  like  a  fit  of  madness.     But  one  thing  seems  terrible  to 

me You  are  married ;  you  ought  to  know  this  feeling. 

It  is  terrible  that  we  who  are  already  getting  old  ....  with  a 
pastbehindus....notof  love  but  of  wickedness. ...suddenly 


ANNA    KARENINA  51 

come  into  close  relations  with  a  pure  and  innocent 
being.  This  is  disgusting,  and  so  I  cannot  help  feeling 
that  I  am  unworthy." 

"  Well !  you  have  not  much  wickedness  to  answer 
for!" 

"  Akh  !  "  said  Levin;  "and  yet,  ^  as  I  look  zuith  dis- 
gust 071  vty  life,  I  tremble  atid  cjirse  and  mourn  bitterly,' 
....yes!" 

"  But  what  can  you  do  .''  the  world  is  thus  constituted," 
said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

"  There  is  only  one  consolation,  and  that  is  in  the 
prayer  that  I  have  always  loved  :  'Pardon  me  not  accord- 
ing to  my  deserts,  but  according  to  Thy  loving-kindness' 
Thus  only  can  she  forgive  me." 


CHAPTER   XI 

Levin  drained  his  glass,  and  they  were  silent. 

"  I  ought  to  tell  you  one  thing,  though.  Do  you  know 
Vronsky  }  "  asked  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

"  No,  I  don't  know  him ;  why  do  you  ask  .-*  " 

"  Bring  us  another  bottle,"  said  Oblonsky  to  the 
Tatar,  who  was  refilling  their  glasses  and  was  hover- 
ing about  them,  especially  when  he  was  not  needed. 
"  You  must  know  that  Vronsky  is  one  of  your  rivals." 

"  Who  is  this  Vronsky  .'^  "  asked  Levin,  and  his  face, 
a  moment  since  beaming  with  the  youthful  enthusiasm 
which  Oblonsky  so  much  admired,  suddenly  took  on  a 
disagreeable  expression  of  anger. 

"  Vronsky  —  he  is  one  of  Count  Kirill  Ivanovitch 
Vronsky's  sons,  and  one  of  the  finest  examples  of  the 
gilded  youth  of  Petersburg.  I  used  to  know  him  at 
Tver  when  I  was  on  duty  there  ;  he  came  there  for  re- 
cruiting service.  He  is  immensely  rich,  handsome,  with 
excellent  connections,  one  of  the  emperor's  aides,  and, 
moreover,  a  capital  good  fellow.  From  what  I  have 
seen  of  him,  he  is  more  than  a  '  good  fellow ' ;  he  is 
well  educated  and  bright,  he  is  a  rising  man." 

Levin  scowled,  and  said  nothing. 


52  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Well,  then !  he  put  in  an  appearance  soon  after  you 
left ;  and,  as  I  understand,  he  fell  over  ears  in  love  with 
Kitty.     You  understand  that  her  mother....  " 

"  Excuse  me,  but  I  don't  understand  at  all,"  inter- 
rupted Levin,  scowling  still  more  fiercely.  And  sud- 
denly he  remembered  his  brother  Nikolai',  and  how  ugly 
it  was  in  him  to  forget  him, 

"Just  wait,  wait,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  laying 
his  hand  on  Levin's  arm  with  a  smile.  "  I  have  told 
you  all  that  I  know ;  but  I  repeat,  that,  in  my  humble 
opinion,  the  chances  in  this  delicate  affair  are  on  your 
side." 

Levin  leaned  back  in  his  chair ;  his  face  was  pale. 

"  But  I  advise  you  to  settle  the  matter  as  quickly  as 
possible,"  suggested  Oblonsky,  filling  up  his  glass. 

"  No,  thank  you :    I    cannot   drink   any  more,"  said 

Levin,  pushing  away  the  glass.     "  I  shall  be  tipsy 

Well,  how  are  you  feeling?"  he  added,  desiring  to 
change  the  conversation. 

"  One  word  more :  in  any  case  I  advise  you  to  settle 
the  question  quickly.  I  advise  you  to  speak  immedi- 
ately," said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "  Go  to-morrow 
morning,  make  your  proposal  in  classic  style,  and  God 
bless  you." .... 

"  Why  have  n't  you  ever  come  to  hunt  with  me  as 
you  promised  to  do  ."^     Come  this  spring,"  said  Levin. 

He  now  repented  with  all  his  heart  that  he  had  en- 
tered upon  this  conversation  with  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  : 
his  deepest  feelings  were  wounded  by  what  he  had  just 
learned  of  the  pretensions  of  his  rival,  the  young  officer 
from  Petersburg,  as  well  as  by  the  advice  and  insinua- 
tions of  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  smiled.  He  perceived  what 
was  taking  place  in  Levin's  heart, 

"I  will  come  some  day,"  he  said,  "Yes,  brother, 
woman's  the  spring  that  moves  everything.  My  own 
trouble  is  bad,  very  bad.  And  all  on  account  of  women. 
Give  me  your  advice,"  said  he,  taking  a  cigar,  and  still 
holding  his  glass  in  his  hand.  "  Tell  me  frankly  what 
you  think." 


ANNA    KARENINA  S3 

"But  what  about?" 

"  Listen :  suppose  you  were  married,  that  you  loved 
your  wife,  but  had  been  drawn  away  by  another 
woman ....  " 

"  Excuse  me.  I  really  can't  imagine  any  such  thing. 
As  it  looks  to  me,  it  would  be  as  if  in  coming  out  from 
dinner,  I  should  steal  a  loaf  of  bread  from  a  bakery." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch's  eyes  sparkled  more  than  usual. 
"  Why  not  .'*  Bread  sometimes  smells  so  good,  that  one 
cannot  resist  the  temptation  :  — 

"  Himmlisch  I'sfs,  wenn  ich  bezwungen 
Aleine  irdische  Begier  : 
Aber  dock  wenns's  m'c/it  gelungen, 
HaW  ich  aiich  recht  hilbsch  Plaisiry^ 

As  he  repeated  these  lines,  Oblonsky  smiled. 

Levin  could  not  refrain  from  smiling  also. 

"  But  a  truce  to  pleasantries,"  continued  Oblonsky. 
"Imagine  a  woman,  a  charming,  modest,  loving  crea- 
ture, poor,  and  alone  in  the  world,  who  had  sacrificed 
everything  for  you.  Now,  imagine,  after  the  thing  is 
done,  is  it  necessary  to  give  her  up  }  We  '11  allow  that 
it  is  necessary  to  break  with  her,  so  as  not  to  disturb 
the  peace  of  the  family ;  but  ought  we  not  to  pity  her, 
to  make  provision  for  her,  to  soften  the  blow .?  " 

"  Pardon  me  ;  but  you  know  that  for  me  all  women  are 
divided  into  two  classes, ....  no,  that  is, ....  there  are  women, 
and  there  are ....  But  I  never  yet  have  seen  or  expect 
to  see  beautiful  fallen  women,  beautiful  repentant  Mag- 
dalens ;  and  such  women  as  that  painted  French  creature 
at  the  bar,  with  her  false  curls,  fill  me  with  disgust,  and 
all  fallen  women  are  the  same !  " 

"  But  the  woman  in  the  New  Testament }  " 

"  Akh  !  hold  your  peace.  Never  would  Christ  have 
said  those  words  if  he  had  known  to  what  bad  use  they 
would  be  put.     Out  of  the  whole  Gospel,  only  those 

1  It  was  heavenly  when  I  gained 
What  my  heart  desired  on  earth : 
Yet  if  not  all  were  attained, 
Still  I  had  my  share  of  mirth. 


54  ANNA    KARENINA 

words  are  taken.  However,  I  don't  say  what  I  think, 
but  what  I  feel.  You  feel  a  disgust  for  spiders  and 
I  for  these  reptiles.  You  see  you  did  not  have  to  study 
spiders,  and  you  know  nothing  about  their  natures. 
So  it  is  with  me." 

"  It  is  well  for  you  to  say  so ;  it  is  a  very  convenient 
way  to  do  as  the  character  in  Dickens  did,  and  throw 
all  embarrassing  questions  over  his  right  shoulder  with 
his  left  hand.  But  to  deny  a  fact  is  not  to  answer  it. 
Now,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  tell  me !  what  is  to  be  done  .-' 
Your  wife  grows  old  and  you  are  full  of  life.  Before 
you  are  aware  of  it  you  realize  that  you  do  not  love  your 
wife,  however  much  you  may  respect  her.  And  then 
suddenly  you  fall  in  love  with  some  one  and  you  fall, 
you  fall!  "  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  with  a  melancholy 
despair. 

Levin  laughed, 

"  Yes,  you  fall !  "  repeated  Oblonsky.  "  Then  what 
is  to  be  done  ?  " 

"  Don't  steal  fresh  bread." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  burst  out  laughing. 

"  O  moralist !  but  please  appreciate  the  situation. 
Here  are  two  women :  one  insists  only  on  her  rights, 
and  her  rights  mean  your  love  which  you  cannot  give ; 
the  other  has  sacrificed  everything  for  you  and  demands 
nothing.  What  can  one  do  ?  How  can  one  proceed .'' 
Here  is  a  terrible  tragedy!  " 

"If  you  wish  my  judgment  concerning  this  tragedy, 
I  will  tell  you  that  I  don't  believe  in  this  tragedy,  and 
this  is  why.  In  my  opinion,  Love  —  the  two  Loves 
which  Plato  describes  in  his  '  Symposium,'  you  remem- 
ber, serve  as  the  touchstone  for  men.  Some  people 
understand  only  one  of  them ;  others  understand  the 
other.  Those  who  comprehend  only  the  Platonic  love 
have  no  right  to  speak  of  this  tragedy  now.  In  this 
sort  of  love  there  can  be  no  tragedy.  /  tJiank  yo?i 
humbly  for  the  pleasure  ;  and  therein  consists  the  whole 
drama.  But  for  Platonic  love  there  can  be  no  tragedy 
because  it  is  bright  and  pure,  and  because....  " 

At   this  moment   Levin  remembered  his  own   short- 


ANNA    KARENINA  55 

comings  and  the  inward  struggles  which  he  had  under- 
gone, and  he  unexpectedly  added,  "  However,  you  may 
be  right.  It  is  quite  possible....  I  know  nothing  —  abso- 
lutely nothing  —  about  it." 

"  Do  you  see,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  "  you  are 
a  very  perfect  man  ?  Your  great  virtue  is  your  only 
fault.  You  are  a  very  perfect  character  and  you  desire 
that  all  the  factors  of  life  should  also  be  perfect ;  but  this 
cannot  be.  Here  you  scorn  the  service  of  the  state, 
because,  according  to  your  idea,  every  action  should 
correspond  to  an  exact  end ;  but  this  cannot  be.  You 
require  also  that  the  activity  of  every  man  should  always 
have  an  object,  that  conjugal  life  and  love  be  one  and 
the  same ;  but  this  cannot  be.  All  the  variety,  all  the 
charm,  all  the  beauty,  of  life  consists  in  lights  and  shades." 

Levin  sighed,  and  did  not  answer ;  he  was  absorbed 
in  his  own  thoughts  and  did  not  even  listen. 

And  suddenly  both  of  them  felt  that,  though  they  were 
good  friends,  though  they  had  been  dining  together  and 
drinking  wine,  yet  each  was  thinking  only  of  his  own 
affairs  and  cared  nothing  for  the  affairs  of  the  other. 
Oblonsky  had  more  than  once  had  this  experience  after 
dining  with  a  friend,  and  he  knew  what  had  to  be  done 
when,  instead  of  coming  into  closer  sympathy,  the  dis- 
tance between  seemed  widened. 

"  The  account,"  he  cried,  and  went  into  the  next  room, 
where  he  met  an  aide  whom  he  knew,  and  with  whom 
he  began  to  talk  about  an  actress  and  her  lover.  This 
conversation  amused  and  rested  Oblonsky  after  his  con- 
versation with  Levin,  who  always  kept  his  mind  on  too 
great  an  intellectual  and  moral  strain. 

When  the  Tatar  brought  the  account,  amounting  to 
twenty-six  rubles  and  odd  kopeks,  and  something  more 
for  his  fee,  Levin,  who  at  any  other  time,  as  a  country- 
man, would  have  been  shocked  at  the  size  of  the  bill, 
paid  the  fourteen  rubles  of  his  share  without  noticing, 
and  went  to  his  lodgings  to  dress  for  the  reception  at 
the  Shcherbatskys',  where  his  fate  would  be  decided. 


56  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XII 

The  Princess  Kitty  Shcherbatskaya  was  eighteen  years 
old.  She  was  making  her  first  appearance  in  society 
this  winter,  and  her  triumphs  had  been  more  brilliant 
than  her  elder  sisters,  more  than  even  her  mother,  had 
expected.  Not  only  were  almost  all  the  young  men 
who  danced  at  balls  in  Moscow  in  love  with  Kitty, 
but,  moreover,  there  were  two  who,  during  this  first 
winter,  were  serious  aspirants  to  her  hand,  —  Levin, 
and,  soon  after  his  departure,  Count  Vronsky. 

Levin's  appearance  at  the  beginning  of  the  winter, 
his  frequent  calls  and  his  unconcealed  love  for  Kitty, 
were  the  first  subjects  that  gave  cause  for  serious  con- 
versation between  her  father  and  mother  in  regard  to 
her  future  and  for  disputes  between  the  prince  and 
princess.  The  prince  was  on  Levin's  side,  and  declared 
that  he  could  not  desire  a  better  match  for  Kitty.  But 
the  princess,  with  the  skill  which  women  have  for  avoid- 
ing a  question,  insisted  that  Kitty  was  too  young,  that 
Levin  did  not  seem  to  be  serious  in  his  attentions,  and 
that  she  did  not  show  great  partiality  for  him ;  but 
she  did  not  express  what  was  in  the  bottom  of  her 
heart,  —  that  she  was  ambitious  for  a  more  brilliant 
marriage,  that  Levin  did  not  appeal  to  her  sympathies, 
and  that  she  did  not  understand  him.  And  when  Levin 
took  a  sudden  leave  she  was  glad  and  said;  with  an  air 
of  triumph,  to  her  husband  :  — 

"  You  see,  I  was  right." 

When  Vronsky  appeared  on  the  scene,  she  was  still 
more  glad,  being  confirmed  in  her  opinion  that  Kitty 
ought  to  make,  not  merely  a  good,  but  a  brilliant  match. 

For  the  princess  there  was  no  comparison  between 
Vronsky  and  Levin  as  suitors.  The  mother  disliked 
Levin  and  his  strange  and  harsh  judgments,  his  awk- 
wardness in  society,  which  she  attributed  to  his  pride  and 
what  she  called  his  savage  life  in  the  country,  occupied 
with  his  cattle  and  peasants.  Nor  did  she  like  it  at  all 
that  Levin,  though  he  was  in  love  with  her  daughter,  and 


ANNA   KARENINA  .      57 

had  been  a  frequent  visitor  at  their  house  for  six  weeks, 
had  appeared  like  a  man  who  was  hesitating,  watching, 
and  questioning  whether,  if  he  should  offer  himself,  the 
honor  which  he  conferred  on  them  would  not  be  too 
great,  and  that  he  did  not  seem  to  understand  that  when 
a  man  comes  assiduously  to  a  house  where  there  is  a 
marriageable  daughter,  it  is  proper  for  him  to  declare 
his  intentions.  And  then  he  suddenly  departed  with- 
out any  explanation  ! 

"It  is  fortunate,"  the  mother  thought,  "that  he  is  so 
unattractive,  and  that  Kitty  has  not  fallen  in  love  with 
him." 

Vronsky  satisfied  all  her  requirements :  he  was  very 
rich,  intelligent,  of  good  birth,  with  a  brilliant  career 
at  court  or  in  the  army  before  him,  and,  moreover,  he 
was  charming.  Nothing  better  could  be  desired.  Vron- 
sky was  devoted  to  Kitty  at  the  balls,  danced  with  her, 
and  called  upon  her  parents ;  there  could  be  no  doubt 
that  his  intentions  were  serious.  But,  notwithstanding 
this,  the  mother  had  passed  this  whole  winter  full  of 
doubts  and  perplexities. 

The  princess  herself  had  been  married  thirty  years 
before,  through  the  match-making  of  an  aunt.  Her 
suitor,  who  was  well  known  by  reputation,  came,  saw 
the  young  lady,  and  was  seen  by  the  family ;  the  aunt 
who  served  as  intermediary  gave  and  received  the  re- 
port of  the  impression  produced  on  both  sides ;  the 
impression  was  favorable.  Then  on  a  designated  day 
the  expected  proposal  was  made  on  the  parents,  and 
granted.  Everything  had  passed  off  very  easily  and 
simply.  At  least,  so  it  seemed  to  the  princess.  But  in 
the  case  of  her  own  daughters,  she  learned  by  experi- 
ence how  difficult  and  complicated  this  apparently 
simple  matter  of  getting  girls  married  really  was.  How 
many  fears  she  had  to  go  through !  How  many  things 
had  to  be  thought  over,  how  much  money  had  to  be 
lavished,  how  many  collisions  with  her  husband,  when 
the  time  came  for  Darya  and  Natali  to  be  married ! 
And  now  that  the  youngest  was  in  the  matrimonial 
market,  she  was  obliged  to  suffer  from  the  same  anxi- 


58  ANNA    KARENINA 

eties,  the  same  doubts,  and  even  more  bitter  quarrels 
with  her  husband. 

The  old  prince,  like  all  fathers,  was  excessively  punc- 
tilious about  everything  concerning  the  honor  and 
purity  of  his  daughters,  he  was  distressingly  jealous  re- 
garding them,  especially  Kitty,  who  was  his  favorite, 
and  at  every  step  he  accused  his  wife  of  compromising 
his  daughter.  The  princess  had  become  accustomed  to 
these  scenes  from  the  days  of  her  elder  daughters,  but 
now  she  felt  that  her  husband's  strictness  had  more 
justification.  She  saw  that  in  these  later  days  many  of 
the  practices  of  society  had  undergone  a  change,  so 
that  the  duties  of  mothers  were  becoming  more  and 
more  difficult.  She  saw  how  Kitty's  young  girl  friends 
formed  a  sort  of  clique,  went  to  races,  freely  mingled 
with  men,  went  out  driving  alone ;  that  many  of  them 
no  longer  made  courtesies ;  and,  what  was  more  serious, 
all  of  them  were  firmly  convinced  that  the  choice  of 
husbands  was  their  affair  and  not  their  parents'. 

"  Marriages  aren't  made  as  they  used  to  be,"  thought 
and  said  all  these  young  ladies,  and  even  some  of  the 
older  people. 

"  But  how  are  marriages  made  nowadays .-' "  This  ques- 
tion the  princess  could  not  get  any  one  to  answer. 

The  French  custom,  where  the  parents  decide  the 
fate  of  their  children,  was  not  accepted,  was  even  bitterly 
criticized.  The  English  custom,  which  allows  the  girls 
absolute  liberty,  was  also  not  accepted,  and  was  not  pos- 
sible in  Russian  spciety.  The  Russian  custom  of  em- 
ploying a  match-maker  was  regarded  as  bad  form ; 
every  one  ridiculed  it,  even  the  princess  herself.  But 
no  one  seemed  to  know  what  course  to  take  in  regard  to 
courtship.  Every  one  with  whom  the  princess  talked 
said  the  same  thing. 

"  For  goodness'  sake,  it  is  time  for  us  to  renounce 
those  exploded  notions;  it  is  the  young  folks,  and  not 
their  parents,  who  get  married,  and,  therefore,  it  is  for 
young  folks  to  make  their  arrangements  in  accordance 
with  their  own  ideas." 

It  was  well  enough  for  those  without  daughters  to 


ANNA    KARENINA  59 

say  this ;  but  the  princess  knew  well  that  in  this  familiar 
intercourse  her  daughter  might  fall  in  love,  and  fall  in 
love  with  some  one  who  would  not  dream  of  marrying 
her,  or  would  not  make  her  a  good  husband.  However 
earnestly  they  suggested  to  the  princess  that  in  our 
time  young  people  ought  to  settle  their  own  destinies, 
she  found  it  impossible  to  agree  with  them  any  more 
than  she  could  believe  in  the  advisability  of  allowing  the 
four-year-old  children  of  our  time  to  have  loaded  pistols 
as  their  favorite  toys.  And  so  the  princess  felt  much 
more  solicitude  about  Kitty  than  she  had  felt  about 
either  of  her  other  daughters. 

She  feared  now  that  Vronsky  would  content  himself 
with  playing  the  gallant.  She  saw  that  Kitty  was 
already  in  love  with  him,  but  she  consoled  herself  with 
the  thought  that  he  was  a  man  of  honor  and  would  not 
do  so ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  she  knew  how  easy  it  was, 
with  the  new  freedom  allowed  in  society,  to  turn  a  young 
girl's  head,  and  how  lightly  men  as  a  general  thing 
regarded  this. 

The  week  before  Kitty  had  told  her  mother  of  a  con- 
versation which  she  had  held  with  Vronsky  during  a 
mazurka.  This  conversation  had  partially  relieved  the 
princess's  mind,  though  it  did  not  absolutely  satisfy  her. 
Vronsky  told  Kitty  that  he  and  his  brother  were  both  so 
used  to  letting  their  mother  decide  things  for  them,  that 
they  never  undertook  anything  of  importance  without 
consulting  her. 

"  And  now  I  am  looking  for  my  mother's  arrival  from 
Petersburg  as  a  great  piece  of  good  fortune,"  he  had  said. 

Kitty  reported  these  words  without  attaching  any  im- 
portance to  them,  but  her  mother  understood  them  very 
differently.  She  knew  that  the  old  countess  was  ex- 
pected from  day  to  day  ;  she  knew  that  the  old  countess 
would  be  satisfied  with  her  son's  choice ;  and  it  was 
strange  to  her  that  he  had  not  offered  himself,  as  if  he 
feared  to  offend  his  mother.  However,  she  herself  was 
so  anxious  for  this  match,  and  above  all  for  relief  from 
her  anxieties,  that  she  gave  a  favorable  interpretation  to 
these  words.     Bitterly  as  she  felt  the  unhappiness  of  her 


6o  ANNA    KARENINA 

oldest  daughter,  Dolly,  who  was  thinking  of  leaving  her 
husband,  agitation  regarding  the  decision  of  her  young- 
est daughter's  fate  completely  absorbed  her  thoughts. 

Levin's  arrival  to-day  gave  her  a  new  anxiety.  She 
feared  lest  her  daughter,  who,  as  she  thought,  had  at  one 
time  felt  drawn  toward  Levin,  might,  out  of  excessive 
delicacy,  refuse  Vronsky,  and  she  feared  more  than 
anything  else  that  his  arrival  would  complicate  every- 
thing and  postpone  a  long-desired  consummation. 

"  Has  he  been  here  long.''"  asked  the  princess  of  her 
daughter,  when  they  reached  home  after  their  meeting 
with  Levin. 

"Since  yesterday,  inaman." 

"  I  have  one  thing  that  I  want  to  say  to  you ...."  the 
princess  began,  and,  at  the  sight  of  her  serious  and  agi- 
tated face,  Kitty  knew  what  was  coming. 

"  Mamma,"  said  she,  blushing,  and  turning  quickly  to 
her,  "  please,  please  don't  speak  about  this.  I  know,  I 
know  all !  " 

She  wished  the  same  thing  that  her  mother  wished, 
but  the  motives  of  her  mother's  desires  were  repugnant 
to  her. 

"  I  only  wish  to  say  that  as  you  have  given  hope  to 
one...." 

"  Mamma,  galnbchik}  don't  speak.  It  's  so  terrible 
to  speak  about  this." 

"  I  will  not,"  replied  her  mother,  seeing  the  tears  in 
her  daughter's  eyes ;  "  only  one  word,  moya  diisha  ^  : 
you  have  promised  to  have  no  secrets  from  me.  Have 
you  any  ? " 

"  Never,  mamma,  not  one !  "  replied  Kitty,  looking 
her  mother  full  in  the  face  and  blushing;  "but  I  have 
nothing  to  tell  now.  I ....  I ....  even  if  I  wanted  to,  I 
don't  know  what  to  say  and  how....  I  don't  know  ...." 

"  No,  with  those  eyes  she  cannot  speak  a  falsehood," 
said  the  mother  to  herself,  smiling  at  her  emotion  and 
happiness.  The  princess  smiled  to  think  how  momen- 
tous appeared  to  the  poor  girl  what  was  passing  in  her 
heart. 

^  Little  dove.  ^  My  soul. 


ANNA    KARENINA  6i 


CHAPTER   XIII 

After  dinner,  and  during  the  first  part  of  the  even- 
ing, Kitty  felt  as  a  young  man  feels  before  a  battle. 
Her  heart  beat  violently,  and  she  could  not  concentrate 
her  thoughts. 

She  felt  that  this  evening,  when  they  two  should  meet 
for  the  first  time,  would  decide  her  fate.  She  kept  see- 
ing them  in  her  imagination,  sometimes  together,  some- 
times separately.  When  she  thought  of  the  past, 
pleasure,  almost  tenderness,  filled  her  heart  at  the 
remembrance  of  her  relations  with  Levin.  The  recol- 
lections of  her  childhood  and  of  his  friendship  with 
her  departed  brother  imparted  a  certain  poetic  charm 
to  her  relations  with  him.  His  love  for  her,  of  which 
she  was  certain,  was  flattering  and  agreeable  to  her, 
and  she  found  it  easy  to  think  about  Levin.  In  her 
thoughts  about  Vronsky  there  was  something  that 
made  her  uneasy,  though  he  was  a  man  to  the  highest 
degree  polished  and  self-possessed  ;  there  seemed  to  be 
something  false,  not  in  him,  —  for  he  was  very  simple 
and  good,  —  but  in  herself,  while  all  was  clear  and 
simple  in  her  relations  with  Levin.  But  while  Vronsky 
seemed  to  offer  her  dazzling  promises  and  a  brilliant 
future,  the  future  with  Levin  seemed  enveloped  in 
mist. 

When  she  went  up-stairs  to  dress  for  the  evening  and 
looked  into  the  mirror,  she  noticed  with  delight  that  she  was 
looking  her  loveliest,  and  that  she  was  in  full  possession 
of  all  her  powers,  and  what  was  most  important  on  this 
occasion,  that  she  felt  at  ease  and  entirely  self-possessed. 

At  half-past  seven,  as  she  was  going  into  the  drawing- 
room,  the  lackey  announced,  "  Konstantin  Dmitritch 
Levin."  The  princess  was  still  in  her  room  ;  the  prince 
had  not  yet  come  down.  "  It  has  come  at  last,"  thought 
Kitty,  and  all  the  blood  rushed  to  her  heart.  As  she 
glanced  into  a  mirror,  she  was  startled  to  see  how  pale 
she  looked. 

She  knew  now,  for  a  certainty,  that  he  had  come  early, 


62  ANNA    KARENINA 

so  as  to  find  her  alone  and  offer  himself.  And  instantly 
the  situation  appeared  to  her  for  the  first  time  in  a  new, 
strange  light.  Then  only  she  realized  that  the  question 
did  not  concern  herself  alone,  nor  who  would  make  her 
happy,  nor  whom  she  loved,  but  that  she  should  have  to 
wound  a  man  whom  she  liked,  and  to  wound  him  cruelly 
....  why,  why  was  it  that  such  a  charming  man  loved 
her .-'  Why  had  he  fallen  in  love  with  her .-'  But  it  was 
too  late  to  mend  matters ;  it  was  fated  to  be  so. 

"  Merciful  Heaven !  is  it  possible  that  I  myself  must 
tell  him,"  she  thought,  —  "I  must  tell  him  that  I  don't 
love  him }  That  is  not  true !  But  what  can  I  say .'' 
That  I  love  another.?  No,  that  is  impossible.  I  will 
run  away,  I  will  run  away  !  " 

She  had  already  reached  the  door,  when  she  heard  his 
step.  "  No,  it  is  not  honorable.  What  have  I  to  fear .? 
I  have  done  nothing  wrong.  Let  come  what  will,  I  will 
tell  the  truth !  I  shall  not  be  ill  at  ease  with  him.  Ah, 
here  he  is !  "  she  said  to  herself,  as  she  saw  his  strong 
but  timid  countenance,  with  his  brilliant  eyes  fixed  upon 
her.  She  looked  him  full  in  the  face,  with  an  air  which 
seemed  to  implore  his  protection,  and  extended  her 
hand. 

"  I  am  rather  early,  too  early,  I  am  afraid,"  said  he, 
casting  a  glance  about  the  empty  room  ;  and  when  he 
saw  that  his  hope  was  fulfilled,  and  that  nothing  would 
prevent  him  from  speaking,  his  face  grew  solemn. 

"  Oh,  no  !  "  said  Kitty,  sitting  down  near  a  table. 

"  But  it  is  exactly  what  I  wanted,  so  that  I  might  find 
you  alone,"  he  began,  without  sitting,  and  without  look- 
ing at  her,  lest  he  should  lose  his  courage. 

"  Mamma  will  be  here  in  a  moment.  She  was  very 
tired  to-day.     To-day ....  " 

She  spoke  without  knowing  what  her  lips  said,  and 
did  not  take  her  imploring  and  gentle  gaze  from  his 
face. 

Levin  gazed  at  her ;  she  blushed,  and  stopped  speak- 
ing. 

"  I  told  you  to-day  that  I  did  not  know  how  long  I 
should  stay ....  that  it  depended  on  you  ....  " 


ANNA    KARENINA  63 

Kitty  drooped  her  head  lower  and  lower,  not  know- 
ing how  she  should  reply  to  the  words  that  he  was  going 
to  speak. 

"That  it  depended  upon  you,"  he  repeated.  "I 
meant ....  I  meant ....  I  came  for  this,  that ....  be  my  wife," 
he  murmured,  not  knowing  what  he  had  said ;  but,  feel- 
ing that  he  had  got  through  the  worst  of  the  difficulty, 
he  stopped  and  looked  at  her. 

She  felt  almost  suffocated ;  she  did  not  raise  her  head. 
She  felt  a  sort  of  ecstasy.  Her  heart  was  full  of  happi- 
ness. Never  could  she  have  believed  that  the  declara- 
tion of  his  love  would  make  such  a  deep  impression 
upon  her.  But  this  impression  lasted  only  a  moment. 
She  remembered  Vronsky.  She  raised  her  sincere  and 
liquid  eyes  to  Levin,  and,  seeing  his  agitated  face,  said 
hastily :  — 

"  This  cannot  be  ! ....     Forgive  me  !  " 

How  near  to  him,  a  moment  since,  she  had  been,  and 
how  necessary  to  his  life !  and  now  how  far  away  and 
strange  she  suddenly  seemed  to  be ! 

"  It  could  not  have  been  otherwise,"  he  said,  without 
looking  at  her. 

He  bowed  and  was  about  to  leave  the  room. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

At  this  instant  the  princess  entered.  Apprehension 
was  pictured  on  her  face  when  she  saw  their  agitated 
faces  and  that  they  had  been  alone.  Levin  bowed  low, 
and  did  not  speak.  Kitty  was  silent,  and  did  not  raise 
her  eyes.  "  Thank  God,  she  has  refused  him  !  "  thought 
the  mother ;  and  her  face  lighted  up  with  the  smile  with 
which  she  always  received  her  Thursday  guests.  She 
sat  down,  and  began  to  ask  Levin  questions  about  his 
life  in  the  country.  He  also  sat  down,  hoping  to  escape 
unobserved  when  the  guests  began  to  arrive. 

Five  minutes  later,  one  of  Kitty's  friends,  who  had 
been  married  the  winter  before,  was  announced,  —  the 


64  ANNA    KARENINA 

Countess  Nordstone.  She  was  a  dried-up,  sallow,  ner- 
vous, sickly  woman,  with  brilliant  black  eyes.  She  was 
fond  of  Kitty,  and  her  affection,  like  that  of  every  mar- 
ried woman  for  a  young  girl,  was  expressed  by  a  keen 
desire  to  have  her  married  in  accordance  with  her  own 
ideal  of  conjugal  happiness.  She  wanted  to  marry  her 
to  Vronsky.  Levin,  whom  she  had  often  met  at  the 
Shcherbatskys'  the  first  of  the  winter,  was  always  dis- 
tasteful to  her,  and  her  favorite  occupation,  after  she 
had  met  him  in  society,  was  to  make  sport  of  him. 

"I  am  enchanted,"  she  said,  "when  he  looks  down 
on  me  from  his  loftiness ;  either  he  fails  to  honor  me 
with  his  learned  conversation  because  I  am  too  silly 
for  him,  or  else  he  treats  me  condescendingly.  I  like 
this ;  condescending  to  me !  I  am  very  glad  that  he 
cannot  endure  me." 

She  was  right,  because  the  fact  was  that  Levin  could 
not  endure  her,  and  he  despised  her  for  being  proud  of 
what  she  regarded  as  a  merit,  —  her  nervous  tempera- 
ment, her  indifference  and  delicate  scorn  for  all  that 
seemed  to  her  gross  and  material. 

The  relationship  between  Levin  and  the  Countess 
Nordstone  was  such  as  is  often  met  with  in  society 
where  two  persons,  friends  in  outward  appearance, 
despise  each  other  to  such  a  degree  that  they  cannot 
hold  a  serious  conversation,  or  even  clash  with  each 
other. 

The  Countess  Nordstone  instantly  addressed  herself 
to  Levin :  — 

"  Ah,  Konstantin  Dmitrievitch  !  are  you  back  again 
in  our  abominable  Babylon  ? "  said  she,  giving  him  her 
little  yellow  hand,  and  recalling  his  owit  words  at  the 
beginning  of  the  winter  when  he  said  Moscow  was  a 
Babylon.  "Is  Babylon  converted,  or  have  you  been 
corrupted  ?  "  she  added,  with  a  mocking  smile  in  Kitty's 
direction. 

"  I  am  greatly  flattered,  countess,  that  you  remember 
my  words  so  well,"  replied  Levin,  who,  having  had  time 
to  collect  his  thoughts,  instantly  entered  into  the  face- 
tiously hostile  tone  peculiar  to  his  relations  with   the 


ANNA   KARENINA  65 

Countess  Nordstone.  "  It  seems  that  they  have  made 
a  very  deep  impression  on  you." 

"  Akh  !  how  so  ?  But  I  always  make  notes.  Well ! 
how  is  it,  Kitty,  have  you  been  skating  to-day.?".... 

And  she  began  to  talk  with  her  young  friend. 

Awkward  as  it  was  in  him  to  take  his  departure  now, 
Levin  preferred  to  commit  this  breach  of  etiquette 
rather  than  remain  through  the  evening,  and  to  see 
Kitty,  who  occasionally  looked  at  him,  though  she 
avoided  his  eyes.  He  attempted  to  get  up;  but  the 
princess,  noticing  that  he  had  nothing  to  say,  addressed 
him  directly :  — 

"  Do  you  intend  to  remain  long  in  Moscow }  You 
are  justice  of  the  peace  in  your  district,  are  you  not? 
and  I  suppose  that  will  prevent  you  from  making  a 
long  stay." 

"No,  princess,  I  have  resigned  that  office,"  he, said. 
"  I  have  come  to  stay  several  days." 

"  Something  has  happened  to  him,"  thought  the 
Countess  Nordstone,  as  she  saw  Levin's  stern  and  seri- 
ous face,  "  because  he  does  not  launch  out  into  his  usual 
tirades ;  but  I  '11  soon  draw  him  out.  Nothing  amuses 
me  more  than  to  make  him  ridiculous  before  Kitty,  and 
I  '11  do  it." 

"  Konstantin  Dmitritch,"  she  said  to  him,  "explain 
to  me,  please,  what  this  means,  for  you  know  all  about 
it :  at  our  estate  in  Kaluga  all  the  muzhiks  and  their 
wives  have  drunk  up  everything  they  had,  and  don't 
pay  what  they  owe  us.  You  are  always  praising  the 
muzhiks  ;  what  does  this  mean  ?  " 

At  this  moment  another  lady  came  in,  and  Levin  arose. 

"  Excuse  me,  countess,  I  know  nothing  at  all  about 
it,  and  I  cannot  answer  your  question,"  said  he,  look- 
ing at  an  officer  who  entered  at  the  same  time  with  the 
lady. 

"  That  must  be  Vronsky,"  he  thought,  and  to  confirm 
his  surmise  he  glanced  at  Kitty.  She  had  already  had 
time  to  perceive  Vronsky,  and  she  was  looking  at  Levin. 
When  he  saw  the  young  girl's  involuntarily  brightening 
eyes,  Levin  saw  that  she  loved  that  man,  he  saw  it  as 

VOL.  I.  —  s 


66  ANNA    KARENINA 

clearly  as  if  she  herself  had  confessed  it  to  him.  But 
what  sort  of  a  man  was  he  ? 

Now  —  whether  it  was  wise  or  foolish  —  Levin  could 
not  help  remaining ;  he  must  find  out  for  himself  what 
sort  of  a  man  it  was  that  she  loved. 

There  are  men  who,  on  meeting  a  fortunate  rival,  are 
immediately  disposed  to  deny  that  there  is  any  good  in 
him  and  see  only  evil  in  him  ;  others,  on  the  contrary, 
endeavor  to  discover  nothing  but  the  merits  that  have 
won  him  his  success,  and  with  sore  hearts  to  attribute 
to  him  nothing  but  good.  Levin  belonged  to  the  latter 
class.  It  was  not  hard  for  him  to  discover  what  amiable 
and  attractive  qualities  Vronsky  possessed.  They  were 
apparent  at  a  glance.  He  was  dark,  of  medium  stature, 
and  well  proportioned ;  his  face  was  handsome,  calm, 
and  friendly ;  everything  about  his  person,  from  his 
black,  short-cut  hair,  and  his  freshly  shaven  chin,  to  his 
new,  well-fitting  uniform,  was  simple  and  perfectly  ele- 
gant. Vronsky  allowed  the  lady  to  pass  before  him, 
then  he  approached  the  princess,  and  finally  came  to 
Kitty.  As  he  drew  near  her,  his  beautiful  eyes  shone 
with  deeper  tenderness,  and  with  a  smile  expressive  of 
joy  mingled  with  triumph,  —  so  it  seemed  to  Levin,  — 
he  bowed  respectfully  and  with  dignity  and  offered  her 
his  small,  wide  hand.  After  greeting  them  all  and  speak- 
ing a  few  words,  he  sat  down  without  having  seen  Levin, 
who  never  once  took  his  eyes  from  him. 

"  Allow  me  to  make  you  acquainted,"  said  the  prin- 
cess, turning  to  Levin  :  "  Konstantin  Dmitrievitch  Levin, 
Count  Alekseif  Kirillovitch  Vronsky." 

Vronsky  arose,  and,  with  a  friendly  look  into  Levin's 
eyes,  shook  hands  with  him. 

"  It  seems,"  said  he,  with  his  frank  and  pleasant 
smile,  "  that  I  was  to  have  had  the  honor  of  dining  with 
you  this  winter ;  but  you  went  off  unexpectedly  to  the 
country." 

"  Konstantin  Dmitritch  despises  and  shuns  the  city, 
and  us,  its  denizens,"  said  the  Countess  Nordstone. 

"  It  must  be  that  my  words  impress  you  deeply,  since 
you  remember  them  so  well,"  said  Levin;  and,  perceiv- 


i 


ANNA   KARENINA  6j 

ing  that  he  had  already  made  this  remark,  he  grew  red 
in  the  face. 

Vronsky  looked  at  Levin  and  the  countess,  and  smiled. 

"  So,  then,  you  always  live  in  the  country  ?  "  he  asked. 
"  I  should  think  it  would  be  tiresome  in  winter." 

"  Not  if  one  has  enough  to  do  ;  besides,  one  does  not 
get  tired  of  himself,"  said  Levin,  sharply. 

"I  like  the  country,"  said  Vronsky,  noticing  Levin's 
tone  and  appearing  not  to  notice  it. 

"  But,  count,  I  hope  you  would  not  consent  to  live 
always  in  the  country,"  said  the  Countess  Nordstone. 

"  I  don't  know ;  I  never  made  a  long  stay,  but  I  once 
felt  a  strange  sensation,"  he  added.  "  Never  have  I  so 
eagerly  longed  for  the  country,  the  real  Russian  country 
with  its  bast  shoes  and  its  muzhiks,  as  during  the  winter 
that  I  spent  at  Nice  with  my  mother.  Nice,  you  know, 
is  melancholy  anyway  ;  and  Naples,  Sorrento,  are  pleas- 
ant only  for  a  short  time.  There  it  is  that  one  remembers 
Russia  most  tenderly,  and  especially  the  country.  They 
are  almost  as  ....  " 

He  spoke,  now  addressing  Kitty,  now  Levin,  turning 
his  calm  and  friendly  eyes  from  one  to  the  other,  and  he 
evidently  said  whatever  came  into  his  head. 

Noticing  that  the  Countess  Nordstone  wanted  to  say 
something,  he  stopped,  without  finishing  his  phrase,  and 
began  to  listen  to  her  attentively. 

The  conversation  did  not  languish  a  single  instant,  so 
that  the  old  princess,  who  always  had  in  reserve  two 
heavy  guns,  in  case  there  needed  to  be  a  change  in  the 
conversation,  —  namely,  classic  and  scientific  education, 
and  the  general  compulsory  conscription,  —  had  no  need 
to  bring  them  out,  and  the  Countess  Nordstone  did  not 
even  have  a  chance  to  rally  Levin. 

Levin  wanted  to  join  in  the  general  conversation,  but 
was  unable.  He  kept  saying  to  himself,  "  Now,  I  '11 
go ;  "  and  still  he  waited  as  if  he  expected  something. 

The  conversation  turned  on  table-tipping  and  spirits ; 
and  the  Countess  Nordstone,  who  was  a  believer  in 
spiritism,  began  to  relate  the  marvels  that  she  had 
seen. 


68  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Akh,  countess !  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  take  me  to 
see  them.  I  never  yet  saw  anything  extraordinary, 
anxious  as  I  have  always  been,"  said  Vronsky,  smiling. 

"  Good  ;  next  Saturday,"  replied  the  countess.  "  But 
you,  Konstantin  Dmitritch,  do  you  believe  in  it ,'' "  she 
asked  of  Levin. 

"  Why  do  you  ask  me  ?  You  know  perfectly  well"  what 
I  shall  say." 

"  Because  I  wanted  to  hear  your  opinion." 

"  My  opinion  is  simply  this,"  replied  Levin  :  "  that 
table-tipping  proves  that  so-called  cultivated  society  is 
scarcely  more  advanced  than  the  muzhiks ;  they  believe 
in  the  evil  eye,  in  casting  lots,  in  sorceries,  while  we ....  " 

"That  means  that  you  don't  believe  in  it.'' " 

"  I  cannot  believe  in  it,  countess." 

"  But  if  I  myself  have  seen  these  things  ?  " 

"  The  peasant  women  also  say  that  they  have  seen  the 
Do  mo  VOL  ^ 

"Then,  you  think  that  I  do  not  tell  the  truth.?" 

And  she  broke  into  an  unpleasant  laugh. 

"  But  no,  Masha.  Konstantin  Dmitritch  simply  says 
that  he  cannot  believe  in  spiritism,"  said  Kitty,  blushing 
for  Levin ;  and  Levin  understood  her,  and,  growing  still 
more  irritated,  was  about  to  reply;  but  Vronsky  instantly 
came  to  the  rescue,  and  with  a  gentle  smile  brought 
back  the  conversation,  which  threatened  to  go  beyond 
the  bounds  of  politeness. 

"  Do  not  you  admit  at  all  the  possibility  of  its  being 
true.?"  he  asked.  "Why  not.?  We  willingly  admit  the 
existence  of  electricity,  which  we  do  not  understand. 
Why  should  there  not  exist  a  new  force,  as  yet  unknown, 
which...." 

"  When  electricity  was  discovered,"  interrupted  Levin, 
eagerly,  "only  its  phenomena  had  been  seen,  and  it  was 
not  known  what  produced  them,  or  whence  they  arose; 
and  centuries  passed  before  people  dreamed  of  making 
application  of  it.     Spiritualists,  on  the  other  hand,  have 

^  The  Domovol  is  the  house-spirit,  like  the  latin  lar,  who  lives  behind 
the  stove,  and  when  propitiated  by  cream  and  colored  eggs  is  beneficent, 
but  if  offended  may  play  disagreeable  tricks.  —  Tr. 


ANNA    KARENINA  69 

begun  by  making  tables  write,  and  by  summoning  spirits 
to  them,  and  it  is  only  afterward  they  began  to  say  it  is 
an  unknown  force." 

Vronsky  listened  attentively,  as  he  always  listened,  and 
was  evidently  interested  in  Levin's  words. 

"  Yes;  but  the  spiritualists  say,  '  We  do  not  yet  know 
what  this  force  is,  but  it  is  a  force,  and  acts  under  certain 
conditions.'  Let  the  scientists  find  out  what  it  is.  I 
don't  see  why  it  may  not  be  a  new  force  if  it.... " 

"Because,"  interrupted  Levin  again,  "every  time  you 
rub  resin  with  wool,  you  produce  a  certain  and  invariable 
electrical  phenomenon ;  while  spiritism  brings  no  such 
invariable  result,  and  so  it  cannot  be  a  natural  phe- 
nomenon." 

Vronsky,  evidently  perceiving  that  the  conversation 
was  growing  too  serious  for  a  reception,  made  no  reply ; 
and,  in  order  to  make  a  diversion,  smiled  gayly,  and  ad- 
dressing the  ladies  said  :  — 

"  Countess,  let  us  make  the  experiment  now  ?  " 

But  Levin  wanted  to  finish  saying  what  was  in  his 
mind :  — 

"  I  think,"  he  continued,  "  that  the  attempts  made  by 
spiritual  mediums  to  explain  their  miracles  by  a  new 
force  is  most  abortive.  They  claim  that  it  is  a  super- 
natural force,  and  yet  they  want  to  submit  it  to  a  material 
test." 

All  were  waiting  for  him  to  come  to  an  end,  and  he 
felt  it. 

"  And  I  think  that  you  would  be  a  capital  medium," 
said  the  Countess  Nordstone.  "  There  is  something  so 
enthusiastic  about  you  !  " 

Levin  opened  his  mouth  to  speak,  but  he  said  nothing, 
and  turned  red. 

"  Come,  let  us  give  the  tables  a  trial,"  said  Vronsky ; 
"with  your  permission,  princess."  And  Vronsky  rose, 
and  looked  for  a  small  table. 

Kitty  was  standing  by  a  table,  and  her  eyes  met 
Levin's.  Her  whole  soul  pitied  him,  because  she  felt 
that  she  was  the  cause  of  his  pain.  Her  look  said, 
"  Forgive  me,  if  you  can,  I  am  so  happy." 


70  ANNA   KARENINA 

And  his  look  replied,  "  I  hate  the  whole  world,  —  you 
and  myself."     And  he  took  up  his  hat. 

But  it  was  not  his  fate  to  go.  The  guests  were  just 
taking  their  places  around  the  table,  and  he  was  on  the 
point  of  starting,  when  the  old  prince  entered,  and,  after 
greeting  the  ladies,  went  straight  to  Levin. 

"  Ah!  "  he  cried  joyfully.  "  What  a  stranger !  I  did 
not  know  that  you  were  here.     Very  glad  to  see  you  !  " 

In  speaking  to  Levin  the  prince  sometimes  used  the 
familiar  tiii,  thou,  and  sometimes  the  formal  vuiy  you. 
He  took  him  by  the  arm,  and,  while  conversing  with  him, 
gave  no  notice  to  Vronsky,  who  stood  waiting  patiently 
for  the  prince  to  speak  to  him. 

Kitty  felt  that  her  father's  friendliness  must  be  hard 
for  Levin  after  what  had  happened.  She  also  noticed 
how  coldly  her  father  at  last  acknowledged  Vronsky's 
bow,  and  how  Vronsky  looked  at  her  father,  with  good- 
humored  perplexity  striving  in  vain  to  make  out  what 
this  icy  reception  meant,  and  she  blushed. 

"  Prince,  let  us  have  Konstantin  Dmitritch,"  said  the 
Countess  Nordstone.     "  We  want  to  try  an  experiment." 

"What  sort  of  an  experiment.'^  table-tipping.?  Well! 
excuse  me,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  but,  in  my  opinion, 
grace-hoops^  would  be  a  better  game,"  said  the  prince, 
looking  at  Vronsky,  whom  he  took  to  be  the  originator 
of  this  sport.  "  At  least  there's  some  sense  in  grace- 
hoops." 

Vronsky,  astonished,  turned  his  steady  eyes  upon  the 
old  prince,  and,  slightly  smiling,  began  to  talk  with  the 
Countess  Nordstone  about  the  arrangements  for  a  great 
ball  to  be  given  the  following  week. 

"  I  hope  that  you  will  be  there,"  said  he,  turning  to 
Kitty. 

As  soon  as  the  old  prince  turned  from  him  Levin 
made  his  escape;  and  the  last  impression  which  he  bore 
away  from  this  reception  was  Kitty's  happy,  smiling 
face,  answering  Vronsky's  question  in  regard  to  the 
ball. 

1  Kaletchki. 


ANNA    KARENINA  71 


CHAPTER   XV 

After  the  guests  had  gone,  Kitty  told  her  mother  of 
her  conversation  with  Levin;  and,  in  spite  of  all  the 
pain  that  she  had  caused  him,  the  thought  that  he  had 
asked  her  to  marry  him  flattered  her.  She  had  no 
doubt  that  she  had  acted  properly,  but  it  was  long  be- 
fore she  could  go  to  sleep.  One  memory  constantly 
arose  in  her  mind:  it  was  Levin's  face  as,  with  con- 
tracted brow,  he  stood  listening  to  her  father,  looking 
at  her  and  Vronsky  with  his  gloomy,  melancholy,  kind 
eyes.  She  felt  so  sorry  for  him  that  she  could  not  keep 
back  the  tears.  But,  as  she  thought  of  him  who  had 
replaced  Levin  in  her  regards,  she  saw  vividly  his 
handsome,  strong,  and  manly  face,  his  aristocratic  self- 
possession,  his  universal  kindness  to  every  one;  she  re- 
called his  love  for  her,  and  how  she  loved  him,  and  joy 
came  back  to  her  heart.  She  laid  her  head  on  the  pil- 
low, and  smiled  with  happiness. 

"  It  is  too  bad,  too  bad;  but  what  can  I  do."*  It  is  not 
my  fault,"  she  said  to  herself,  although  an  inward  voice 
whispered  the  contrary.  She  did  not  know  whether  she 
ought  to  reproach  herself  for  having  been  attracted  to 
Levin,  or  for  having  refused  him;  but  her  happiness 
was  not  alloyed  with  doubts.  "  Lord,  have  mercy  upon 
me!  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  me!  Lord,  have  mercy 
upon  me!  "   she  repeated  until  she  went  to  sleep. 

Meantime,  down-stairs,  in  the  prince's  little  library, 
there  was  going  on  one  of  those  scenes  which  fre- 
quently occurred  between  the  parents  in  regard  to  their 
favorite  daughter. 

"What.''  This  is  what!"  cried  the  prince,  waving  his 
arms  and  immediately  wrapping  around  him  his  squirrel- 
skin  khalat.  "You  have  neither  pride  nor  dignity;  you 
are  ruining  your  daughter  with  this  low  and  ridiculous 
manner  of  husband-hunting." 

"  But  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  prince,  what  have  I 
done?  "   said  the  princess,  almost  ready  to  cry. 


7%  ANNA   KARENINA 

She  had  come  as  usual  to  say  good-night  to  her  hus- 
band, feeling  very  happy  and  satisfied  over  her  con- 
versation with  her  daughter ;  and,  though  she  had  not 
ventured  to  breathe  a  word  of  Levin's  proposal  and 
Kitty's  rejection  of  him,  she  allowed  herself  to  hint  to 
her  husband  that  she  thought  the  affair  with  Vronsky 
was  settled,  that  it  would  be  decided  as  soon  as  the 
countess  should  arrive.  At  these  words  the  prince  had 
fallen  into  a  passion,  and  had  addressed  her  with  un- 
pleasant reproaches: — ■ 

"What  have  you  done?  This  is  what:  In  the  first 
place  you  have  decoyed  a  husband  for  her;  and  all 
Moscow  will  say  so,  and  with  justice.  If  you  want  to 
give  receptions,  give  them,  by  all  means,  but  invite 
every  one,  and  not  suitors  of  your  own  choice.  Invite 
all  these  mashers,"  —  thus  the  prince  called  the  young 
men  of  Moscow,  —  "have  somebody  to  play  and  let  'em 
dance;  but  not  like  to-night,  inviting  only  suitors!  It 
seems  to  me  shameful,  shameful,  the  way  you've  pushed ! 
You  have  turned  the  girl's  head.  Levin  is  a  thousand 
times  the  better  man.  And  as  to  this  Petersburg  dandy, 
he  's  one  of  those  turned  out  by  machinery,  they  are  all 
on  one  pattern,  and  all  trash!  My  daughter  has  no 
need  of  going  out  of  her  way,  even  for  a  prince  of  the 
blood." 

"  But  what  have  I  done  ?  " 

"Why,  this....  "  cried  the  prince,  angrily. 

"  I  know  well  enough  that,  if  I  listen  to  you,"  inter- 
rupted the  princess,  "  we  shall  never  see  our  daughter 
married;  and,  in  that  case,  we  might  just  as  well  go 
into  the  country." 

"We'd  better  go!" 

"  Now  wait !  Have  I  made  any  advances  ?  No,  I 
have  not.  But  a  young  man,  and  a  very  handsome 
young  man,  is  in  love  with  her;  and  she,  it  seems...." 

"  Yes,  so  it  seems  to  you.  But  suppose  she  should 
be  in  love  with  him,  and  he  have  as  much  intention 
of  getting  married  as  I  myself .''  Okh !  Have  n't  I 
eyes  to  see  .-•  '  Akh,  spiritism !  akh,  Nice !  akh,  the 
ball ! '  "  ....  Here  the  prince,  attempting  to   imitate  his 


ANNA    KARENINA  73 

wife,  made  a  courtesy  at  every  word.  "  We  shall  be 
very  proud  when  we  have  made  our  Kationka  unhappy, 
and  when  she  really  takes  it  into  her  head..,." 

"  But  what  makes  you  think  so  .''  " 

"  I  don't  think  so,  I  know  so ;  and  that 's  why  we 
have  eyes,  and  you  mothers  have  n't.  I  see  a  man 
who  has  serious  intentions,  —  Levin ;  and  I  see  a  fine 
bird,  like  this  good-for-nothing,  who  is  merely  amusing 
himself." 

"  Well !  now  you  have  taken  it  into  your  head  ....  " 

"  You  will  remember  what  I  have  said,  but  too  late, 
as  you  did  with  Dashenka." 

•'  Very  well,  very  well,  we  will  not  say  anything  more 
about  it,"  said  the  princess,  who  was  cut  short  by  the 
remembrance  of  Dolly's  unhappiness. 

"  So  much  the  better,  and  good-night." 

The  husband  and  wife,  as  they  separated,  kissed 
each  other  good-night,  making  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
but  with  the  consciousness  that  each  remained  un- 
changed in  opinion. 

The  princess  had  at  first  been  firmly  convinced  that 
Kitty's  fate  was  decided  by  the  events  of  the  evening, 
and  that  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  Vronsky's  designs ; 
but  her  husband's  words  troubled  her.  On  her  return 
to  her  room,  as  she  thought  in  terror  of  the  unknown 
future,  she  did  just  as  Kitty  had  done,  and  prayed  from 
the  bottom  of  her  heart,  "  Lord,  have  mercy !  Lord, 
have  mercy !     Lord,  have  mercy !  " 


CHAPTER   XVI 

Vronsky  had  never  known  anything  of  family  life. 
His  mother,  in  her  youth,  had  been  a  very  brilliant 
society  woman,  who,  in  her  husband's  lifetime  and 
after  his  death,  had  engaged  in  many  love-affairs  that 
had  made  talk.  Vronsky  scarcely  remembered  his  father, 
and  he  had  been  educated  in  the  School  of  Pages. 

Graduating  very  young  and  with  brilliancy  as  an 
officer,  he  immediately  began  to  follow  the  course  of 


74  ANNA    KARENINA 

wealthy  militar}'^  men  of  Petersburg.  Though  he  oc- 
casionally went  into  general  society,  all  his  love-affairs 
were  with  a  different  class. 

At  Moscow,  after  the  luxurious,  dissipated  life  of 
Petersburg,  he  for  the  first  time  felt  the  charm  of 
familiar  intercourse  with  a  lovely,  innocent  society 
girl,  who  was  evidently  in  love  with  him.  It  never 
occurred  to  him  that  there  might  be  anything  wrong 
in  his  relations  with  Kitty.  At  balls  he  preferred  to 
dance  with  her,  he  called  on  her,  talked  with  her  as 
people  generally  talk  in  society :  all  sorts  of  trifles, 
but  trifles  to  which  he  involuntarily  attributed  a  differ- 
ent meaning  when  spoken  to  her.  Although  he  never 
said  anything  to  her  which  he  would  not  have  said  in 
the  hearing  of  others,  he  was  conscious  that  she  kept 
growing  more  and  more  dependent  on  him ;  and,  the 
more  he  felt  this  consciousness,  the  pleasanter  it  was 
to  him,  and  his  feeling  toward  her  grew  warmer  and 
warmer.  He  did  not  know  that  his  behavior  toward 
Kitty  had  a  definite  name,  that  this  way  of  leading 
on  young  girls  without  any  intention  of  marriage  is 
one  of  the  most  dishonorable  tricks  practised  among 
the  members  of  the  brilliant  circles  of  society  in  which 
he  moved.  He  simply  imagined  that  he  had  discovered 
a  new  pleasure,  and  he  enjoyed  his  discovery. 

Could  he  have  heard  the  conversation  between  Kitty's 
parents  that  evening,  could  he  have  taken  the  family 
point  of  view  and  realized  that  Kitty  would  be  made 
unhappy  if  he  did  not  propose  to  her,  he  would  have 
been  amazed  and  would  not  have  believed  it.  He 
would  not  have  believed  that  what  gave  him  and  her 
such  a  great  delight  could  be  wrong,  still  less  that  it 
brought  any  obligation  to  marry. 

He  had  never  considered  the  possibility  of  his  getting 
married.  Not  only  was  family  life  distasteful  to  him, 
but,  from  his  view  as  a  bachelor,  the  family,  and  espe- 
cially the  husband,  belonged  to  a  strange,  hostile,  and, 
worst  of  all,  ridiculous  world.  But  though  Vronsky  had 
not  the  slightest  suspicion  of  the  conversation  of  which 
he  had  been  the  subject,  he  left  the  Shcherbatskys'  with 


ANNA    KARENINA  75 

the  feeling  that  the  mysterious  bond  that  attached  him 
to  Kitty  was  closer  than  ever,  so  close,  indeed,  that  he 
felt  that  he  must  do  something.  But  what  he  ought 
to  do  or  could  do  he  could  not  imagine. 

"  How  charming !  "  he  thought,  as  he  went  to  his 
rooms,  feeling,  as  he  always  felt  when  he  left  the 
Shcherbatskys',  a  deep  impression  of  purity  and  fresh- 
ness, arising  partly  from  the  fact  that  he  had  not 
smoked  all  the  evening,  and  a  new  sensation  of  ten- 
derness caused  by  her  love  for  him.  "  How  charming 
that,  without  either  of  us  saying  anything,  we  under- 
stand each  other  so  perfectly  through  this  mute  lan- 
guage of  glances  and  tones,  so  that  to-day  more  than 
ever  before  she  told  me  that  she  loves  me !  And  how 
lovely,  natural,  and,  above  all,  confidential,  she  was ! 
I  feel  that  I  myself  am  better,  purer.  I  feel  that  I 
have  a  heart,  and  that  there  is  something  good  in  me. 
Those  gentle,  lovely  eyes !  When  she  said....  Well! 
what  did  she  say  ? ....  Nothing  much,  but  it  was  pleas- 
ant for  me,  and  pleasant  for  her." 

And  he  reflected  how  he  could  best  finish  up  the 
evening.  He  passed  in  review  the  places  where  he 
might  go :  "  The  '  club,'  a  hand  of  bezique  and  some 
champagne  with  Ignatof  .-'  No,  not  there.  The  Chateau 
des  Fleurs,  to  find  Oblonsky,  songs,  and  the  cancan  f 
No,  it 's  a  bore.  And  this  is  just  why  I  like  the  Shcher- 
batskys, —  because  I  feel  better  for  having  been  there. 
I  '11  go  home  !  " 

He  went  to  his  room  at  Dusseaux's,  ordered  supper, 
and  then,  having  undressed,  he  had  scarcely  touched  his 
head  to  the  pillow  before  he  was  sound  asleep. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

The  next  morning,  about  eleven  o'clock,  Vronsky  went 
to  the  station  to  meet  his  mother  on  the  Petersburg  train  ; 
and  the  first  person  he  saw  on  the  grand  staircase  was 
Oblonsky,  who  was  expecting  his  sister  on  the  same 
train 


76  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Ah !  your  excellency,"  cried  Oblonsky,  "  are  you 
expecting  some  one  ?  " 

"  My  matushka,"  replied  Vronsky,  with  the  smile  with 
which  people  always  met  Oblonsky.  And,  after  shak- 
ing hands,  they  mounted  the  staircase  side  by  side. 
"  She  was  to  come  from  Petersburg  to-day." 

"  I  waited  for  you  till  two  o'clock  this  morning. 
Where  did  you  go  after  leaving  the  Shcherbatskys' .'' " 

"Home,"  replied  Vronsky.  "To  tell  the  truth,  after 
such  a  pleasant  evening  at  the  Shcherbatskys',  I  did  not 
feel  like  going  anywhere." 

"  I  know  fiery  horses  by  their  brand,  and  young  people 
who  are  in  love  by  their  eyes,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
in  the  same  dramatic  tone  in  which  he  had  spoken  to 
Levin  the  afternoon  before. 

Vronsky  smiled,  as  much  as  to  say  that  he  did  not 
deny  it ;  but  he  hastened  to  change  the  conversation. 

"  And  whom  have  you  to  meet  ? "  he  asked. 

"  I .''  a  very  pretty  woman,"  said  Oblonsky. 

"Ah!  indeed!" 

"  Ifom  soit  qui  inal y  pense  !     My  sister  Anna  !  " 

"  Akh  !  Madame  Karenina !  "  exclaimed  Vronsky. 

"  Do  you  know  her,  then  .-' " 

"It  seems  to  me  that  I  do.  Or,  no....  the  truth  is,  I 
don't  think  I  do,"  replied  Vronsky,  somewhat  confused. 
The  name  Karenin  dimly  brought  to  his  mind  a  tiresome 
and  conceited  person. 

"  But  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch,  my  celebrated  brother- 
in-law,  you  must  know  him !     Every  one  knows  him." 

"  That  is,  I  know  him  by  reputation,  and  by  sight.  I 
know  that  he  is  talented,  learned,  and  rather  adorable 
....but  you  know  that  he  is  no\.....not  in  my  line"  said 
Vronsky  in  English. 

"  Yes ;  he  is  a  very  remarkable  man,  somewhat  con- 
servative, but  a  splendid  man,"  replied  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch.    "  A  splendid  man." 

"Well!  so  much  the  better  for  him,"  said  Vronsky, 
smiling.  "Ah!  here  you  are,"  he  cried,  seeing  his 
mother's  old  lackey  standing  at  the  door.  "  Come  this 
way,"  he  added. 


ANNA    KARENINA  77 

Vronsky,  besides  experiencing  the  pleasure  that  every- 
body felt  in  seeing  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  had  felt  espe- 
cially drawn  to  him,  because,  in  a  certain  way,  it  brought 
him  closer  to  Kitty. 

"  Well,  now,  what  do  you  say  to  giving  the  diva  a 
supper  Sunday  ? "  said  he,  with  a  smile,  taking  him  by 
the  arm. 

"  Certainly ;  I  will  pay  my  share.  Oh,  tell  me,  did 
you  meet  my  friend  Levin  last  evening  ? "  asked  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch. 

"  Yes,  but  he  went  away  very  early." 

"  He  is  a  glorious  young  fellow,"  said  Oblonsky,  "  is  n't 
he  ? " 

"I  don't  know  why  it  is,"  replied  Vronsky,  "but  all 
the  Muscovites,  present  company  excepted,"  he  added 
jestingly,  "  have  something  sharp  about  them.  They 
all  seem  to  be  high-strung,  fiery  tempered,  as  if  they  all 
wanted  to  make  you  understand ....  " 

"That  is  true  enough;  there  is...."  replied  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  smiling  pleasantly. 

"Is  the  train  on  time  ? "  asked  Vronsky  of  an  em- 
ployee. 

"  It  will  be  here  directly,"  replied  the  employee. 

The  increasing  bustle  in  the  station,  the  coming  and 
going  of  porters,  the  appearance  of  policemen  and  offi- 
cials, the  arrival  of  expectant  friends,  all  indicated  the 
approach  of  the  train.  Through  the  frosty  steam,  work- 
men could  be  seen  passing  in  their  soft  blouses  and  felt 
boots  amid  the  network  of  rails.  The  whistle  of  the 
coming  engine  was  heard,  and  the  approach  of  some- 
thing heavy. 

"  No,"  continued  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who  was  anx- 
ious to  inform  Vronsky  of  Levin's  intentions  in  regard 
to  Kitty.  "  No,  you  are  really  unjust  to  my  friend  Levin. 
He  is  a  very  nervous  man,  and  sometimes  he  can  be  dis- 
agreeable ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  he  can  be  very  charm- 
ing. He  is  such  an  upright,  genuine  nature,  true  gold ! 
Last  evening  there  were  special  reasons,"  continued 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  with  a  significant  smile,  and  en- 
tirely forgetting  his  genuine  sympathy,  which  the  even- 


78  ANNA    KARENINA 

ing  before  he  had  felt  for  his  old  friend,  and  now 
experiencing  the  same  sympathy  for  Vronsky.  "  Yes, 
there  was  a  reason  why  he  should  have  been  either 
very  happy  or  very  unhappy." 

Vronsky  stopped  short,  and  asked  point-blank :  — 

"  What  was  it  ?  Do  you  mean  that  he  proposed  yes- 
terday evening  to  your  sister-in-law  ?  " 

"  Possibly,"  replied  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "  Something 
like  that  seemed  probable  last  evening.  Yes,  if  he 
went  off  so  early,  and  was  in  such  bad  spirits,  then  it 

is  so He  has  been  in  love  with  her  for  so  long,  and 

I  am  very  sorry  for  him." 

"  Ah,  indeed ! ....  I  thought  that  she  might,  however, 
have  aspirations  for  a  better  match,"  said  Vronsky,  and, 
filling  out  his  chest,  he  began  to  walk  up  and  down  again. 
Then  he  added :  "  However,  I  don't  know  him ;  yes, 
this  promises  to  be  a  painful  situation.  That  is  why  the 
majority  of  men  prefer  to  consort  with  their  Claras. 
There,  lack  of  success  shows  that  you  have  n't  money 
enough ;  but  here  you  stand  on  your  own  merits.  But 
here  is  the  train." 

In  fact,  the  engine  was  now  whistling  some  distance 
away.  But  in  a  few  minutes  the  platform  shook,  and 
the  locomotive,  puffing  out  the  steam  condensed  by  the 
cold  air,  came  rolling  into  the  station,  with  the  lever 
of  the  central  wheel  slowly  and  rhythmically  rising  and 
falling,  and  the  engineer  well  muffled  and  covered  with 
frost.  Next  the  tender  came  the  baggage-car,  still  more 
violently  shaking  the  platform ;  a  dog  in  its  cage  was 
yelping  piteously ;  finally  appeared  the  passenger-cars, 
which  jolted  together  as  the  train  came  to  a  stop. 

The  vigorous-looking  conductor  sprang  down  from  the 
car  and  whistled ;  and  behind  him  came  the  more  impa- 
tient of  the  travelers,  —  an  officer  of  the  Guard,  straight 
and  imperious,  a  nimble  little  merchant,  gayly  smiling, 
with  his  gripsack,  and  a  muzhik,  with  his  bundle  over 
his  shoulder. 

Vronsky,  standing  near  Oblonsky,  watched  the  cars 
and  the  passengers,  and  completely  forgot  his  mother. 
What  he  had  just  heard  about  Kitty  caused  him  emotion 


ANNA    KARENINA  79 

and  joy;  he  involuntarily  straightened  himself;  his  eyes 
glistened  ;  he  felt  that  he  had  won  a  victory. 

"  The  Countess  Vronskaya  is  in  that  compartment," 
said  the  vigorous  conductor,  approaching  him.  These 
words  awoke  him  from  his  reverie,  and  brought  his 
thoughts  back  to  his  mother  and  their  approaching 
meeting.  In  his  soul  he  did  not  respect  his  mother,  and, 
without  ever  having  confessed  as  much  to  himself,  he 
did  not  love  her.  But  his  education  and  the  usages  of 
the  society  in  which  he  lived  did  not  allow  him  to  admit 
that  there  could  be  in  his  relations  with  her  the 
slightest  want  of  consideration.  But  the  more  he  ex- 
aggerated the  bare  outside  forms,  the  less  he  felt  in  his 
heart  that  he  respected  or  loved  her. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Vronsky  followed  the  conductor,  and,  as  he  was 
about  to  enter  the  railway-carriage,  he  stood  aside  to 
allow  a  lady  to  pass  him. 

With  the  instant  intuition  of  a  man  of  the  world,  he 
saw,  by  a  single  glance  at  this  lady's  exterior,  that  she 
belonged  to  the  very  best  society.  Begging  her  pardon, 
he  was  about  to  enter  the  door,  but  involuntarily  he 
turned  to  give  another  look  at  the  lady,  not  because  she 
was  very  beautiful,  not  because  of  that  elegance  and  that 
unassuming  grace  which  were  expressed  in  her  whole 
person,  but  because  the  expression  of  her  lovely  face,  as 
she  passed,  seemed  to  him  so  gentle  and  sweet. 

Just  as  he  looked  back  at  her,  she  also  turned  her 
head.  Her  brilliant  gray  eyes,  looking  almost  black 
under  the  long  lashes,  rested  on  his  face  with  a  friendly, 
attentive  look,  as  if  she  recognized  him  ;  and  instantly 
she  turned  to  seek  some  one  in  the  throng. 

Quick  as  this  glance  was,  Vronsky  had  time  to  per- 
ceive the  dignified  vivacity  which  played  in  her  facc/i  ^^. 
and  fluttered  between  her  shining  eyes,  and  the  scarcely 7'    ir^ 
perceptible  smile  parting  her  rosy  lips.     There  seemed     ^**-f  Hu, 
to  be  in  her  whole  person   such  a  superfluity  of  life        ' 


8o  ANNA    KARENINa 

that,  in  spite  of  her  will,  it  expressed  itself  now  in  the 
lightning  of  her  eyes,  now  in  her  smile.  She  demurely 
veiled  the  light  in  her  eyes,  but  it  shone  against  her  will 
in  her  scarcely  perceptible  smile. 

Vronsky  went  into  the  carriage.  His  mother,  a  dried- 
up  old  lady  with  black  eyes  and  little  curls,  screwed  up  her 
face  as  she  looked  at  him  with  a  slight  smile  on  her  thin 
lips.  Getting  up  from  her  chair,  and  handing  her  bag 
to  her  maid,  she  extended  her  little  thin  hand  to  her  son, 
and,  pushing  his  head  from  her,  kissed  him  on  the  brow. 

"  You  received  my  telegram  ?  You  are  well.''  Thank 
the  Lord !  " 

"  Did  you  have  a  comfortable  journey  .'' "  said  the  son, 
sitting  down  near  her,  and  yet  involuntarily  listening  to 
a  woman's  voice  just  outside  the  door.  He  knew  that 
it  was  the  voice  of  the  lady  whom  he  had  met. 

"  However,  I  don't  agree  with  you,"  said  the  lady's 
voice. 

•"  It  is  the  Petersburg  way  of  looking  at  it,  madam." 

"  Not  at  all,  but  simply  a  woman's,"  was  her  reply. 

"Well!  allow  me  to  kiss  your  hand." 

"  Good-by,  Ivan  Petrovitch.  Now  look  and  see  if  my 
brother  is  here,  and  send  him  to  me,"  said  the  lady,  at 
the  very  door,  and  reentering  the  compartment. 

"  Have  you  found  your  brother }  "  asked  the  Countess 
Vronskaya,  addressing  the  lady. 

Vronsky  now  knew  that  it  was  Karenin's  wife. 

"Your  brother  is  here,"  he  said,  rising.  "Excuse 
me ;  I  did  not  recognize  you ;  but  our  acquaintance  was 
so  short,"  he  added  with  a  bow,  "  that  you  naturally  did 
not  remember  me  either." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  did !  "  she  said.  "  I  should  have  known 
you  because  your  matushka  and  I  have  been  talking 
about  you  all  the  way."  And  at  last  she  permitted  the 
animation  which  had  been  striving  to  break  forth  to 
express  itself  in  a  smile.  "  But  my  brother  has  not 
come  yet." 

"  Go  and  call  him,  Alyosha,"  said  the  old  countess, 

Vronsky  went  out  on  the  platform  and  called :  — 

"Oblonsky!  here!" 


ANNA   KARENINA  8l 

But  Karenin's  wife  did  not  wait  for  her  brother ;  as 
soon  as  she  saw  him  she  ran  Hghtly  out  of  the  carriage, 
went  straight  to  him,  and,  with  a  gesture  which  struck 
Vronsky  by  its  grace  and  energy,  threw  her  left  arm 
around  his  neck  and  kissed  him  affectionately. 

Vronsky  could  not  keep  his  eyes  from  her  face,  and 
smiled,  without  knowing  why.  But,  remembering  that 
his  mother  was  waiting  for  him,  he  went  back  into  the 
carriage. 

"  Very  charming,  is  n't  she  ? "  said  the  countess,  re- 
ferring to  Madame  Karenina.  "  Her  husband  put  her 
in  my  charge,  and  I  was  very  glad.  She  and  I  talked 
together  all  the  way.  Well !  and  you  .-•  They  say 
you  are  desperately  in  love.  So  much  the  better,  my 
dear,  so  much  the  better." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  allude  to,  maman  ,"  replied 
the  son,  coldly.     "Come,  fnavmuy  let  us  go." 

At  this  moment  Madame  Karenina  came  back  to  take 
leave  of  the  countess. 

"  Well,  countess !  you  have  found  your  son,  and  I  my 
brother,"  she  said  gayly;  "and  I  have  exhausted  my 
whole  fund  of  stories.  I  should  n't  have  had  anything 
more  to  talk  about." 

"Ah  !  not  so,"  said  the  countess,  taking  her  hand. 
"  I  should  not  object  to  travel  round  the  world  with 
you.  You  are  one  of  those  agreeable  women  with  whom 
either  speech  or  silence  is  pleasant.  As  to  your  son, 
I  beg  of  you,  don't  think  about  him :  we  must  have 
separations  in  this  world." 

.     Madame  Karenina  stood  motionless,  holding  herself 
very  erect,  and  her  eyes  smiled. 

"  Anna  Arkadyevna  has  a  little  boy  about  eight  years 
old,"  said  the  countess,  in  explanation  to  her  son ;  "  she 
has  never  been  separated  from  him  before,  and  it  troubles 
her  to  leave  him." 

"  Yes,  we  have  talked  about  our  children  all  the  time, 
—  the  countess  of  her  son,  I  of  mine,"  said  Madame 
Karenina,  turning  to  Vronsky ;  and  again  the  smile 
lighted  up  her  face,  the  caressing  smile  which  beamed 
upon  him. 


82  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  That  must  have  been  very  tiresome  to  you,"  said  he, 
instantly  catching  on  the  rebound  the  ball  of  coquetry 
which  she  had  tossed  to  him.  But  she  evidently  did 
not  care  to  continue  her  conversation  in  the  same  tone, 
but  turned  to  the  old  countess  :  — 

"  Thank  you  very  much.  I  don't  see  where  the  time 
has  gone.     Good-by,  countess." 

"  Farewell,  my  dear,"  replied  the  countess.  "  Let 
me  kiss  your  pretty  little  face.  I  tell  you  frankly,  as  it 
is  permitted  an  old  lady,  that  I  am  in  love  with  you." 

Hackneyed  as  this  expression  was,  Madame  Karenina 
evidently  believed  thoroughly  in  its  sincerity,  and  was 
pleased  with  it.  She  blushed,  bowed  slightly,  and  bent 
her  face  down  to  the  old  countess's  lips.  Then,  straight- 
ening herself  up,  she  gave  her  hand  to  Vronsky  with 
the  smile  that  seemed  to  belong  as  much  to  her  eyes  as 
to  her  lips.  He  pressed  her  little  hand,  and,  as  if  it 
were  something  unusual,  was  delighted  with  the  energetic 
jfirmness  with  which  she  frankly  and  fearlessly  shook  his 
hand. 

Madame  Karenina  went  out  with  light  and  rapid 
step,  carrying  her  rather  plump  person  with  remarkable 
elasticity. 

"  Very  charming,"  said  the  old  lady  again. 

Her  son  was  of  the  same  opinion;  and  again  his  eyes 
followed  her  graceful  figure  till  she  was  out  of  sight,  and 
a  smile  rested  on  his  face.  Through  the  window  he  saw 
her  join  her  brother,  take  his  arm,  and  engage  him  in 
lively  conversation,  evidently  about  some  subject  with 
which  Vronsky  had  no  connection,  and  this  seemed  to 
him  annoying. 

"  Well !  are  you  enjoying  perfectly  good  health, 
mamaft  ?  "  he  asked,  turning  to  his  mother. 

"Very  well,  indeed,  splendid.  Alexandre  has  been 
charming,  and  Marie  has  been  very  good.  She  is  very 
interesting." 

And  again  she  began  to  speak  of  wha.t  was  especially 
interesting  to  her  heart,  —  the  baptism  of  her  grandson, 
for  which  she  had  come  to  Moscow,  and  the  special 
favor  shown  her  eldest  son  by  the  emperor. 


ANNA    KARENINA  83 

"  And  here  is  Lavronty,"  said  Vronsky,  looking  out  of 
the  window.     "  Now  let  us  go,  if  you  are  ready." 

The  old  steward  who  had  come  with  the  countess 
now  appeared  at  the  door  to  report  that  everything  was 
ready,  and  she  arose  to  go. 

"Come,  there  are  only  a  few  people  about  now,"  said 
Vronsky. 

The  maid  took  the  bag  and  the  little  dog  ;  the  stew- 
ard and  a  porter  carried  the  other  luggage ;  Vronsky 
offered  his  mother  his  arm,  but,  just  as  they  stepped 
down  from  the  carriage,  a  number  of  men  with  fright- 
ened faces  ran  hastily  by  them.  The  station-master 
followed  in  his  curiously  Qo\oxQdift(razhka  or  uniform-cap. 
Evidently  something  unusual  had  happened.  The  peo- 
ple who  had  left  the  train  were  coming  back  again. 

"What  is  it.?"....  "What  is  it .?"....  "Where  .?" .... 
"  He  was  thrown  down  !  "  ...."  He  was  crushed  to  death  !  " 
were  the  exclamations  heard  among  those  hurrying  by. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  with  his  sister  on  his  arm  had 
returned  with  the  others,  and  were  standing  with  fright- 
ened faces  near  the  train  to  avoid  the  crush. 

The  ladies  went  back  into  the  carriage,  and  Vronsky 
with  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  went  with  the  crowd  to  learn 
the  particulars  of  the  accident. 

A  train-hand,  either  from  drunkenness,  or  because  he 
was  too  closely  muffled  against  the  intense  cold,  had  not 
heard  the  noise  of  a  train  that  was  backing  out,  and  had 
been  crushed. 

The  ladies  had  already  learned  about  the  accident 
from  the  steward  before  Vronsky  and  Oblonsky  came 
back.  Both  of  them  had  seen  the  disfigured  body. 
Oblonsky  was  deeply  moved  ;  he  frowned,  and  seemed 
ready  to  shed  tears. 

"  Akh,  how  horrible !  Akh,  Anna,  if  you  had  only 
seen  it !     Akh,  how  horrible !  "  he  repeated. 

Vronsky  said  nothing  ;  his  handsome  face  was  serious, 
but  perfectly  calm. 

"  Akh,  if  you  had  only  seen  it,  countess !  "  continued 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch, —  "and    his  wife   is   there It 

was  terrible  to  see  her  ....  she  threw  herself  on  his  body. 


^  ANNA    KARENINA 

They  say  that  he  was  the  only  support  of  a  large 
family.     How  terrible  !  " 

"  Could  anything  be  done  for  her  ?  "  said  Madame 
Karenina,  in  an  agitated  whisper. 

Vronsky  looked  at  her,  and  immediately  left  the  car- 
riage. 

"  I  will  be  right  back,  maman,"  said  he,  turning  round 
at  the  door. 

When  he  came  back,  at  the  end  of  a  few  minutes, 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  talking  with  the  countess 
about  a  new  singer,  and  she  was  impatiently  watching 
the  door  for  her  son. 

"  Now  let  us  go,"  said  Vronsky, 

They  all  went  out  together,  Vronsky  walking  ahead 
with  his  mother,  Madame  Karenina  and  her  brother 
side  by  side.  At  the  door  the  station-master  overtook 
them,  and  said  to  Vronsky :  — 

"  You  have  given  my  assistant  two  hundred  rubles. 
Will  you  kindly  indicate  the  disposition  that  we  shall 
make  of  them  ?  " 

"  For  his  widow,"  said  Vronsky,  shrugging  his  shoul- 
der?.    "  I  don't  see  why  you  should  have  asked  me." 

"  Did  you  give  that.?  "  asked  Oblonsky  ;  and,  pressing 
his  sister's  arm,  he  said,  "  Very  kind,  very  kind.  Glo- 
rious fellow,  is  n't  he  ?     My  best  wishes,  countess." 

He  and  his  sister  delayed,  looking  for  her  maid. 
When  they  left  the  station,  the  Vronskys'  carriage  had 
already  gone.  People  on  all  sides  were  talking  about 
what  had  happened. 

•*  What  a  horrible  way  of  dying !  "  said  a  gentleman, 
passing  near  them.     "  They  say  he  was  cut  in  two." 

-■  It  seems  to  me,  on  the  contrary,"  replied  another, 
"  that  it  was  a  very  easy  way ;  death  was  instan- 
taneous," 

"  Why  were  n't  there  any  precautions  taken  .-'  "  asked 
a  third. 

Madame  Karenina  sat  down  in  the  carriage ;  and 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  noticed,  with  astonishment,  that 
her  lips  trembled,  and  that  she  could  hardly  keep  back 
the  tears. 


ANNA   KARENINA  85 

"What  is  the  matter,  Anna  ? "  he  asked,  when  they 
had  gone  a  little  distance. 

"  It  is  an  evil  omen,"  she  answered. 

"What nonsense!  "  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "You 
have  come  ....  that  is  the  main  thing.  You  cannot  itnAg- 
ine  how  much  I  hope  from  your  visit." 

"  Have  you  known  Vronsky  long  ?  "  she  asked. 

"Yes.  You  know  we  hope  that  he  will  marry 
Kitty." 

"Really,"  said  Anna,  gentiy.  "Well!  now  let  us 
talk  about  yourself,"  she  added,  shaking  her  head  as  if 
she  wanted  to  drive  away  something  that  troubled  and 
pained  her  physically.  "  Let  us  speak  about  your 
affairs.     I  received  your  letter,  and  here  I  am." 

"  Yes,  all  my  hope  is  in  you,"  said  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch. 

"  Well,  then  !  tell  me  all." 

And  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  began  his  story. 

When  they  reached  the  house  he  helped  his  sister 
from  the  carriage,  sighed,  shook  hands  with  her,  and 
went  to  the  court-house. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

When  Anna  entered,  Dolly  was  sitting  in  her  little 
reception-room,  with  a  plump  light-haired  lad,  the  image 
of  his  father,  who  was  learning  a  lesson  from  a  French 
reading-book.  The  boy  was  reading  aloud,  and  at  the 
same  time  twisting  and  trying  to  pull  from  his  jacket 
a  button  which  was  hanging  loose.  His  mother  had 
many  times  reproved  him,  but  the  plump  little  hand 
kept  returning  to  the  button.  At  last  she  had  to  take 
the  button  off,  and  put  it  in  her  pocket. 

"Keep  your  hands  still,  Grisha,"  said  she,  and  again 
took  up  the  bed-quilt  on  which  she  had  been  long  It 
work,  and  which  always  came  handy  at  trying  moments. 
She  worked  nervously,  jerking  her  fingers  and  counting 
the  stitches.  Though  she  had  sent  word  to  her  hus- 
band, the  day  before,  that  his  sister's  arrival  made  no 


8.6  ANNA    KARENINA 

difference  to  her,  nevertheless,  she  was  ready  to  receive 
her,  and  was  waiting  for  her  impatiently. 

Dolly  was  absorbed  by  her  woes,  —  absolutely  swal- 
lowed up  by  them.  But  she  did  not  forget  that  her 
sister-in-law,  Anna,  was  the  wife  of  one  of  the  impor- 
tant personages  of  Petersburg,  —  a  Petersburg  graiide 
dame.  And,  owing  to  this  fact,  she  did  not  carry  out 
what  she  had  said  to  her  husband ;  in  other  words,  she 
did  not  forget  that  her  sister  was  coming. 

"After  all,  Anna  is  not  to  blame,"  she  said  to  her- 
self. "  I  know  nothing  about  her  that  is  not  good,  and 
our  relations  have  always  been  good  and  friendly." 

To  be  sure,  as  far  as  she  could  recall  the  impressions 
made  on  her  by  the  Karenins,  at  Petersburg,  their  home 
did  not  seem  to  her  entirely  pleasant ;  there  was  some- 
thing false  in  the  whole  manner  of  their  family  life. 

"  But  why  should  I  not  receive  her  }  Provided,  only, 
that  she  does  not  take  it  into  her  head  to  console  me," 
thought  Dolly.  "  I  know  what  these  Christian  exhor- 
tations, consolations,  and  justifications  mean;  I  have 
gone  over  them  all  a  thousand  times,  and  they  amount  to 
nothing." 

Dolly  had  spent  these  last  days  alone  with  her  chil- 
dren. She  did  not  care  to  speak  to  any  one  about  her 
sorrow,  and  under  the  load  of  it  she  could  not  talk 
about  indifferent  matters.  She  knew  that  some  way  or 
other  she  should  have  to  open  her  heart  to  Anna,  and 
at  one  moment  the  thought  that  she  could  open  her 
heart  delighted  her ;  and  then  again  she  was  angry 
because  she  must  speak  of  her  humiliations  before  his 
sister,  and  listen  to  her  ready-made  phrases  of  exhorta- 
tion and  consolation. 

She  had  been  expecting  every  moment  to  see  her 
sister-in-law  appear,  and  had  been  watching  the  clock  ; 
but,  as  often  happens  in  such  cases,  she  became  so  ab- 
sorbed in  her  thoughts  that  she  did  not  hear  the  door 
bell.  Hearing  light  steps  and  the  rustling  of  a  gown, 
she  looked  up,  and  involuntarily  her  jaded  face  expressed, 
not  pleasure,  but  surprise.  She  arose,  and  threw  her 
arms  round  her  sister-in-law. 


ANNA    KARENINA  87 

"Why !  have  you  come  already  ? "  she  cried, kissing  her. 

"  Dolly,  how  glad  I  am  to  see  you  !  " 

"  And  I  am  glad  to  see  you,"  replied  Dolly,  with  a 
faint  smile,  and  trying  to  read,  by  the  expression  of 
Anna's  face,  how  much  she  knew.  "  She  knows  all," 
was  her  thought,  as  she  saw  the  look  of  compassion  on 
her  features.  "  Well !  let  us  go  up-stairs  ;  I  will  show 
you  to  your  room,"  she  went  on  to  say,  trying  to  post- 
pone, as  long  as  possible,  the  time  for  explanations. 

"  Is  this  Grisha  .-'  Heavens  !  how  he  has  grown  !  " 
said  Anna,  kissing  him.  Then,  not  taking  her  eyes 
from  Dolly,  she  added,  with  a  blush,  "  No,  please  let  us 
not  go  yet." 

She  took  off  her  handkerchief  and  her  hat,  and  when 
it  caught  in  the  locks  of  her  dark  curly  hair  she  shook 
her  head  and  released  it. 

"  How  brilliantly  happy  and  healthy  you  look,"  said 
Dolly,  almost  enviously. 

"  I  .-^  "....  exclaimed  Anna.  "Ah  !....  Heavens !  Tania! 
is  that  you,  the  playmate  of  my  little  Serozha  ? "  said 
she,  speaking  to  a  little  girl  who  came  running  in. 
She  took  her  by  the  hand,  and  kissed  her.  "  What  a 
charming  little  girl !  Charming  !  But  you  must  show 
them  all  to  me." 

She  recalled  not  only  the  name,  the  year,  and  the 
month  of  each,  but  their  characteristics  and  their  little 
ailments,  and  Dolly  could  not  help  feeling  touched. 

"Come!  let  us  go  and  see  them,"  said  she;  "but 
Vasya  is  having  her  nap  now ;  it 's  too  bad." 

After  they  had  seen  the  children,  they  came  back  to 
the  sitting-room  alone  for  coffee.  Anna  drew  the  tray 
toward  her,  and  then  she  pushed  it  away. 

"  Dolly,"  said  she,  "he  has  told  me." 

Dolly  looked  at  Anna  coldly.  She  now  expected 
some  expression  of  hypocritical  sympathy,  but  Anna 
said  nothing  of  the  kind. 

"  Dolly,  my  dear,"  she  said,  "  I  do  not  intend  to 
speak  to  you  in  defense  of  him,  nor  to  console  you ;  it 
is  impossible.  But,  dushenka,  dear  heart,  I  am  sorry, 
sorry  for  you  with  all  my  soul !  " 


88  ANNA    KARENINA 

Under  her  long  lashes  her  brilliant  eyes  suddenly  filled 
with  tears.  She  drew  closer,  and  with  her  energetic 
little  hand  seized  the  hand  of  her  sister-in-law.  Dolly 
did  not  repulse  her,  but  her  face  still  preserved  its 
forlorn  expression. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  console  me.  After  what  has 
happened,  all  is  over  for  me,  all  is  lost." 

And  she  had  hardly  said  these  words  ere  her  face 
suddenly  softened  a  little.  Anna  lifted  to  her  lips  the 
thin,  dry  hand  that  she  held,  and  kissed  it. 

"  But,  Dolly,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  what  is  to  be  done  ? 
What  is  the  best  way  to  act  in  this  frightful  condition 
of  things?     We  must  think  about  it." 

"  All  is  over!  Nothing  can  be  done  !  "  Dolly  replied. 
"And,  what  is  worse  than  all,  you  must  understand  it, 
is  that  I  cannot  leave  him!  the  children!  I  am  chained 
to  him  I  and  I  cannot  live  with  him !  It  is  torture  to  see 
him !  " 

"  Dolly,  galubchik,  he  has  told  me ;  but  I  should  like 
to  hear  your  side  of  the  story.     Tell  me  all." 

Dolly  looked  at  her  with  a  questioning  expression. 
Sympathy  and  the  sincerest  affection  were  depicted  in 
Anna's  face. 

"  I  should  like  to,"  she  suddenly  said.  "  But  I  shall 
tell  you  everything  from  the  very  beginning.  You  know 
how  I  was  married.  With  the  education  that  maman 
gave  me,  I  was  not  only  innocent,  I  was  stupid.  I  did 
not  know  anything.  I  know  they  said  husbands  told 
their  wives  all  about  their  past  lives ;  but  Stiva"  — 
she  corrected  herself,  — "  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  never 
told  me  anything.  You  would  not  believe  it,  but,  up  to 
the  present  time,  I  supposed  that  I  was  the  only  woman 
with  whom  he  was  acquainted.  Thus  I  lived  eight  years. 
You  see,  I  not  only  never  suspected  him  of  being  un- 
faithful to  me,  but  I  believed  such  a  thing  to  be  impossi- 
ble. And  with  such  ideas,  imagine  how  I  suffered  when 
I  suddenly  learned  all  this  horror — all  this  dastardliness. 
....  Understand  me.  To  believe  absolutely  in  his  honor  " .... 
continued  Dolly,  struggling  to  keep  back  her  sobs, 
"  and  suddenly  to  find  a  letter ....  a  letter  from  him  to 


ANNA   KARENINA  89 

his  mistress,  to  the  gdvertiess  of  ffiy  children.  No ;  this 
is  too  cruel !  "  She  hastily  took  out  her  handkerchief,  and 
hid  her  face  in  It.  "  I  might  have  been  able  to  admit  a 
moment  of  temptation,"  she  continued,  after  a  moment's 
pause  ;  "  but  this  hypocrisy,  this  continual  attempt  to  de- 
ceive me ....  and  for  whom  f ....  To  continue  to  be  my  hus- 
band, and  yet  have  her....  It  is  frightful;  you  cannot 
comprehend...." 

"Oh,  yes!  I  comprehend;  I  comprehend,  my  dear 
Dolly,"  said  Anna,  squeezing  her  hand. 

"And  do  you  imagine  that  he  appreciates  all  the 
horror  of  my  situation  ?  "  continued  Dolly.  "  Certainly 
not ;  he  is  happy  and  contented." 

"  Oh,  no  !  "  interrupted  Anna,  warmly.  "  He  is  thor- 
oughly repentant;  he  is  overwhelmed  with  remorse....  " 

"  Is  he  capable  of  remorse.?"  demanded  Dolly,  scru- 
tinizing her  sister-in-law's  face. 

"  Yes  ;  I  know  him.  I  could  not  look  at  him  without 
feeling  sorry  for  him.  We  both  of  us  know  him.  He 
is  kind ;  but  he  is  proud,  and  now  he  is  so  humiliated ! 
What  touched  me  most"  —  Anna  knew  well  enough  that 
this  would  touch  Dolly  also  —  "are  the  two  things  that 
pained  him  :  In  the  first  place,  he  was  ashamed  for  the 
children  ;  and  secondly,  because,  loving  you  ....  yes,  yes, 
loving  you  more  than  any  one  else  in  the  world,"  —  she 
added  vehemently,  to  prevent  Dolly  from  interrupting 
her,  —  "  he  has  wounded  you  grievously,  has  almost 
killed  you.  *  No,  no,  she  will  never  forgive  me  I '  he 
keeps  saying  all  the  time." 

Dolly  looked  straight  beyond  her  sister  as  she  lis- 
tened. 

"  Yes,  I  understand  that  his  position  is  terrible.  The 
guilty  suffers  more  than  the  innocent, — if  he  knows 
that  he  is  the  cause  of  all  the  unhappiness.  But  how 
can  I  forgive  him  ?  How  can  I  be  his  wife  again  after 
she  has....  For  me  to  live  with  him  henceforth  would 
be  torment  all  the  more  because  I  still  love  what  I  used 
to  love  in  him ....  " 

And  the  sobs  prevented  her  from  speaking. 

But  as  if  on  purpose,  each  time,  after  she  had  become 


90  ANNA   KARENINA 

a  little  calmer,  she  began  again  to  speak  of  what  hurt 
her  most  cruelly. 

"  She  is  young,  you  see,  she  is  pretty,"  she  went  on 
to  say.  "  Do  you  realize,  Anna,  for  whom  I  have  sacri- 
ficed my  youth,  my  beauty  ?  For  him  and  his  children  ! 
I  have  worn  myself  out  in  his  service,  I  have  given  him 
the  best  that  I  had;  and  now,  of  course,  some  one 
younger  and  fresher  than  I  am  is  more  pleasing  to  him. 
They  have,  certainly,  discussed  me  between  them,  — 
or,  worse,  have  insulted  me  with  their  silence,  do  you 
understand .-' " 

And  again  her  jealousy  flamed  up  in  her  eyes. 

"And  after  this  he  will  tell  me....  What!  could  I 
believe  it  .■'     No,  never !  it  is  all  over,  all  that  gave  me 

recompense    for    my    sufferings,    for    my    sorrows 

Would  you  believe  it  ?  just  now  I  was  teaching  Grisha. 
It  used  to  be  a  pleasure  to  me;  now  it  is  a  torment. 
Why  should  I  take  the  trouble .''  Why  have  I  children } 
It  is  terrible,  because  my  whole  soul  is  in  revolt ;  instead 
of  love,  tenderness,  I  am  filled  with  nothing  but  hate, 
yes,  hate  !     I  could  kill  him  and  ....  " 

"  Dushenka !  Dolly !  I  understand  you  ;  but  don't 
torment  yourself  so  !  You  are  too  excited,  too  angry,  to 
see  things  in  their  right  light." 

Dolly  grew  calmer,  and  for  a  few  moments  neither 
spoke. 

"  What  is  to  be  done,  Anna  .-"  Consider  and  help  me. 
I  have  thought  of  everything,  but  I  cannot  see  any  way 
out  of  it." 

Anna  herself  did  not  see  any,  but  her  heart  responded 
to  every  word,  to  every  expression  in  her  sister-in-law's 
face. 

"I  will  tell  you  one  thing,"  said  she  at  last.  "I  am 
his  sister  ;  I  know  his  character,  his  peculiarity  of  for- 
getting everything," —  she  touched  her  forehead,  —  "this 
peculiarity  of  his  which  is  so  conducive  to  sudden  temp- 
tation, but  also  to  repentance.  At  the  present  moment, 
he  does  not  understand  how  it  was  possible  for  him  to 
have  done  what  he  did." 

"  Not  so !     He  does  understand  and  he   did   under- 


ANNA   KARENINA  91 

stand,"  interrupted  Dolly.  "  But  I ....  you  forget  me ; 
....  does  that  make  the  pain  less  for  me  .-'  " 

"  Wait !  when  he  made  his  confession  to  me,  I  ac- 
knowledge that  I  did  not  appreciate  the  whole  horror 
of  your  position.  I  saw  only  him  and  the  fact  that  the 
family  was  broken  up.  I  was  sorry  for  him ;  but  now 
that  I  have  been  talking  with  you,  I,  as  a  woman,  look 
on  it  in  a  different  light.  I  see  your  suffering,  and  I 
cannot  tell  you  how  sorry  I  am.  But,  Dolly,  dushenka, 
while  I  fully  appreciate  your  misfortune,  there  is  one 
thing  which  I  do  not  know:  I  do  not  know....  I  do  not 
know  to  what  degree  you  still  love  him.  You  alone  can 
tell  whether  you  love  him  enough  to  forgive  him.  If 
you  do,  then  forgive  him." 

"  No,"  began  Dolly ;  but  Anna  interrupted  her,  kiss- 
ing her  hand  again. 

"  I  know  the  world  better  than  you  do,"  she  said. 
"  I  know  how  such  men  as  Stiva  look  on  these  things. 
You  say  that  tJiey  have  discussed  you  between  them. 
Don't  you  believe  it.  These  men  can  be  unfaithful  to 
their  marriage  vows,  but  their  homes  and  their  wives 
remain  no  less  sacred  in  their  eyes.  Between  these 
women  and  their  families,  they  draw  a  line  of  demar- 
cation which  is  never  crossed.  I  cannot  understand  how 
it  can  be,  but  so  it  is." 

"  Yes,  but  he  has  kissed  her....  " 

"  Wait,  Dolly,  dushenka !  I  saw  Stiva  when  he  was 
in  love  with  you.  I  remember  the  time  when  he  used 
to  come  to  me  and  talk  about  you  with  tears  in  his  eyes. 
I  know  to  what  a  poetic  height  he  raised  you,  and  I 
know  that  the  longer  he  lived  with  you  the  more  he 
admired  you.  We  always  have  smiled  at  his  habit  of 
saying  at  every  opportunity,  ^Dolly  is  an  extraordinary 
woman.'  You  have  been,  and  you  always  will  be,  an 
object  of  adoration  in  his  eyes,  and  this  passion  is  not 
a  defection  of  his  heart ....  " 

"  But  supposing  this  defection  should  be  repeated .''  " 

"  It  is  impossible,  as  I  think ....  " 

"  Yes,  but  would  you  have  forgiven  him  }  " 

"  I  don't  know ;    I  can't  say Yes,  I  could,"  said 


91  ANNA   KARENINA 

Anna,  after  a  moment's  thought,  apprehending  the 
gravity  of  the  situation  and  weighing  it  in  her  mental 
scales.  "  I  could,  I  Could,  I  could !  Yes,  I  could  for- 
give him,  but  I  should  not  be  the  sarrte  ;  but  I  should 
forgive  him,  and  I  should  forgive  him  in  such  a  way 
as  to  show  that  the  past  Was  forgotten,  absolutely  for- 
gotten." .... 

"Well !  of  course,"  interrupted  Dolly,  impetuously,  as 
if  she  was  saying  what  she  had  said  many  times  to  her- 
self —  "  otherwise  it  would  not  be  forgiveness.  If  you 
forgive,  it  must  be  absolutely,  absolutely.  —  Well !  let 
me  show  you  to  your  room,"  said  she,  rising,  and  throw- 
ing her  arm  around  her  sister-in-law. 

"  My  dear,  how  glad  I  am  that  you  came.  My  heart 
is  already  lighter,  much  lighter." 


CHAPTER  XX 

Anna  spent  the  whole  day  at  home,  that  is  to  say, 
at  the  Oblonskys',  and  refused  to  see  any  callers,  al- 
though some  of  her  friends,  having  learned  of  her 
arrival,  came  to  see  her.  The  whole  morning  was 
given  to  Dolly  and  the  children.  She  sent  a  note  to 
her  brother  that  he  must  dine  at  home. 

"  Come,  God  is  merciful,"  she  wrote. 

Oblonsky  accordingly  dined  at  home.  The  conver- 
sation was  general,  and  his  wife,  when  she  spoke  to 
him,  called  him  tui  (thou),  which  had  not  been  the  case 
before.  The  relations  between  husband  and  wife  re- 
mained cool,  but  nothing  more  was  said  about  a  separa- 
tion, and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  saw  the  possibility  of  a 
reconciliation. 

Kitty  came  in  soon  after  dinner.  Her  acquaintance 
with  Anna  Arkadyevna  was  very  slight,  and  she  was 
not  without  solicitude  as  to  the  welcome  which  she 
would  receive  from  this  great  Petersburg  lady,  whose 
praise  was  in  everybody's  mouth.  But  she  made  a 
pleasing  impression  on  Anna  Arkadyevna ;  this  she 
immediately   realized.      Anna    evidently   admired    her 


ANNA    KARENINA  93 

youth  and  beauty,  and  Kitty  was  not  slow  in  realizing 
a  sense  of  being,  not  only  under  her  influence,  but  of 
being  in  love  with  her,  and  immediately  fell  in  love 
with  her,  as  young  girls  often  fall  in  love  with  married 
women  older  than  themselves.  Anna  was  not  like  a 
society  woman,  or  the  mother  of  an  eight-year-old  son  ; 
but,  by  her  vivacity  of  movement,  by  the  freshness  and 
animation  of  her  face,  expressed  in  her  smile  and  in  her 
eyes,  she  would  have  been  taken  rather  for  a  young 
girl  of  twenty,  had  it  not  been  for  a  serious  and  some- 
times almost  melancholy  look,  which  struck  and  at- 
tracted Kitty. 

Kitty  felt  that  she  was  perfectly  natural  and  sincere, 
but  that  there  was  something  about  her  that  suggested 
a  whole  world  of  complicated  and  poetic  interests  far 
beyond  her  comprehension. 

After  dinner,  when  Dolly  had  gone  to  her  room, 
Anna  went  eagerly  to  her  brother,  who  was  smoking 
a  cigar. 

"  Stiva,"  said  she,  giving  him  a  joyous  wink,  making 
the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  glancing  toward  the  door, 
"go,  and  God  help  you." 

He  understood  her,  and,  throwing  away  his  cigar, 
disappeared  behind  the  door. 

As  soon  as  he  had  gone,  Anna  sat  down  upon  a  divan, 
surrounded  by  the  children. 

Either  because  they  saw  that  their  mamma  loved  this 
aunt,  or  because  they  themselves  felt  a  special  attraction 
toward  her,  the  two  eldest,  and  therefore  the  younger, 
as  often  happens  with  children,  had  taken  possession 
of  her  even  before  dinner,  and  could  not  leave  her 
alone.  And  now  they  were  having  something  like  a 
game,  in  which  each  tried  to  get  next  to  her,  to  hold 
her  little  hand,  to  kiss  her,  to  play  with  her  rings,  or 
even  to  cling  to  the  flounces  of  her  gown. 

"  There !  there !  let  us  sit  as  we  were  before,"  said 
Anna,  sitting  down  in  her  place. 

And  Grisha,  proud  and  dehghted,  thrust  his  head 
under  his  aunt's  arm,  and  nestled  up  close  to  her. 

"And  when  is  the  ball }  "  she  asked  of  Kitty. 


94  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Next  week !  it  will  be  a  lovely  ball  —  one  of  those 
balls  where  one  always  has  a  good  time." 

"  Then  there  are  places  where  one  always  has  a  good 
time  ?  "  asked  Anna,  in  a  tone  of  gentle  irony. 

"  Strange,  but  it  is  so.  We  always  enjoy  ourselves 
at  the  Bobrishchefs'  and  at  the  Nikitins',  but  at  the  Mezh- 
kofs'  it  is  always  dull.    Have  n't  you  ever  noticed  that  .-*  " 

"  No,  dusha  nioya,  no  ball  could  be  amusing  to  me," 
said  Anna;  and  again  Kitty  saw  in  her  eyes  that  un- 
known world,  which  had  not  yet  been  revealed  to  her. 
"  For  me  they  are  all  more  or  less  tiresome." 

"  How  could  j^«  find  a  ball  tiresome  } " 

"  And  why  should  /  no^  find  a  ball  tiresome  ? " 

Kitty  perceived  that  Anna  foresaw  what  her  answer 
would  be :  — 

"  Because  you  are  always  the  loveliest  of  all !  " 

Anna  blushed  easily ;  she  blushed  now,  and  said  :  — 

"  In  the  first  place,  that  is  not  true  ;  and  in  the  second, 
if  it  were,  it  would  not  make  any  difference." 

"Won't  you  go  to  this  ball .?  "  asked  Kitty. 

"  I  think  that  I  would  rather  not  go.  Here  !  take  it," 
said  she  to  Tanya,  who  was  drawing  off  a  loose  ring 
from  her  delicate  white  finger. 

"  I  should  be  delighted  if  you  would  go ;  I  should  so 
like  to  see  you  at  a  ball." 

"  Well,  if   I   have  to  go,  I  shall  console  myself  with 

the   thought   that   I   am  making  you  happy Grisha, 

don't  pull  my  hair  down  !  it  is  disorderly  enough  now," 
said  she,  putting  back  the  rebellious  lock  with  which  the 
lad  was  playing. 

"  I  can  imagine  you  at  a  ball  dressed  in  violet." 

"  Why  in  violet  ?  "  asked  Anna,  smihng.  "  Now,  chil- 
dren, run  away,  run  away.  Don't  you  hear  ?  Miss 
Hull  IS  calling  you  to  tea,"  said  she,  freeing  herself 
from  the  children,  and  sending  them  out  to.  the  dining- 
room. 

"  I  know  why  you  want  me  to  go  to  the  ball.  You 
expect  something  wonderful  to  happen  at  this  ball,  and 
you  are  anxious  for  us  all  to  be  there  so  as  to  share  in 
your  happiness." 


ANNA    KARENINA  95 

"  How  did  you  know  ?     You  are  right !  " 

"  Oh,  what  a  lovely  age  is  yours!  "  continued  Anna. 
"  I  remember  well,  and  know  this  purple  haze  like  that 
which  you  see  hanging  over  the  mountains  in  Switzer- 
land. This  haze  covers  everything  in  that  delicious  time 
when  childhood  ends,  and  from  out  this  immense  circle, 
so  joyous,  so  gay,  grows  a  footpath  ever  narrower  and 
narrower,  and  leads  gayly  and  painfully  into  that  laby- 
rinth, and  yet  it  seems  so  bright  and  so  beautiful 

Who  has  not  passed  through  it .''  " 

Kitty  listened  and  smiled.  "  How  did  she  pass  through 
it.?  How  I  should  like  to  know  the  whole  romance  of 
her  life ! "  thought  Kitty,  remembering  the  unpoetic 
appearance  of  her  husband,  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch. 

"  I  know  a  thing  or  two,"  continued  Anna.  "  Stiva 
told  m.e,  and  I  congratulate  you ;  he  pleased  me  very 
much.     I  met  Vronsky  at  the  station." 

"  Akh !  was  he  there.''  "  asked  Kitty,  blushing.  "What 
did  Stiva  tell  you  }  " 

"  Stiva  told  me  the  whole  story ;  and  I  should  be  de- 
lighted !  I  came  from  Petersburg  with  Vronsky's 
mother,"  she  continued ;  "  and  his  mother  never  ceased 
to  speak  of  him.  He  is  her  favorite.  I  know  how 
partial  mothers  are,  but....  " 

"  What  did  his  mother  tell  you  >.  " 

"Akh  !  many  things  ;  and  I  know  that  he  is  her  favor- 
ite. But  still  it  is  evident  he  has  a  chivalrous  nature. 
—  Well,  for  example,  she  told  me  how  he  wanted  to  give 
up  his  whole  fortune  to  his  brother ;  how  he  did  some- 
thing still  more  wonderful  when  he  was  a  boy  —  saved 
a  woman  from  drowning.  In  a  word,  he  is  a  hero ! " 
said  Anna,  smiling,  and  remembering  the  two  hundred 
rubles  which  he  had  given  at  the  station. 

But  she  did  not  tell  about  the  two  hundred  rubles. 
Somehow  it  was  not  pleasant  for  her  to  remember  that. 
She  felt  that  there  was  something  in  it  that  concerned 
herself  too  closely,  and  ought  not  to  have  been. 

"  The  countess  urged  me  to  come  ta  see  her,"  con- 
tinued Anna,  "  and  I  should  be  very  happy  to  meet 
her  again,  and  I  will  go  to-morrow.  — Thank  the  Lord, 


^  ANNA    KARENINA 

Stiva  remains  a  long  time  with  Dolly  in  the  library,"  she 
added,  changing  the  subject,  and,  as  Kitty  perceived, 
looking  a  little  annoyed. 

"  I  '11  be  the  first....  "  "  No,  I,"  cried  the  children,  who 
had  just  finished  their  supper,  and  came  running  to  their 
Aunt  Anna. 

"  All  together,"  she  said,  laughing,  and  running  to 
meet  them.  She  seized  them  and  piled  them  in  a  heap, 
struggling  and  screaming  with  delight. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

At  tea-time  Dolly  came  out  of  her  room.  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  was  not  with  her ;  he  had  left  his  wife's 
chamber  by  the  rear  door. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  be  cold  up-stairs,"  remarked 
Dolly,  addressing  Anna.  "  I  should  like  to  have  you 
come  down  and  be  near  me." 

"  Akh  !  please  don't  worry  about  me,"  replied  Anna, 
trying  to  divine  by  Dolly's  face  if  there  had  been  a 
reconciliation. 

"  Perhaps  it  would  be  too  light  for  you  here,"  said  her 
sister-in-law. 

"  I  assure  you,  I  sleep  anywhere  and  everywhere  as 
sound  as  a  woodchuck." 

"  What  is  it .''  "  asked  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  coming  in 
from  his  library,  and  addressing  his  wife. 

By  the  tone  of  his  voice,  both  Kitty  and  Anna  knew 
that  the  reconciliation  had  taken  place. 

"  I  wanted  to  install  Anna  down-stairs,  but  we  should 
have  to  put  up  some  curtains.  No  one  knows  how  to  do 
it,  and  so  I  must,"  said  Dolly,  in  reply  to  her  husband's 
question. 

"  God  knows  if  they  have  wholly  made  it  up,"  thought 
Anna,  as  she  noticed  Dolly's  cold  and  even  tone. 

"  Akh  !  don't,  Dolly,  don't  make  difficulties !  Well !  if 
you  like,  I  will  fix  everything."  .... 

■*Yes,"  thought  Anna,  "they  must  have  had  a  recon- 
ciliation." 


ANNA    KARENINA  97 

"I  know  how  you  do  everything,"  said  Dolly;  "you 
give  Matve  an  order  which  it  is  impossible  to  carry  out, 
and  then  you  go  away,  and  he  gets  everything  into  a 
tangle." 

And  her  customary  mocking  smile  wrinkled  the  cor- 
ners of  Dolly's  lips  as  she  said  that. 

"Complete,  complete  reconciliation,  complete,"  thought 
Anna.  "  Thank  God  !  "  and,  rejoicing  that  she  had  been 
the  cause  of  it,  she  went  to  Dolly  and  kissed  her. 

"  Not  by  any  means.  Why  have  you  such  scorn  for 
Matve  and  me  ? "  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  to  his  wife, 
with  an  almost  imperceptible  smile. 

Throughout  the  evening  Dolly,  as  usual,  was  lightly 
ironical  toward  her  husband,  and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
was  happy  and  gay,  but  within  bounds,  and  as  if  he 
wanted  to  make  it  evident  that  though  he  had  obtained 
pardon  he  had  not  forgotten  his  offense. 

About  half-past  nine  a  particularly  animated  and 
pleasant  confidential  conversation,  which  was  going  on 
at  the  tea-table,  was  interrupted  by  an  incident  appar- 
ently of  the  slightest  importance,  but  this  simple  inci- 
dent seemed  to  each  member  of  the  family  to  be  very 
strange. 

They  were  talking  about  one  of  their  Petersburg 
acquaintances  when  Anna  suddenly  arose  :  — 

"  I  have  her  picture  in  my  album,"  she  said ;  "  and  at 
the  same  time  I  will  show  you  my  little  Serozha,"  she 
added,  with  a  smile  of  maternal  pride. 

It  was  usually  about  ten  o'clock  when  she  bade  her 
son  good-night.  Often  she  herself  put  him  to  bed 
before  she  went  out  to  parties,  and  now  she  felt  a  sen- 
sation of  sadness  to  be  so  far  from  him.  No  matter 
what  people  were  speaking  about,  her  thoughts  reverted 
always  to  her  little  curly-haired  Serozha,  and  the  desire 
seized  her  to  go  and  look  at  his  picture,  and  to  talk 
about  him.  Using  this  first  pretext,  she,  with  her  light, 
decided  step,  started  to  fetch  her  album.  The  stairs  to 
her  room  started  from  the  landing-place  in  the  large 
staircase,  which  led  from  the  heated  hall.  Just  as  she 
was  leaving  the  drawing-room  the  front  door-bell  rang. 

VOL.  I.  —  7 


98  ANNA   KARENINA 

"Who  can  that  be?"  said  Dolly. 

"  It  is  too  early  to  come  after  me,  and  too  late  for  a 
call,"  remarked  Kitty. 

"  Doubtless  somebody  with  papers  for  me,"  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

As  Anna  was  passing  the  staircase  she  saw  the  ser- 
vant going  up  to  announce  a  caller,  but  the  caller  stood 
in  the  light  of  the  hall  lamp,  and  was  waiting.  Anna 
glancing  down  saw  that  it  was  Vronsky,  and  a  strange 
sensation  of  joy,  mixed  with  terror,  suddenly  seized  her 
heart.  He  was  standing  with  his  coat  on,  and  was  tak- 
ing something  out  of  his  pocket.  At  the  moment  Anna 
reached  the  center  of  the  staircase,  he  lifted  his  eyes, 
and  saw  her,  and  his  face  assumed  an  expression  of 
humility  and  confusion.  She  bowed  her  head  slightly  in 
salutation  ;  and  as  she  went  on  her  way  she  heard  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch's  loud  voice  calling  him  to  come  in,  and  then 
Vronsky's  low,  soft,  and  tranquil  voice  excusing  himself. 

When  Anna  reached  the  room  with  the  album,  he  had 
gone,  and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  telling  how  he  came 
to  see  about  a  dinner  which  they  were  going  to  give  the 
next  day  in  honor  of  some  celebrity  who  was  in  town. 

"  And  nothing  would  induce  him  to  come  in.  What 
a  queer  fellow  !"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

Kitty  blushed.  She  thought  that  she  alone  understood 
what  he  had  come  for,  and  why  he  would  not  come  in. 
"  He  must  have  been  at  our  house,"  she  thought,  "and, 
not  finding  me,  have  supposed  that  I  was  here;  but  he 
did  not  come  in  because  it  was  late  and  Anna  here." 

They  all  exchanged  glances,  but  nothing  was  said, 
and  they  began  to  examine  Anna's  album. 

There  was  nothing  extraordinary  or  strange  in  a  man 
calling  at  half-past  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  to  inquire 
of  a  friend  about  the  details  of  a  proposed  dinner  and 
not  coming  in ;  yet  to  everybody  it  seemed  strange,  and 
it  seemed  more  strange  and  unpleasant  to  Anna  than  to 
any  one  else. 


ANNA   KARENINA  99 


CHAPTER  XXII 

The  ball  was  just  beginning  when  Kitty  and  her 
mother  mounted  the  grand  staircase,  brilliantly  Hghted 
and  adorned  with  flowers  and  with  powdered  lackeys  in 
red  kaftans.  In  the  ball-rooms  there  was  an  incessant 
bustle  of  movement,  which  sounded  like  the  humming  of 
a  beehive,  and,  as  they  stopped  to  give  the  last  touches 
to  their  hair  and  gowns,  before  a  mirror  hung  on  the 
tree-decorated  landing,  they  heard  the  scraping  of  violins 
as  the  orchestra  was  tuning  up  for  the  first  waltz. 

A  little  old  man,  a  civilian,  who  was  smoothing  his 
white  locks  at  another  mirror,  and  who  exhaled  a  pene- 
trating odor  of  perfumes,  brushed  against  them  on  the 
stairway  and  stood  aside,  evidently  impressed  by  Kitty's 
youth  and  beauty.  A  beardless  young  man,  such  as  the 
old  Prince  Shcherbatsky  would  have  reckoned  among  the 
"  mashers,"  wearing  a  very  low-cut  waistcoat  and  a  white 
necktie  which  he  adjusted  as  he  walked,  bowed  to  them, 
and  after  he  had  passed  them  turned  back  to  ask  Kitty 
for  a  quadrille.  The  first  quadrille  was  already  promised 
to  Vronsky,  and  so  she  was  obliged  to  content  the  young 
man  with  the  second.  An  officer  buttoning  his  gloves 
was  standing  near  the  door  of  the  ball-room ;  he  cast  a 
glance  of  admiration  at  the  blooming  Kitty,  and  caressed 
his  mustache. 

Although  Kitty  had  taken  great  pains  and  spent  much 
labor  on  her  toilet,  her  gown,  and  all  the  preparations 
for  this  ball,  yet  now  she  entered  the  ball-room,  in 
her  complicated  robe  of  tulle  with  its  rose-colored  over- 
dress, as  easily  and  naturally  as  if  all  these  rosettes  and 
laces,  all  the  requirements  of  her  toilet,  had  not  caused 
her  or  her  people  a  moment's  attention,  as  if  she  had 
been  born  in  this  lace-trimmed  ball-dress,  and  with  a 
rose  and  two  ribbons  placed  on  the  top  of  her  grace- 
ful head.  When  the  old  princess,  her  mother,  just  be- 
fore they  entered  the  ball-room,  was  about  to  readjust 
her  broad  sash-ribbon,  Kitty  gently  declined.  She  felt 
that   everything  about   her   must  surely  be  right  and 


lOO  ANNA    KARENINA 

graceful,  and  that  to  readjust  anything  about  her  was 
unnecessary. 

Kitty  was  looking  her  prettiest.  Her  gown  was  not 
too  tight  anywhere ;  her  lace  fichu  did  not  slip  down, 
her  rosettes  did  not  crush,  and  did  not  pull  off;  her 
rose-colored  slippers  with  their  high  heels  did  not  pinch 
her,  but  were  agreeable  to  her  feet.  The  thick  braids 
of  her  fair  hair  kept  perfectly  in  place  on  her  graceful 
little  head.  All  the  three  buttons  on  her  long  gloves, 
which  enveloped,  without  changing,  the  pretty  shape  of 
her  hands,  fastened  easily,  and  did  not  tear.  The  black 
velvet  ribbon,  attached  to  a  medallion,  was  thrown 
daintily  about  her  neck.  This  ribbon  was  charming; 
and  at  home,  as  she  saw  it  in  her  mirror,  adorning  her 
neck,  Kitty  felt  that  this  ribbon  spoke.  Everything 
else  might  be  dubious,  but  this  ribbon  was  charming. 
Kitty  smiled,  even  there  at  the  ball,  as  she  saw  it  in  the 
mirror.  In  her  bare  shoulders  and  arms  Kitty  felt  a 
sensation  of  marble  coolness,  a  sensation  which  she 
especially  enjoyed.  Her  eyes  shone  and  her  rosy  lips 
could  not  refrain  from  smiling  with  the  consciousness 
of  how  fascinating  she  was. 

She  had  scarcely  entered  the  ball-room  and  joined  a 
group  of  tulle-,  ribbon-,  lace-,  and  flower-decorated  ladies, 
who  were  waiting  for  partners,  —  Kitty  never  remained 
long  in  that  category,  —  when  she  was  invited  to  waltz 
with  the  best  dancer,  the  principal  cavalier  in  the  whole 
hierarchy  of  the  ball-room,  the  celebrated  leader  of  the 
mazurka,  the  master  of  ceremonies,  the  handsome,  ele- 
gant Yegorushka  Korsunsky,  a  married  man  and  a 
civilian.  He  had  just  left  the  Countess  Bonina,  with 
whom  he  had  been  taking  the  first  turns  of  the  waltz, 
and,  while  looking  round  over  his  domain,  in  other 
words,  over  the  few  couples  who  were  venturing  out  on 
the  floor,  he  perceived  Kitty,  made  his  way  to  her  in 
that  easy  manner  peculiar  to  leaders  of  the  mazurka, 
bowed,  and  without  even  asking  her  permission  put  his 
arm  around  the  young  girl's  slender  waist.  She  looked 
for  some  one  to  whom  to  confide  her  fan ;  and  the  mis- 
tress of  the  mansion,  smiling  on  her,  took  charge  of  it. 


ANNA    KARENINA  loi 

"  How  good  of  you  to  come  early,"  said  Korsunsky, 
as  he  put  his  arm  around  her  waist.  "  I  don't  like  the 
fashion  of  being  late." 

Kitty  placed  her  left  hand  on  her  partner's  shoulder, 
and  her  little  feet,  shod  in  rose-colored  bashmaks,  glided 
swiftly,  lightly,  and  rhythmically  over  the  polished  floor. 

"  It  is  restful  to  dance  with  you,"  said  he,  as  he  fell 
into  the  slow  measures  of  the  waltz  :  "  charming !  such 
lightness  !  such  precision  !  " 

That  was  what  he  said  to  almost  all  his  dancing 
acquaintances. 

She  smiled  at  his  flattery,  and  continued  to  study  the 
ball-room  across  her  partner's  shoulder.  She  was  not 
such  a  novice  in  society  as  to  find  all  faces  blending  in 
one  magic  sensation ;  she  had  not  been  so  assiduous  in 
her  attendance  at  balls  as  to  know  every  one  present, 
and  be  tired  of  seeing  them.  But  she  was  in  that  happy 
condition  between  these  two  extremes,  she  was  exhilarated 
and  at  the  same  time  she  was  sufficiently  self-possessed 
to  be  able  to  look  around  and  observe. 

She  noticed  a  group  that  had  gathered  in  the  left-hand 
corner  of  the  ball-room,  composed  of  the  very  flower  of 
society.  Korsunsky's  wife,  Lidi,  a  beauty  in  an  ex- 
tremely low-cut  corsage,  was  there ;  the  mistress  of  the 
mansion  was  there ;  there  shone  Krivin's  bald  head, 
always  to  be  seen  where  the  flower  of  society  was 
gathered.  Young  men  were  looking  at  this  group,  and 
not  venturing  to  join  it.  Then  her  eyes  fell  on  Stiva, 
who  was  also  there,  and  then  she  saw  Anna's  elegant 
figure  dressed  in  black  velvet.  And  //<?  was  there. 
Kitty  had  not  seen  him  since  the  evening  when  she 
refused  Levin.  Kitty's  keen  eyes  instantly  recognized 
him  across  the  room,  and  saw  that  he  was  looking  at 
her. 

"Shall  we  have  one  more  turn  ?  You  are  not  fatigued  ? " 
asked  Korsunsky,  slightly  out  of  breath, 

"  No,  thank  you." 

"  Where  shall  I  leave  you  ?  " 

"  I  think  Madame  Karenina  is  here ; ....  take  me  to 
her." 


lOft  ANNA   KARENINA 

"Anywhere  that  you  please." 

And  Korsunsky,  still  waltzing  with  Kitty  but  with  a 
slower  step,  made  his  way  toward  the  group  on  the  left, 
saying  as  he  went,  "  Pardon,  mesdames  ;  pardon,  pardon, 
mesdames ;''  and  steering  skilfully  through  the  sea  of 
laces,  tulle,  and  ribbons,  without  catching  a  feather,  placed 
her  in  a  chair  after  a  final  turn,  which  gave  a  glimpse  of 
her  slender  ankles  in  dainty  blue  stockings,  while  her 
train  spread  out  like  a  fan  and  covered  Krivin's  knees. 

Korsunsky  bowed,  then  straightened  himself  up,  and 
offered  Kitty  his  arm  to  conduct  herto  Anna  Arkadyevna. 
Kitty,  blushing  a,  little,  fi^eil^  Krivin  from  the  folds  of 
her  train,  and,  just  a  trifle- dizzy,  looked  around  in  search 
of  Anna7  Anna  was  n©t  dressed  in  violet,  as  Kitty  had 
hoped,  but  in  a  low-cut  black  velvet  gown,  which  showed 
her  plump  shoulders  and  bosom  smooth  as  ivory,  her 
beautiful  round  arms,  and  her  delicate  slender  wrists. 
Her  robe  was  adorned  with  Venetian  guipure ;  on  her 
head,  gracefully  set  on  her^rk  locks,  was  a  little  gar- 
land of  heartsease  ^ ;  and  a  similar  IJouquet  was  fastened 
in  her  black  ribbon-belt  in  the  midst  of  white  lace.  Her 
hair,  which  was  all  her  own,  was  dressed  very  simply ; 
there  was  nothing  remarkable  about  it  except  the  abun- 
dance of  little  natural  curls,  which  strayed  in  fascinating 
disorder  about  her  neck  and  temples.  She  wore  a  string 
of  pearls  about  her  firm  round  throat. 

Kitty  had  seen  Anna  every  day,  and  had  fallen  in 
love  with  her ;  but  now  that  she  saw  her  dressed  in 
black,  instead  of  the  violet  which  she  had  expected,  she 
was  conscious  that  she  had  never  before  appreciated 
her  full  beauty.  She  saw  her  in  a  new  and  unexpected 
light.  Now  she  realized  that  violet  would  not  have  been 
becoming  to  her,  and  that  her  charm  consisted  entirely 
in  her  independence  of  toilet ;  that  her  toilet  was  only 
an  accessory,  and  her  black  gown  with  the  magnificent 
laces  was  only  an  accessory,  was  only  a  frame  for  her, 
and  nothing  else  was  to  be  thought  of  but  herself  in  all 
her  simplicity,  naturalness,  elegance,  and  at  the  same 
time  her  gayety  and  animation. 

J  Viola  tricolor,  called  in  Russian  anyutini  gldzki,  or  Anna's  eyes. 


ANNA   KARENINA  103 

When  Kitty  joined  her  she  was  standing  in  her  usual 
erect  attitude,  talking  with  the  master  of  the  house,  her 
head  slightly  bent  toward  him. 

"  No,  I  would  not  cast  the  first  stone,  though  I  don't 
understand  about  it,"  she  was  saying  to  him,  slightly 
shrugging  her  shoulders ;  and  then,  perceiving  Kitty, 
she  turned  to  her  with  an  affectionate  and  reassuring 
smile.  With  a  woman's  quick  intuition  she  saw  all  the 
beauty  of  the  young  girl's  toilet,  and  gave  her  an  appre- 
ciative nod,  which  Kitty  understood. 

"You  even  dance  into  the  ball-room,"  she  said. 

"  She  is  the  most  faithful  of  my  aids,"  said  Korsunsky, 
addressing  Anna  Arkadyevna,  whom  he  had  not  as  yet 
seen.  "  The  princess  helps  to  make  any  ball-room  gay 
and  delightful.  Anna  Arkadyevna,  will  you  take  a 
turn } "  he  asked,  with  a  bow. 

"  Ah  !  you  are  acquainted  ?  "  said  the  host. 

"  Who  is  it  we  don't  know  ?  My  wife  and  I  are  like 
white  wolves,  —  everybody  knows  us,"  replied  Korsun- 
sky.    "  A  little  waltz,  Anna  Arkadyevna .'' " 

"I  don't  dance  when  I  can  help  it,"  she  replied. 

"  But  you  can't  help  it  to-night,"  said  Korsunsky.  At 
this  moment  Vronsky  joined  them. 

"  Well !  if  I  can't  help  dancing,  let  us  dance,"  said 
she,  placing  her  hand  on  Korsunsky's  shoulder,  and  not 
replying  to  Vronsky's  salutation. 

"  Why  is  she  vexed  with  him  .■' "  thought  Kitty,  notic- 
ing that  Anna  purposely  paid  no  attention  to  Vronsky's 
bow.  Vronsky  joined  Kitty,  reminded  her  that  she  was 
engaged  to  him  for  the  first  quadrille,  and  expressed 
regret  that  he  had  not  seen  her  for  so  long.  Kitty, 
while  she  was  looking  with  admiration  at  Anna  as  she 
waltzed,  listened  to  Vronsky.  She  expected  that  he 
woald  invite  her;  but  he  did  nothing  of  the  sort,  and 
she  looked  at  him  with  astonishment.  A  flush  came 
into  his  face,  and  he  hastily  suggested  that  they  should 
waltz ;  but  he  had  scarcely  put  his  arm  around  her 
slender  waist  and  taken  the  first  step,  when  suddenly 
the  music  stopped.  Kitty  looked  into  his  face,  which 
was  close  to  her  own,  and  for  many  a  long  day,  even 


I04  ANNA    KARENINA 

after  years  had  passed,  the  loving  look  which  she  gave 
him  and  which  he  did  not  return  tore  her  heart  with 
cruel  shame. 

**  Pardon  !  pardon  !  A  waltz!  a  waltz!"  cried  Kor- 
sunsky  at  the  other  end  of  the  ball-room,  and,  seizing 
the  first  young  lady  at  hand,  he  began  once  more  to 
dance. 

CHAPTER    XXIII 

Vronsky  took  a  few  turns  with  Kitty,  then  she  joined 
her  mother ;  but  she  had  time  for  only  a  few  words  with 
the  Countess  Nordstone,  ere  Vronsky  came  back  to  get 
her  for  the  first  quadrille.  During  the  quadrille  nothing 
of  importance  was  said :  their  conversation  was  first  on 
Korsunsky  and  his  wife,  whom  Vronsky  described  very 
amusingly  as  amiable  children  of  forty  years,  then  on 
some  private  theatricals  ;  and  only  once  did  his  words 
give  her  a  keen  pang,  —  when  he  asked  if  Levin  were 
there,  and  added  that  he  liked  him  very  much. 

But  Kitty  counted  little  on  the  quadrille  :  she  waited 
for  the  mazurka  with  a  violent  beating  of  the  heart. 
She  had  a  feeling  that  during  the  mazurka  all  would 
surely  be  settled.  The  fact  that  Vronsky  did  not  ask 
her  during  the  quadrille  did  not  disturb  her.  She  felt 
sure  that  she  should  be  selected  as  his  partner  for  the 
mazurka  as  in  all  preceding  balls,  and  she  refused  five 
invitations,  saying  that  she  was  engaged. 

This  whole  ball,  even  to  the  last  quadrille,  seemed  to 
Kitty  like  a  magical  dream,  full  of  flowers,  of  joyous 
sounds,  of  movement ;  she  did  not  cease  to  dance  until 
her  strength  began  to  fail,  and  then  she  begged  to  rest 
a  moment.  But  in  dancing  the  last  quadrille  with  one 
of  those  tiresome  men  whom  she  found  it  impossible  to 
refuse,  she  found  herself  in  the  same  set  with  Vronsky 
and  Anna.  Kitty  had  not  fallen  in  with  Anna  since  the 
beginning  of  the  ball,  and  now  again  she  suddenly  saw 
her  in  another  new  and  unexpected  light.  She  seemed 
laboring  under  an  excitement  such  as  Kitty  herself  had 
experienced — that  of  success.      She    saw    that   Anna 


ANNA    KARENINA  105 

was  excited  and  intoxicated  with  the  wine  of  admiration. 
Kitty  knew  the  sensation,  knew  the  symptoms  and 
recognized  them  in  Anna^ — she  saw  the  feverish  brill- 
iancy of  her,  and  the  smile  of  happiness  and  excitement 
involuntarily  parting  her  lips,  and  the  harmony,  precis- 
ion, and  grace  of  her  movements. 

"  Who  has  caused  it  ? "  she  asked  herself,  "  All,  or 
one  > " 

She  would  not  help  her  tormented  partner  in  the 
conversation,  the  thread  of  which  he  had  dropped  and 
could  not  pick  up  again  ;  and  though  she  submitted 
with  apparent  good  grace  to  the  loud  orders  of  Kor- 
sunsky,  shouting  "Ladies'  chain"  and  "All  hands 
around,"  she  watched  her  closely,  and  her  heart  op- 
pressed her  more  and  more. 

"  No,  it  is  not  the  approval  of  the  crowd  that  has  so 
intoxicated  her,  but  the  admiration  of  the  one.  And 
that  one.?  —  Can  it  be  /lef" 

Every  time  Vronsky  spoke  to  Anna,  her  eyes  spar- 
kled with  pleasure,  and  a  smile  of  happiness  parted  her 
rosy  lips.  She  seemed  to  make  an  effort  not  to  exhibit 
any  signs  of  this  joy,  but  nevertheless  happiness  was 
painted  on  her  face. 

"  Can  it  be  /le  f  "  thought  Kitty. 

She  looked  at  him,  and  was  horror-struck.  The  senti- 
ments that  were  reflected  on  Anna's  face  as  in  a  mirror 
were  also  visible  on  his.  Where  were  his  coolness,  his 
calm  dignity,  the  repose  which  always  marked  his  face .-' 
Now,  as  he  addressed  his  partner,  his  head  bent  as 
if  he  were  ready  to  worship  her,  and  his  look  ex- 
pressed at  once  humility  and  passion,  as  if  it  said,  '  J 
tvould  not  offejid  you.  I  wonld  save  myself,  and  how 
can  /.?' 

Such  was  the  expression  of  his  face,  and  she  had 
never  before  seen  it  in  him. 

They  talked  about  their  mutual  acquaintances,  their 
conversation  was  made  up  of  trifles,  and  yet  Kitty  felt 
that  every  word  they  spoke  decided  her  fate.  Strange 
as  it  might  seem,  although  they  really  remarked  how 
ridiculous   Ivan   Ivanuitch  was  in   his  efforts  to  speak 


,iq6  anna    KARENINA 

French,  and  how  Miss  Fletskaya  might  have  found  a 
better  match,  nevertheless  these  words  had  for  them  a 
peculiar  meaning,  and  they  understood  it  just  as  well  as 
Kitty  did. 

In  Kitty's  mind,  the  whole  ball,  the  whole  evening, 
everything,  seemed  enveloped  in  mist.  Only  the  stern 
school  of  her  education,  serving  her  well,  sustained  her, 
and  enabled  her  to  do  what  was  required  of  her,  that  is 
to  say,  to  dance,  to  answer  questions,  to  talk,  even  to 
smile. 

But  even  before  the  mazurka  began,  while  they  were 
arranging  the  chairs  and  a  few  couples  were  already 
starting  to  go  from  the  smaller  rooms  into  the  great 
ball-room,  a  sudden  attack  of  despair  and  terror  seized 
her.  She  had  refused  five  invitations,  and.  now  she  had 
no  partner ;  and  now  there  was  no  hope  at  all  that  she 
would  be  invited  again,  for  the  very  reason  that  her 
social  success  would  make  it  unlikely  to  occur  to  any 
one  that  she  would  be  without  a  partner.  She  would 
have  to  tell  her  mother  that  she  was  not  feeling  well, 
and  go  home,  but  even  this  seemed  impossible.  She 
felt  overwhelmed. 

She  went  into  the  farthest  end  of  a  small  parlor,  and 
threw  herself  into  an  arm-chair.  The  airy  skirts  of  her 
robe  enveloped  her  delicate  figure  as  in  a  cloud.  One 
bare  arm,  as  yet  a  little  thin,  but  pretty,  fell  without 
energy,  and  lay  in  the  folds  of  her  rose-colored  skirt ; 
with  the  other  she  held  her  fan,  and  with  quick,  sharp 
motions  tried  to  cool  her  heated  face.  But  while  she 
looked  like  a  lovely  butterfly  caught  amid  grasses,  and 
ready  to  spread  its  rainbow-tinted  wings,  a  horrible 
despair  oppressed  her  heart. 

"  But  perhaps  I  am  mistaken  :  perhaps  it  is  not  so." 

And  again  she  recalled  what  she  had  seen. 

"Kitty,  what  does  this  mean.?"  said  the  Countess 
Nordstone,  coming  to  her  with  noiseless  steps. 

Kitty's  lower  lip  quivered  ;  she  hastily  arose. 

"  Kitty,  are  n't  you  dancing  the  mazurka  ?  " 

"  No  ....  no,"  she  replied,  with  trembling  voice,  almost 
in  tears. 


ANNA    KARENINA  107 

"I  heard  him  invite  her  for  the  mazurka,"  said  the 
countess,  knowing  that  Kitty  would  know  whom  she 
meant.  "She  said,  '  What!  ai^e n' t  you  going  to  dance 
ivith  the  Princess  Shchei'batskaya?" 

"  Akh  !  it 's  all  one  to  me,"  said  Kitty. 

No  one  besides  herself  realized  her  position.  No  one 
knew  that  she  had  refused  a  man  whom  perhaps  she 
loved,  —  refused  him  because  she  preferred  some  one 
else. 

The  Countess  Nordstone  went  in  search  of  Korsun- 
sky,  who  was  her  partner  for  the  mazurka,  and  sent  him 
to  invite  Kitty. 

Kitty  danced  in  the  first  figure,  and  fortunately  was 
not  required  to  talk,  because  Korsunsky  was  obliged  to 
be  ubiquitous,  making  his  arrangements  in  his  little  king- 
dom. Vronsky  and  Anna  were  sitting  nearly  opposite 
to  her :  she  saw  them  sometimes  near,  sometimes  at  a 
distance,  as  their  turn  brought  them  into  the  figures ; 
and  as  she  watched  them,  she  felt  more  and  more  cer- 
tain that  her  unhappiness  was  complete.  She  saw  that 
they  felt  themselves  alone  even  in  the  midst  of  the 
crowded  ball-room  ;  and  on  Vronsky's  face,  usually  so 
impassive  and  calm,  she  remarked  that  mingled  expies- 
sion  of  humility  and  fear,  which  strikes  one  in  an  intel- 
ligent dog,  conscious  of  having  done  wrong. 

If  Anna  smiled,  his  smile  replied ;  if  she  became 
thoughtful,  he  looked  serious.  An  almost  supernatural 
power  seemed  to  attract  Kitty's  gaze  to  Anna's  face. 
She  was  charming  in  her  simple  black  velvet ;  charming 
were  her  round  arms,  clasped  by  bracelets  ;  charming 
her  firm  neck,  encircled  with  pearls  ;  charming  her  dark, 
curly  locks  breaking  from  restraint ;  charming  the  slow 
and  graceful  movements  of  her  small  feet  and  hands ; 
charming  her  lovely  face,  full  of  animation  ;  but  in  all 
this  charm  there  was  something  terrible  and  cruel. 

Kitty  admired  her  more  than  ever,  and  ever  more  and 
more  her  pain  increased.  She  felt  crushed,  and  her  face 
told  the  story.  When  Vronsky  passed  her,  in  some  fig- 
ure of  the  mazurka,  he  hardly  knew  her,  so  much  had 
she  changed. 


xo8  ANNA    KARENINA 

"Lovely  ball,"  he  said,  so  as  to  say  something. 

"Yes,"  was  her  reply. 

Toward  the  middle  of  the  mazurka,  in  going  through 
a  complicated  figure  recently  •invented  by  Korsunsky, 
Anna  went  to  the  center  of  the  circle,  and  called  out 
two  gentlemen  and  two  ladies ;  Kitty  was  one.  As  she 
approached  Anna,  she  looked  at  her  in  dismay,  Anna, 
half  shutting  her  eyes,  looked  at  her  with  a  smile,  and 
pressed  her  hand  ;  then  noticing  that  Kitty's  face,  reply- 
ing to  her  smile,  wore  an  expression  of  despair  and 
amazement,  she  turned  from  her  and  began  to  talk  to 
the  other  lady  in  animated  tones. 

.    "Yes,  there  is  some  terrible,  almost  infernal  attrac- 
tion about  her,"  said  Kitty  to  herself. 

Anna  did  not  wish  to  remain  to  supper,  but  the  host 
insisted. 

"Do  stay,  Anna  Arkadyevna,"  said  Korsunsky,  as 
she  stood  with  her  bare  arm  resting  on  the  sleeve  of  his 
coat.     "Such  a  cotillion  I  have  in  mind  !      Un  bijou  !'' 

And  the  master  of  the  house,  looking  on  with  a  smile, 
encouraged  his  efforts  to  detain  her, 

"  No,  I  cannot  stay,"  said  Anna,  also  smiling ;  but  in 
spite  of  her  smile  the  two  men  understood  by  the  deter- 
mination in  her  voice  that  she  would  not  stay. 

"  No,  for  I  have  danced  here  in  Moscow  at  this  single 
ball  more  than  all  winter  in  Petersburg,"  said  she, 
looking  at  Vronsky,  who  was  standing  near  her;  "one 
must  rest  before  a  journey." 

"  And  so  you  are  really  going  back  to-morrow  .!•  "  he 
asked. 

"  Yes ;  I  think  so,"  replied  Anna,  as  if  surprised  at 
the  boldness  of  his  question.  But  as  she  said  this  to 
him,  the  brilliancy  of  her  eyes  and  of  her  smile  set  his 
heart  on  fire. 

Anna  Arkadyevna  did  not  stay  for  supper,  but  took 
her  departure. 


ANNA    KARENINA  109 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

"Yes,  there  must  be  something  repellent,  even  re- 
pulsive, about  me,"  thought  Levin,  as  he  left  the  Shcher- 
batskys',  and  went  on  foot  in  search  of  his  brother.  "  I 
am  not  popular  with  men.  They  say  it  is  pride.  No, 
I  am  not  proud  ;  if  I  had  been  proud,  I  should  not  have 
put  myself  in  my  present  situation." 

And  he  imagined  himself  Vronsky,  happy,  popular, 
calm,  witty,  who  had  apparently  never  put  himself  in 
such  a  terrible  position  as  he  was  in  on  that  evening. 

"  Yes,  she  naturally  chose  him,  and  I  have  no  right 
to  complain  about  any  one  or  any  thing.  I  myself  am 
to  blame.  What  right  had  I  to  think  that  she  would 
ever  unite  her  life  with  mine  ?  Who  am  I  ?  and  what 
am  I?      A  man  useful  to  no  one  —  a  good-for-nothing." 

Then  the  memory  of  his  brother  Nikolai'  came  back 
to  him. 

"  Was  he  not  right  in  saying  that  everything  in  the 
world  was  miserable  and  wretched  ?  Have  we  been, 
and  are  we,  just  in  our  judgment  of  brother  Nikolai? 
Of  course,  from  the  point  of  view  of  Prokofi,  who  saw 
him  drunk  and  in  ragged  clothes,  he  is  a  miserable  crea- 
ture ;  but  I  judge  him  differently.  I  know  his  heart, 
and  I  know  that  we  are  alike.  And  I,  instead  of  going 
to  find  him,  have  been  out  dining,  and  to  this  reception  !  " 

Levin  went  to  a  street-lamp  and  read  his  brother's 
address,  which  was  written  on  a  slip  of  paper,  and  called 
an  izvoshchik.  All  the  long  way  he  vividly  recalled  one 
by  one  the  well-known  incidents  of  his  brother  Nikolai's 
life.  He  remembered  how  at  the  university,  and  for  a 
year  after  his  graduation,  he  had  lived  like  a  monk  not- 
withstanding the  ridicule  of  his  comrades,  strictly  de- 
voted to  all  forms  of  religion,  services,  fasts,  turning 
his  back  on  all  pleasures,  and  especially  women  ;  and 
then  how  he  had  suddenly  turned  around,  and  fallen 
into  the  company  of  people  of  the  lowest  lives,  and 
entered  upon  a  course  of  dissipation  and  debauchery. 
He   remembered    his   conduct   toward  a  lad  whom  he 


no  ANNA   KARENINA 

had  taken  from  the  country  to  bring  up,  and  whom  he 
whipped  so  severely  in  a  fit  of  anger  that  he  narrowly 
escaped  being  transported  for  mayhem.  He  remem- 
bered his  conduct  toward  a  swindler  to  whom  he  owed 
a  gambling  debt  and  in  payment  of  it  had  given  him  his 
note,  and  whom  he  had  caused  to  be  arrested  on  the 
charge  of  cheating  him  ;  this  was,  in  fact,  money  that 
Sergef  Ivanuitch  had  just  paid.  Then  he  remembered 
the  night  spent  by  Nikolai  at  the  station-house  on 
account  of  a  spree.  He  remembered  the  scandalous 
lawsuit  against  his  brother  Sergef  Ivanuitch,  because 
Sergei  had  refused  to  pay  his  share  of  their  mother's 
estate ;  and  finally  he  recalled  his  last  adventure,  when, 
after  he  had  gone  to  take  a  position  at  the  Western  fron- 
tier, he  was  dismissed  for  assaulting  a  superior 

All  this  was  detestable,  but  it  did  not  seem  nearly  so 
odious  to  Levin  as  it  would  have  been  to  those  who  did 
not  know  Nikolaf,  did  not  know  his  history,  did  not 
know  his  heart. 

Levin  remembered  how  at  the  time  when  Nikolai'  was 
occupied  with  his  devotions,  his  fastings,  his  priests,  his 
ecclesiastical  observances,  when  he  was  seeking  to  curb 
his  passionate  nature  by  religion,  no  one  had  aided  him, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  every  one,  even  himself,  had  made 
sport  of  him  ;  they  had  mocked  him,  nicknamed  him 
Noah,  the  monk !  Then,  when  he  had  fallen,  no  one 
had  helped  him,  but  all  had  turned  from  him  with  hor- 
ror and  disgust.  Levin  felt  that  his  brother  Nikolaif  at 
the  bottom  of  his  heart,  in  spite  of  all  the  deformity  of 
his  life,  was  not  so  very  much  worse  than  those  who 
despised  him.  He  was  not  to  blame  for  having  been 
born  with  his  unrestrainable  character  and  his  peculi- 
arities of  intellect.     He  had  always  had  good  impulses. 

"  I  will  tell  him  everything,  and  I  will  make  him  tell 
me  everything,  and  show  him  that  I  love  him  and  there- 
fore understand  him,"  said  Levin  to  himself,  and  about 
eleven  o'clock  in  the  evening  he  bade  the  driver  take 
him  to  the  hotel  indicated  on  the  address. 

"Upstairs,  No.  12  and  13, "-said  the  Swiss,  in  reply  to 
Levin's  question. 


ANNA   KARENINA  iii 

•'  Is  he  at  home  ? " 

"Probably." 

The  door  of  No.  12  was  half  open,  and  from  the  room 
came  the  dense  fumes  of  cheap,  poor  tobacco,  and  a 
voice  unknown  to  Levin  was  heard  speaking  ;  but  Levin 
instantly  knew  his  brother  was  there ;  he  recognized 
his  cough. 

When  he  reached  the  door,  the  unknown  voice  was 
saying :  — 

"All  depends  on  whether  the  affair  is  conducted  in  a 
proper  and  rational  manner." 

Konstantin  Levin  glanced  through  the  doorway,  and 
saw  that  the  speaker  was  a  young  man,  in  a  peasant's 
sleeveless  coat,  and  with  an  enormous  mop  of  hair  on 
his  head.  On  the  divan  was  sitting  a  young  woman, 
with  pock-marked  face,  and  dressed  in  a  woolen  gown 
without  collar  or  cuffs.  His  brother  was  not  to  be  seen, 
A  pain  shot  through  Konstantin's  heart  to  think  of  the 
strange  people  with  whom  his  brother  associated.  No 
one  heard  him  ;  and,  while  he  was  removing  his  galoshes, 
he  listened  to  what  the  man  in  the  sleeveless  coat  was 
saying.     He  was  speaking  of  some  enterprise. 

"  Well !  the  Devil  take  the  privileged  classes  !  "  said 
his  brother's  voice,  after  a  fit  of  coughing.  "  Masha, 
see  if  you  can't  get  us  something  to  eat,  and  bring  some 
wine  if  there 's  any  left ;  if  not,  go  for  some." 

The  woman  arose,  and  as  she  came  out  from  behind 
the  screen  she  saw  Konstantin. 

"  A  gentleman  here,  Nikolai"  Dmitritch,"  she  cried. 

"What  is  wanted?"  said  the  voice  of  Nikolaf  Levin, 
angrily. 

"It's  I,"  replied  Konstantin,  appearing  at  the  door. 

"Who's  /.^"  repeated  Nikolai's  voice,  still  more 
angrily. 

Then  he  was  heard  quickly  rising  and  stumbling 
against  something,  and  Konstantin  saw  before  him  at 
the  door  his  brother's  well-known  figure,  still  remark- 
able by  reason  of  his  shyness  and  ill  health  —  infirm, 
tall,  thin,  and  bent,  with  great  startled  eyes. 

He  was  still  thinner  than  when  Konstantin  had  last 


jia  ANNA   KARENINA 

seen  him,  three  years  before.  He  wore  a  short  over- 
coat.  His  hands  and  his  bony  frame  seemed  to  him 
more  colossal  than  ever.  His  hair  had  grown  thinner, 
but  the  same  stiff  mustaches  hid  his  lips,  the  same  eyes 
glared  at  his  visitor  uncannily  and  naively. 

"  Ah,  Kostia !  "  he  suddenly  cried,  recognizing  his 
brother,  and  his  eyes  shone  with  joy.  But  the  same 
instant  he  fixed  his  eyes  on  the  younger  man,  and  made 
a  quick,  convulsive  motion  of  his  head  and  neck,  as  if 
his  cravat  choked  him,  a  gesture  well  known  to  Kon- 
stantin  ;  and  an  entirely  different  expression,  wild,  and 
bitter,  and  expressive  of  martyrdom,  came  into  his 
sunken  face. 

"  I  wrote  both  to  you  and  to  Sergei"  Ivanuitch  that  I 
do  not  know  you,  nor  wish  to  know  you.  What  do  you 
want ;  what  does  either  of  you  want .-'  " 

He  was  not  at  all  as  Konstantin  had  imagined  him. 
The  hardest  and  vilest  elements  of  his  character,  which 
had  made  any  relations  with  him  difficult,  had  faded 
from  Konstantin  Levin's  memory  whenever  he  thought 
about  him  ;  and  now,  when  he  saw  his  face  and  the 
characteristic  convulsive  motions  of  his  head,  he  remem- 
bered it  all. 

"  But  I  wanted  nothing  of  you  except  to  see  you,"  he 
replied  timidly.     **  I  only  came  to  see  you." 

His  brother's  diffidence  apparently  disarmed  Nikolai. 
His  lips  relaxed. 

"  Ah  !  did  you  .-'  "  said  he.  "  Well !  come  in,  sit  down. 
Do  you  want  some  supper  ?  Masha,  bring  enough  for 
three.  No,  hold  on  1  Do  you  know  who  this  is  .'' "  he 
asked  his  brother,  pointing  to  the  young  man  in  the 
peasant's  coat.  "This  gentleman  is  Mr.  Kritsky,  a 
friend  of  mine  from  Kief,  a  very  remarkable  man.  It 
seems  the  police  are  after  him,  because  he  is  not  a 
coward." 

And  he  looked,  as  his  habit  was,  at  all  who  were  in 
the  room.  Then,  seeing  that  the  woman,  who  stood  at 
the  door,  was  about  to  leave,  he  shouted  :  — 

"Wait,  I  tell  you." 

Then,    in    his    extravagant,    incoherent    manner    of 


ANNA    KARENINA  113 

speech,  which  Konstantin  knew  so  well,  he  began  to 
tell  his  brother  the  whole  story  of  Kritsky's  life ;  how 
he  had  been  driven  from  the  university,  because  he  had 
tried  to  found  an  aid  society  and  Sunday-schools  among 
the  students ;  how  afterwards  he  had  been  appointed 
teacher  in  one  of  the  public  schools,  only  to  be  dis- 
missed ;  and  how  finally  he  had  been  tried  for  something 
or  other. 

"Were  you  at  the  University  of  Kief?"  asked  Kon- 
stantin of  Kritsky,  in  order  to  break  the  awkward  silence 
that  followed. 

"  Yes,  I  was  at  Kief,"  replied  Kritsky,  curtly,  with  a 
frown. 

"  And  this  woman,"  cried  Nikolai'  Levin,  pointing  to 
the  girl,  "is  the  companion  of  my  life,  Marya  Niko- 
layevna.  I  took  her  from  a  house,"  —  he  said,  stretch- 
ing out  his  neck,  —  "  but  I  love  her,  and  I  esteem  her ; 
and  all  who  want  to  know  me,"  he  added,  raising  his 
voice  and  scowling,  "  must  love  her  and  esteem  her. 
She  is  just  the  same  as  my  wife,  just  the  same.  So 
now  you  know  with  whom  you  have  to  do.  And  if  you 
think  that  you  lower  yourself,  there 's  the  door  !  "  ^  And 
again  his  eyes  looked  at  them  all  questioningly. 

"I  do  not  understand  how  I  should  lower  myself." 

"  All  right,  Masha,  bring  us  up  enough  for  three,  — 

some  vodka  and  wine No,  wait ; ....  no  matter,  though ; 

....go!" 

CHAPTER   XXV 

"As  you  see,"  continued  NikolaT  Levin,  frowning,  and 
speaking  with  effort.  It  was  evidently  hard  for  him  to 
make  up  his  mind  what  to  do  or  say.  "But  do  you 
see  .^"  ....and  he  pointed  to  the  corner  of  the  room, 
where  lay  some  iron  bars  attached  to  straps.  "  Do  you 
see  that }     That  is  the  beginning  of  a  new  work  which 

^  He  quotes  the  riming  phrase  :    Tai  vot  Bog  a  vot  forog  (or,  vot  tebyt 
Bog,  a  vot  tebye  porog)  which  expanded  may  mean,  "Stay  if  you  like  and 
God  be  with  you,  but  yonder  is  the  threshold !  " 
VOL.  I.  —  8 


114  ANNA   KARENINA 

we  are  undertaking.  This  work  belongs  to  a  productive 
labor  association." .... 

Konstantin  scarcely  listened :  he  was  looking  at  his 
brother's  sick,  consumptive  face,  and  he  grew  more  and 
more  sorry  for  him,  and  he  could  not  compel  himself  to 
listen  to  what  his  brother  was  saying  about  the  labor 
association.  He  saw  that  the  labor  association  was  only 
an  anchor  of  safety  to  keep  him  from  absolute  self- 
abasement.     Nikolai'  went  on  to  say  :  — 

"  You  know  that  capital  is  crushing  the  laborer :  with 
us  the  laboring  classes,  the  muzhiks,  bear  the  whole 
weight  of  toil ;  and  no  matter  how  they  exert  them- 
selves, they  can  never  get  above  their  cattle-like  condi- 
tion. All  the  profits  created  by  their  productive  labor, 
by  which  they  could  better  their  lot  and  procure  for  them- 
selves leisure,  and  therefore  instruction,  all  their  super- 
fluous profits  are  swallowed  up  by  the  capitalists.  And 
society  is  so  constituted  that,  the  harder  they  work,  the 
more  the  proprietors  and  the  merchants  fatten  at  their 
expense,  while  they  remain  beasts  of  burden  still.  And 
this  order  of  things  must  be  changed,"  said  he,  in  con- 
clusion, and  looked  questioningly  at  his  brother. 

"  Yes,  of  course,"  replied  Konstantin,  looking  at  the 
pink  spots  which  burned  in  his  brother's  hollow  cheeks. 

"And  now  we  are  organizing  an  artel  of  locksmiths 
where  all  will  be  in  common,  —  work,  profits,  and  even 
the  tools." 

"  Where  will  this  artel  be  situated  } "  asked  Kon- 
stantin. 

"In  the  village  of  Vozdremo,  government  of  Kazan." 

"  Yes  ;  but  why  in  a  village  ?  In  the  villages,  it  seems 
to  me,  there  is  plenty  of  work :  why  associated  lock- 
smiths in  a  village  .-•  " 

"Because  the  muzhiks  are  serfs,  just  as  much  as  they 
ever  were,  and  you  and  Sergef  Ivanuitch  don't  like  it 
because  we  want  to  free  them  from  this  slavery,"  replied 
Nikolaif,  vexed  by  his  brother's  question. 

While  he  spoke,  Konstantin  was  looking  about  the 
melancholy,  dirty  room  ;  he  sighed,  and  his  sigh  seemed 
to  make  Nikolai'  still  more  angry. 


ANNA    KARENINA  115 

**  I  know  the  aristocratic  prejudices  of  such  men  as 
you  and  Sergef  Ivanuitch.  I  know  that  he  is  spending 
all  the  strength  of  his  mind  in  defense  of  the  evils  that 
crush  us." 

"  No  !  but  why  do  you  speak  of  Sergef  Ivanuitch  ?  " 
asked  Levin,  smiling. 

"  Sergei  Ivanuitch  }  This  is  why  !  "  cried  NikolaY,  at 
the  mention  of  Sergef  Ivanuitch  —  "  this  is  why  ! .... 
yet  what  is  the  good  .-*  tell  me  this  —  what  did  you  come 
here  for  ?  You  despise  all  this  ;  very  good  !  Go  away, 
for  God's  sake,"  he  cried,  rising  from  his  chair,  —  "  go 
away  !  go  away  !  " 

"  I  don't  despise  anything,"  said  Konstantin,  gently ; 
"  I  only  refrain  from  discussing." 

At  this  moment  Marya  Nikolayevna  came  in.  Niko- 
laY looked  at  her  angrily,  but  she  quickly  stepped  up  to 
him  and  whispered  a  few  words  in  his  ear. 

"I  am  not  well,  I  easily  become  irritable,"  he  ex- 
plained, growing  calmer,  and  breathing  with  difificulty, 
"and  you  just  spoke  to  me  about  Sergei  Ivanuitch  and 
his  article.  It  is  so  rubbishy,  so  idle,  so  full  of  error. 
How  can  a  man,  who  knows  nothing  about  justice, 
write  about  it }  Have  you  read  his  article  } "  said  he, 
turning  to  Kritsky,  and  then,  going  to  the  table,  he 
brushed  off  the  half-rolled  cigarettes  so  as  to  clear  away 
a  little  space. 

"  I  have  not  read  it,"  replied  Kritsky,  gloomily,  evi- 
dently not  wishing  to  take  part  in  the  conversation. 

"  Why .'' "  cried  Nikolai',  irritably,  still  addressing 
Kritsky. 

"  Because  I  don't  consider  it  necessary  to  waste  my 
time  on  it." 

"  That  is,  excuse  me  —  how  do  you  know  that  it  would 
be  a  waste  of  time  ?  For  many  people  this  article  is 
inaccessible,  because  it  is  above  them.  But  I  find  i'. 
different ;  I  sec  the  thoughts  through  and  through,  and 
know  wherein  it  is  weak." 

No  one  replied.    Kritsky  slowly  arose,  and  took  his  hat 

"Won't  you  take  some  lunch  .^  Well,  good-by ! 
Come  to-morrow  with  the  locksmith." 


ii6  ANNA    KARENINA 

Kritsky  had  hardly  left  the  room,  when  Nikolai  smiled 
and  winked. 

"  He  is  to  be  pitied  ;  but  I  see  .... " 

Just  at  that  instant  Kritsky,  calling  at  the  door,  inter- 
rupted him. 

"  What  do  you  want  ? "  he  asked,  joining  him  in  the 
corridor. 

Left  alone  with  Marya  Nikolayevna,  Levin  said  to 
her :  — 

"Have  you  been  long  with  my  brother.-'" 

"This  is  the  second  year.  His  health  has  become 
very  feeble ;  he  drinks  a  great  deal,"  she  said. 

"What  do  you  mean .-'  " 

"  He  drinks  vodka,  and  it  is  bad  for  him." 

"  Does  he  drink  too  much  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  she,  looking  timidly  toward  the  door 
where  Nikolai  Levin  was  just  entering. 

"  What  were  you  talking  about  y  he  demanded,  with 
a  scowl,  and  looking  from  one  to  the  other  with  angry 
eyes.     "Tell  me." 

"  Oh  !  nothing,"  replied  Konstantin,  in  confusion. 

"  You  don't  want  to  answer  .-*  all  right !  don't.  But 
you  have  no  business  to  be  talking  with  her ;  she  is  a 
girl,  you  a  gentleman,"  he  shouted,  craning  out  his  neck. 
"I  see  that  you  have  understood  everything,  and  judged 
everything,  and  that  you  look  with  grief  on  the  errors 
of  my  ways." 

He  went  on  speaking,  raising  his  voice. 

"  Nikolaf  Dmitritch  !  Nikolai'  Dmitritch !  "  whispered 
Marya  Nikolayevna,  coming  close  to  him. 

"Well!  very  good,  very  good Supper,  then?  ah! 

here  it  is,"  he  said,  seeing  a  servant  entering  with  a 
platter. 

"  Here !  put  it  here  !  "  he  said  crossly ;  then,  taking 
the  vodka,  he  poured  out  a  glass,  and  drank  it  eagerly. 

"  Will  you  have  a  drink  ? "  he  asked  his  brother,  im- 
mediately growing  lively. 

"  Well !  no  more  about  Sergei  Ivanuitch  1  I  am  very 
glad  to  see  you.  No  matter  what  people  say,  we  are  no 
longer   strangers.     Come  now  I  drink !     Tell  me  what 


ANNA    KARENINA  117 

you  are  doing,"  he  said,  greedily  munching  a  piece  of 
bread,  and  pouring  out  a  second  glass.  "  How  are  you 
living  ?  " 

"  I  live  alone  in  the  country,  as  I  always  have,  and 
busy  myself  with  farming,"  replied  Konstantin,  looking 
with  terror  at  the  eagerness  with  which  his  brother  ate 
and  drank,  and  trying  to  hide  his  impressions. 

"  Why  don't  you  get  married  .-' " 

"  I  have  not  come  to  that  yet,"  replied  Konstantin, 
turning  red. 

"Why  so.'*  For  me — it's  all  over!  I  have  wasted 
my  life  !  This  I  have  said,  and  always  shall  say,  that, 
if  they  had  given  me  my  share  of  the  estate  when  I 
needed  it,  my  whole  life  v/ould  have  been  different." 

Konstantin  hastened  to  change  the  conversation. 

"  Did  you  know  that  your  Vanyuskka  ^  is  with  me  at 
Pokrovskoye  as  book-keeper }  "  he  said. 

Nikola'f  craned  out  his  neck  and  wondered. 

"  Yes,  tell  me  what  is  doing  at  Pokrovskoye.  Is  the 
house  just  the  same .''  and  the  birch  trees  and  our  study- 
room  .-•  Is  Filipp,  the  gardener,  still  alive .''  How  I  re- 
member the  summer-house  and  the  divan! ....  Just  look 
here  I  don't  let  anything  in  the  house  be  changed,  but 
hurry  up  and  get  married  and  begin  to  live  as  you  used 
to.  Then  I  will  come  to  visit  you  if  your  wife  will  be 
kind." 

"Then  come  back  with  me  now,"  said  Konstantin. 
"  How  well  we  should  get  on  together  !  " 

"  I  would  come  if  I  knew  I  should  not  meet  Sergei 
Ivanuitch." 

"  You  would  not  meet  him  ;  I  live  absolutely  indepen- 
dent of  him." 

"  Yes  ;  but,  whatever  you  say,  you  must  choose  be- 
tween him  and  me,"  said  Nikolai",  looking  timorously  in 
his  brother's  eyes. 

This  timidity  touched  Konstantin. 

"  If  you  want  to  hear  my  whole  confession  as  to  this 
matter,  I  will  tell  you  that  I  take  sides  neither  with  you 
nor  with  him  in  your  quarrel.  You  are  both  in  the 
1  Vanyushka  is  the  diminutive  of  Ivan,  as  Jack  is  of  John, 


ii8  ANNA    KARENINA 

wrong ;  but  in  your  case  the  wrong  is  external,  while  in 
his  the  wrong  is  inward." 

"  Ha,  ha  !  Do  you  understand  it  ?  do  you  understand 
it  ? "  cried  Nikolai',  with  an  expression  of  joy. 

"But  if  you  would  like  to  know,  personally  I  value 
your  friendship  higher  because...." 

"Why?  why.?" 

Konstantin  could  not  say  that  it  was  because  Nikolai 
was  wretched,  and  needed  his  friendship;  but  Nikolaf 
understood  that  that  was  the  very  thing  he  meant,  and, 
frowning  darkly,  he  betook  himself  to  the  vodka. 

"  Enough,  Nikolai"  Dmitritch  !  "  cried  Marya  Nikola- 
yevna,  laying  her  great  pudgy  hand  pn  the  decanter. 

"  Let  me  alone  !  don't  bother  me,  or  I  '11  strike  you," 
he  cried. 

Marya  Nikolayevna  smiled  with  her  gentle  and  good- 
natured  smile,  which  pacified  Nikolai",  and  she  took  the 
vodka. 

"There  !  Do  you  think  that  she  does  not  understand 
things.''"  said  Nikola"i".  "She  understands  this  thing 
better  than  all  of  you.  Is  n't  there  something  about  her 
good  and  gentle  .''  " 

"  Have  n't  you  ever  been  in  Moscow  before  ? "  said 
Konstantin,  in  order  to  say  something  to  her. 

"  There  now,  don't  say  via  [you]  to  her.  It  frightens 
her.  No  one  said  vui  to  her  except  the  justice  of  the 
peace,  when  they  had  her  up  because  she  wanted  to 
escape  from  the  house  of  ill-fame  where  she  was.  My 
God  !  how  senseless  everything  is  in  this  world  ! "  he 
suddenly  exclaimed.  "These  new  institutions,  these 
justices  of  the  peace,  the  zemstro,  what  abominations!" 

And  he  began  to  relate  his  experiences  with  the  new 
institutions. 

Konstantin  listened  to  him  ;  and  the  criticisms  on  the 
absurdity  of  the  new  institutions,  which  he  had  himself 
often  expressed,  now  that  he  heard  them  from  his 
brother's  lips,  seemed  disagreeable  to  him. 

"We  shall^understand  it  all  in  the  next  world,"  he 
said  jestingly. 

"  In  the  next  world  .-*     Och  !  I  don't  like  your  next 


ANNA    KARENINA  119 

world  ;  I  don't  like  it,"  he  repeated,  fixing  his  timid, 
haggard  eyes  on  his  brother's  face.  "  And  yet  it  would 
seem  good  to  go  from  these  abominations,  these  entan- 
glements, from  this  unnatural  state  of  things,  from  my- 
self ;  but  I  am  afraid  of  death,  horribly  afraid  of  death  !  " 
He  shuddered.  "  There  !  drink  s  jmething !  Would  you 
like  some  champagne  ?  or  would  you  rather  go  out  some- 
where ?  Let 's  go  and  see  the  gipsies.  You  know  I  am 
very  fond  of  gipsies  and  Russian  songs." 

His  speech  had  begun  to  grow  thick,  and  he  hurried 
from  one  subject  to  another.  Konstantin,  with  Masha's 
aid,  persuaded  him  to  stay  at  home ;  and  they  put  him 
on  his  bed  completely  drunk. 

Masha  promised  to  write  Konstantin  in  case  of  need, 
and  to  persuade  Nikolai  Levin  to  come  and  live  with  his 
brother. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

The  next  forenoon  Levin  left  Moscow,  and  toward 
evening  was  at  home.  On  the  journey  he  talked  with 
those  near  him  in  the  train  about  politics,  about  the  new 
railroads ;  and,  just  as  in  Moscow,  he  was  overcome  by 
the  chaos  of  conflicting  opinions,  self-dissatisfaction,  and 
a  sense  of  shame.  But  when  he  got  out  at  his  station, 
and  perceived  his  one-eyed  coachman,  Ignat,  with  his 
kaftan  collar  turned  up;  when  he  saw,  in  the  dim  light 
that  fell  through  the  station  windows,  his  covered  sledge 
and  his  horses  with  their  tied-up  tails,  and  their  harness 
with  its  rings  and  fringes ;  when  Ignat,  as  he  was  tuck- 
ing in  the  robes,  told  him  all  the  news  of  the  village, 
about  the  coming  of  the  contractor,  and  how  Pava  the 
cow  had  calved,  — then  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  chaos 
resolved  itself  a  little,  and  his  shame  and  dissatisfaction 
passed  away.  This  he  felt  at  the  very  sight  of  Ignat 
and  his  horses  ;  but,  as  soon  as  he  had  put  on  his  sheep- 
skin tulup,  which  he  found  in  the  sleigh,  and  took  his 
seat  in  the  sleigh  comfortably  wrapped  up,  and  drove 
off  thinking  what  arrangement  he  should  have  to  make 


1^0  ANNA   KARENINA 

in  the  village,  and  at  the  same  time  examining  the  off 
horse,  Donskaya,  which  used  to  be  his  saddle-horse,  a 
jaded  but  mettlesome  steed,  he  began  to  view  his  expe- 
riences in  an  absolutely  different  light. 

He  felt  himself  again,  and  no  longer  wished  to  be  a 
different  person.  He  only  wished  to  be  better  than  he 
had  ever  been  before.  In  the  first  place,  he  resolved 
from  that  day  forth  that  he  would  never  expect  extraor- 
dinary joys,  such  as  marriage  had  promised  to  bring  to 
him,  and  therefore  he  would  never  again  despise  the 
present ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  he  would  never  allow 
himself  to  be  led  away  by  low  passion,  the  remem- 
brances of  which  so  tortured  him  while  he  was  deciding 
to  make  his  proposal.  And  lastly,  as  he  thought  of  his 
brother  Nikolaf,  he  resolved  that  he  would  never  again 
forget  him,  but  that  he  would  keep  track  of  him  and  not 
let  him  out  of  sight,  so  that  he  might  be  in  readiness  to 
aid  him  whenever  the  evil  moment  arrived,  and  that 
seemed  likely  to  be  very  soon. 

Then  the  conversation  about  communism,  which  he 
had  so  lightly  treated  with  his  brother,  came  back  to 
him,  and  made  him  reflect.  A  reform  of  economic  con- 
ditions seemed  to  him  nonsense,  but  he  always  felt  the 
unfair  difference  between  his  own  superfluity  and  the 
poverty  of  the  people,  and  in  order  that  he  might  feel 
perfectly  right,  he  now  vowed  that  though  hitherto  he 
had  worked  hard,  and  lived  economically,  he  would  in 
the  future  work  still  harder,  and  permit  himself  even  less 
luxury  than  ever.  And  all  this  seemed  to  him  so  easy 
to  accomplish  that,  throughout  the  drive  from  the  sta- 
tion, he  was  the  subject  of  the  pleasantest  illusions. 
With  a  hearty  feeling  of  hope  for  a  new  and  better  life, 
he  reached  home  just  as  the  clock  was  striking  ten. 

From  the  windows  of  the  room  occupied  by  his  old 
nurse,  Agafya  Mikhaflovna,  who  fulfilled  the  functions 
of  housekeeper,  the  light  fell  on  the  snow-covered  walk 
before  his  house.  She  was  not  yet  asleep.  Kuzma, 
wakened  by  her>  hurried  down,  barefooted  and  sleepy, 
to  open  the  door.  Laska,  the  setter,  almost  knocking 
Kuzma  down  in  her  desire  to  get  ahead  of  him,  ran  to 


ANNA    KARENINA  121 

meet  her  master,  and  jumped  upon  him,  trying  to  place 
her  fore  paws  on  his  breast. 

"  You  are  back  very  soon,  batyushka,"  said  Agafya 
Mikhaflovna. 

"  I  was  bored,  Agafya  Mikharlovna ;  't  is  good  to  go 
visiting,  but  it 's  better  at  home,"  said  he.  And  he 
went  into  his  library. 

The  library  slowly  grew  light  as  the  candle  that  was 
brought  burnt  up.  The  familiar  details  little  by  little 
came  into  sight  —  the  great  antlers,  the  shelves  lined 
with  books,  the  mirror,  the  stove  with  a  hole  which  ought 
long  ago  to  have  been  repaired,  the  ancestral  divan, 
the  great  table,  and  on  the  table  an  open  book,  a  broken 
ash-tray,  a  note-book  filled  with  his  writing. 

As  he  saw  all  these  things,  for  a  moment  the  doubt 
arose  in  his  mind  if  it  would  be  possible  to  bring  about 
this  new  life  which  he  had  dreamed  of  during  his  journey. 
All  these  signs  of  his  past  seemed  to  say  to  him,  '  No, 
thou  shalt  not  leave  us  !  thou  shalt  not  become  another; 
but  thou  shalt  still  be  as  thou  hast  always  been, — with 
thy  doubts,  thy  everlasting  self-dissatisfaction,  thy  idle 
efforts  at  reform,  thy  failures,  and  thy  perpetual  striv- 
ing for  a  happiness  which  will  never  be  thine.' 

But  while  these  external  objects  spoke  to  him  thus, 
a  different  voice  whispered  to  his  soul,  bidding  him  cease 
to  be  a  slave  to  his  past,  and  declaring  that  a  man  has 
every  possibility  within  him.  And,  listening  to  this 
voice,  he  went  to  one  side  of  the  room,  where  he  found 
two  forty-pound  dumb-bells.  And  he  began  to  practise 
his  gymnastic  exercises  with  them,  endeavoring  to  bring 
himself  into  a  condition  of  vigor.  At  the  door  there  was 
a  noise  of  steps.     He  hastily  put  down  the  dumb-bells. 

The  intendant  ^  came  in  and  said  that,  thanks  to 
God,  everything  was  all  right,  but  he  confessed  that 
the  buckwheat  in  the  new  drying-room  had  got  burnt. 
This  provoked  Levin.  This  new  drying-room  he  had 
himself  built,  and  partially  invented.  But  the  inten- 
dant had  been  entirely  opposed  to  it,  and  now  he  an- 
nounced with  ill-concealed  triumph  that  the  buckwheat 

^  Prikashchik, 


122  ANNA    KARENINA 

was  burnt.  Levin  was  sure  that  it  was  because  he  had 
neglected  the  precautions  a  hundred  times  suggested. 
He   grew  angry,  and  reprimanded  the  intendant. 

But  there  was  one  fortunate  and  important  event : 
Pava,  his  best,  his  most  beautiful  cow,  which  he  had 
bought  at  the  cattle-show,  had  calved. 

**  Kuzma,  give  me  my  tulup.  And  you,"  said  he  to 
the  intendant,  "get  a  lantern.     I  will  go  and  see  her." 

The  stable  for  the  cattle  was  immediately  behind  the 
house.  Crossing  the  courtyard,  where  the  snow  was 
heaf^ed  under  the  lilac  bushes,  he  stepped  up  to  the 
stable.  As  he  opened  the  frosty  door,  he  was  met  by 
the  warm  fumes  of  manure,  and  the  cows,  astonished  at 
the  unwonted  light  of  the  lantern,  stirred  on  their  fresh 
straw.  The  light  fell  on  the  broad  black  back  of  his 
piebald  Holland  cow.  Berkut,  the  bull,  with  a  ring  in 
his  nose,  tried  to  get  to  his  feet,  but  changed  his  mind, 
and  only  snorted  as  they  passed  by. 

The  beautiful  Pava,  huge  as  a  hippopotamus,  was  ly- 
ing near  her  calf,  snuffing  at  it,  and  protecting  it  against 
those  who  would  come  too  close. 

Levin  entered  the  stall,  examined  Pava,  and  lifted  the 
calf,  spotted  with  red  and  white,  on  its  long,  awkward 
legs.  Pava  began  to  low  with  anxiety,  but  was  re- 
assured when  the  calf  was  restored  to  her,  and  began 
to  lick  it  with  her  rough  tongue.  The  calf  hid  its  nose 
under  its  mother's  side,  and  frisked  its  tail. 

"Bring  the  light  this  way,  Feodor,  this  way,"  said 
Levin,  examining  the  calf.  "  Like  its  mother,  but  its 
color  is  like  the  sire's,  very  pretty !  long  hair  and 
prettily  spotted.  Vasili  Feodorovitch,  is  n't  it  a  beauty.'' " 
he  said,  turning  to  his  intendant,  forgetting,  in  his  joy 
over  the  new-born  calf,  the  grief  caused  by  the  burning 
of  his  wheat. 

"  Why  should  it  be  homely  ?  But  Semyon  the  con- 
tractor was  here  the  day  after  you  left.  It  will  be 
necessary  to  come  to  terms  with  him,  Konstantin 
Dmitritch,"  replied  the  intendant.  "  I  have  already 
spoken  to  you  about  the  machine." 

This  single  phrase  brought  Levin  back  to  all  the  de- 


ANNA    KARENINA  123 

tails  of  his  enterprise,  which  was  great  and  complicated  ; 
and  from  the  stable  he  went  directly  to  the  office,  and 
after  a  long  conversation  with  the  intendant  and  Semyon 
the  contractor,  he  went  back  to  the  house,  and  marched 
straight  up  into  the  drawing-room. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

Levin's  house  was  old  and  large,  but,  though  he  lived 
there  alone,  he  occupied  and  warmed  the  whole  of  it. 
He  knew  that  this  was  ridiculous  ;  he  knew  that  it  was 
bad,  and  contrary  to  his  new  plans  ;  but  this  house  was 
a  world  in  itself  to  him.  It  was  a  world  where  his  father 
and  mother  had  lived  and  died.  They  had  lived  a  life 
which,  for  Levin,  seemed  the  ideal  of  all  perfection,  and 
which  he  dreamed  of  renewing  with  his  own  wife,  with 
his  own  family. 

Levin  scarcely  remembered  his  mother.  But  this 
remembrance  was  sacred  ;  and  his  future  wife,  as  he 
imagined  her,  was  to  be  the  counterpart  of  the  ideally 
charming  and  adorable  woman,  his  mother.  For  him, 
love  for  a  woman  could  not  exist  outside  of  marriage ; 
but  he  imagined  the  family  relationship  first,  and  only 
afterwards  the  woman  who  would  be  the  center  of  the 
family.  His  ideas  about  marriage  were  therefore  es- 
sentially different  from  those  held  by  the  majority  of 
his  friends,  for  whom  it  was  only  one  of  innumerable 
social  affairs  ;  for  Levin  it  was  the  most  important  act 
of  his  life,  whereon  all  his  happiness  depended,  and  now 
he  must  renounce  it ! 

When  he  entered  the  little  parlor  where  he  always 
took  tea,  and  threw  himself  into  his  arm-chair  with  a 
book,  while  Agafya  Mikhailovna  brought  him  his  cup, 
and  sat  down  near  the  window,  saying  as  usual,  ''Well, 
I'll  sit  down,  batyushka,"  —  then  he  felt,  strangely 
enough,  that  he  had  not  renounced  his  day-dreams,  and 
that  he  could  not  live  without  them.  Were  it  Kitty  or 
another,  still  it  would  be.  He  read  his  book,  had  his 
mind  on  what  he  was  reading,  pausing  occasionally  to 


il4  ANNA    KARENINA 

listen  to  Agafya  Mikhallovna's  unceasing  prattle,  but 
his  imagination  was  all  the  time  filled  with  those  varied 
pictures  of  family  happiness  which  hovered  before  him. 
He  felt  that  in  the  depths  of  his  soul  some  change,  some 
modification,  some  crystallization,  was  taking  place. 

He  listened  while  Agafya  Mikhailovna  told  how  Pro- 
khor  had  forgotten  God,  and,  instead  of  buying  a  horse 
with  the  money  which  Levin  had  given  him,  had  taken 
it  and  gone  on  a  spree,  and  beaten  his  wife  almost  to 
death  ;  and  while  he  listened  he  read  his  book,  and  again 
caught  the  thread  of  his  thoughts,  awakened  by  his 
reading.  It  was  a  book  by  Tyndall,  on  heat.  He  re- 
membered his  criticisms  on  Tyndall's  self-satisfaction  in 
the  cleverness  of  his  management  of  his  experiments 
and  on  his  lack  of  philosophical  views,  and  suddenly  a 
happy  thought  crossed  his  mind  :  — 

"  In  two  years  I  shall  have  two  Holland  cows  ;  per- 
haps Pava  herself  will  still  be  alive,  and  possibly  a  dozen 
of  Berkut's  daughters  will  have  been  added  to  the  herd, 
just  from  these  three  !     Splendid  !  " 

And  again  he  picked  up  his  book. 

"  Well !  very  good :  electricity  and  heat  are  one  and 
the  same  thing;  but  could  one  quantity  take  the  place 
of  the  other  in  the  equations  used  to  settle  this  problem.? 
No.  What  then  .-•  The  bond  between  all  the  forces  of  na- 
ture is  felt,  like  instinct When  Pavas  daughter  grows 

into  a  cow  with  red  and  white  spots,  what  a  herd  I  shall 
have  with  those  three  !  Admirable  !  And  my  wife  and  I 
will  go  out  with  our  guests  to  see  the  herd  come  in  ; .... 
and  my  wife  will  say,  '  Kostia  and  I  have  brought  this 
calf  up  just  like  a  child.'  —  *  How  can  this  interest  you 
so } '  the  guests  will  say,  '  All  that  interests  him 
interests  me  also.*....  But  who  will  s/ie  he?"  and  he 
began  to  think  of  what  had  happened  in  Moscow. — 
"Well!  What  is  to  be  done  about  it .-•....  I  am  not  to 
blame.  But  now  everything  will  be  different.  It  is 
foolishness  to  let  one's  past  life  dominate  the  present. 
One  must  struggle  to  live  better  —  much  better."..,. 

He  raised  his  head,  and  sank  into  thought.  Old 
Laska,  who  had  not  yet  got  over  her  delight  at  her 


ANNA    KARENINA  125 

master's  return,  had  been  barking  up  and  down  the 
courtyard.  She  came  into  the  room,  wagging  her  tail, 
and  bringing  the  freshness  of  the  open  air,  and  thrust 
her  head  under  his  hand,  and  begged  for  a  caress,  whin- 
ing plaintively. 

"  She  almost  talks,"  said  Agafya  Mikhailovna;  "she 
is  only  a  dog,  but  she  knows  just  as  well  that  her  master 
has  come  home,  and  is  sad." 

"Why  sad?" 

"Da!  don't  I  see  it,  batyushka?  It's  time  I  knew 
how  to  read  my  masters.  Grew  up  with  my  masters 
since  they  were  children!  No  matter,  batyushka;  your 
health  is  good  and  your  conscience  pure." 

Levin  looked  at  her  earnestly,  in  astonishment  that 
she  so  divined  his  thoughts. 

"And  shall  I  give  you  some  more  tea?"  said  she; 
and  taking  the  cup,  she  went  out. 

Laska  continued  to  nestle  her  head  in  her  master's 
hand.  He  caressed  her,  and  then  she  curled  herself  up 
around  his  feet,  like  a  ring,  laying  her  head  on  one  of 
her  hind  paws  ;  and,  as  a  proof  that  all  was  arranged  to 
suit  her,  she  opened  her  mouth  a  little,  let  her  tongue 
slip  out  between  her  aged  teeth,  and,  with  a  gentle  puff- 
ing of  her  lips,  gave  herself  up  to  beatific  repose.  Levin 
followed  all  of  her  movements. 

"  So  will  I !  "  he  said  to  himself;  "so  will  I!  no  mat- 
ter! all  will  be  well!" 


CHAPTER   XXVni 

Early  on  the  morning  after  the  ball,  Anna  Arka- 
dyevna  sent  her  husband  a  telegram,  announcing  that 
she  was  going  to  leave  Moscow  that  day. 

"  No,  I  must,  I  must  go,"  she  said  to  her  sister-in-law, 
in  explanation  of  her  change  of  plan,  and  her  tone  signi- 
fied that  she  had  just  remembered  something  that  de- 
manded her  instant  attention.  "  No,  it  would  be  much 
better  if  I  could  go  tliis  morning." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  did  not  dine  at  home,  but  he 


126  ANNA   KARENINA 

agreed  to  be  back  at  seven  o'clock  to  escort  his  sister  to 
the  train. 

Kitty  did  not  put  in  an  appearance,  but  sent  word 
that  she  had  a  headache.  Dolly  and  Anna  dined  alone 
with  the  children  and  the  English  governess.  Either 
the  children  were  fickle  or  they  were  very  sensitive  and 
felt  that  Anna  was  not  at  all  as  she  had  been  on  the 
day  when  they  had  taken  so  kindly  to  her,  that  she  no 
longer  cared  for  them,  for  they  suddenly  ceased  playing 
with  their  aunt,  seemed  to  lose  their  affection  for  her, 
and  cared  very  little  that  she  was  going  away. 

Anna  spent  the  whole  morning  in  making  the  prep- 
arations for  her  departure.  She  wrote  a  few  notes  to 
her  Moscow  acquaintances,  settled  her  accounts,  and 
packed.  To  Dolly  especially  it  seemed  that  she  was  not 
in  a  happy  frame  of  mind,  but  in  that  state  of  mental  agi- 
tation which  Dolly  knew  from  experience  arose,  not  with- 
out excellent  reason,  from  dissatisfaction  with  herself. 

After  dinner  Anna  went  to  her  room  to  dress,  and 
Dolly  followed  her. 

"  How  strange  you  are  to-day  !  "  said  Dolly. 

"  I .''  Do  you  think  so  ?  I  am  not  strange,  but  I  am 
cross.  This  is  common  with  me.  I  should  like  to  have 
a  good  cry.  It  is  very  silly,  but  it  will  pass  away,"  said 
Anna,  speaking  quickly,  and  hiding  her  blushing  face  in 
a  little  bag  where  she  was  packing  her  toilet  articles  and 
her  handkerchiefs.  Her  eyes  shone  with  tears  which  she 
could  hardly  keep  back.  "  I  was  so  loath  to  come  away 
from  Petersburg,  and  now  I  don't  want  to  go  back! " 

"You  came  here  and  you  did  a  lovely  thing,"  said 
Dolly,  attentively  observing  her. 

Anna  looked  at  her  with  eyes  wet  with  tears. 

"Don't  say  that,  Dolly.  I  have  done  nothing,  and 
could  do  nothing.  I  often  ask  myself  why  people  say 
things  to  spoil  me.  What  have  I  done .''  What  could  I 
do  ?  You  found  that  your  heart  had  enough  love  left  to 
forgive."  .... 

"  Without  you,  God  knows  what  would  have  been ! 
How  fortunate  you  are,  Anna!"  said  Dolly.  "All  is 
serene  and  pure  in  your  soul." 


ANNA    KARENINA  127 

"  Every  one  has  a  skeleton  in  his  closet,  as  the  Engb'sh 
say." 

"  What  skeleton  have  you,  pray  ?  In  you  everything 
is  so  serene." 

"  I  have  mine  !  "  cried  Anna,  suddenly  ;  and  an  unex- 
pected, crafty,  mocking  smile  hovered  over  her  lips  in 
spite  of  her  tears. 

"  Well !  in  your  case  the  skeleton  must  be  a  droll  one, 
and  not  grievous,"  replied  Dolly,  with  a  smile. 

"  No  ;  it  is  grievous  !  Do  you  know  why  I  go  to-day, 
and  not  to-morrow  ">.  This  is  a  confession  which  weighs 
me  down,  but  I  wish  to  make  it,"  said  Anna,  decidedly, 
sitting  down  in  an  arm-chair,  and  looking  Dolly  straight 
in  the  eyes. 

And  to  her  astonishment  she  saw  that  Anna  was 
blushing,  even  to  her  ears,  even  to  the  dark  curls  that 
played  about  the  back  of  her  neck. 

"  Yes  !  "  Anna  proceeded.  "  Do  you  know  why  Kitty 
did  not  come  to  dinner  }  She  is  jealous  of  me.  I  spoiled 
....  it  was  through  me  that  the  ball  last  night  was  a  tor- 
ment and  not  a  joy  to  her.  But  truly,  truly,  I  was  not 
to  blame, —or  not  much  to  blame,"  said  she,  with  a 
special  accent  on  the  word  nemnozJiko  —  not  much. 

"  Oh,  how  exactly  you  said  that  like  Stiva  !  "  remarked 
Dolly,  laughing. 

Anna  was  vexed. 

"  Oh,  no  !  Oh,  no  !  I  am  not  like  Stiva,"  said  she, 
frowning.  "  I  have  told  you  this  simply  because  I  do 
not  allow  myself,  for  an  instant,  to  doubt  myself." 

But  the  very  moment  that  she  said  these  words,  she 
perceived  how  untrue  they  were ;  she  not  only  doubted 
herself,  but  she  felt  such  emotion  at  the  thought  of 
Vronsky  that  she  took  her  departure  sooner  than  she 
otherwise  would,  so  that  she  might  not  meet  him  again. 

"Yes,  Stiva  told  me  that  you  danced  the  mazurka 
with  him,  and  that  he...." 

"You  cannot  imagine  how  ridiculously  it  turned  out. 
I  thought  only  to  help  along  the  match,  and  suddenly  it 
went  exactly  opposite.     Perhaps  against  my  will,  I ...." 

She  blushed,  and  did  not  finish  her  sentence. 


128  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Oh  !  these  things  are  felt  instantly,"  said  Dolly, 

"  I  should  be  in  despair  if  I  felt  that  there  was  any- 
thing serious  on  his  part,"  interrupted  Anna;  "but  I 
am  convinced  that  all  this  will  be  quickly  forgotten, 
and  that  Kitty  will  not  long  be  angry  with  me." 

"  In  the  lirst  place,  Anna,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  should 
not  be  very  sorry  if  this  marriage  fell  through.  It  would 
be  vastly  better  for  it  to  stop  right  here  if  Vronsky  can 
fall  in  love  with  you  in  a  single  day." 

"  Oh  heavens  !  that  would  be  so  idiotic  !  "  said  Anna, 
and  again  an  intense  blush  of  satisfaction  overspread 
her  face  at  hearing  the  thought  that  occupied  her  ex- 
pressed in  words.  "  And  that  is  why  I  go  away,  after 
making  an  enemy  of  Kitty,  whom  I  loved  so  dearly. 
Akh  !  how  sweet  she  is  !  But  you  will  arrange  that, 
Dolly.?     Won't  you.?" 

Dolly  could  hardly  refrain  from  smiling.  She  loved 
Anna,  but  it  was  pleasant  to  her  to  discover  that  she 
also  had  her  weaknesses. 

"  An  enemy .?     That  cannot  be  !  " 

"  And  I  should  have  been  so  glad  to  have  you  all  love 
me  as  I  love  you  ;  but  now  I  love  you  all  more  than 
ever,"  said  Anna,  with  tears  in  her  eyes.  "Akh!  how 
absurd  I  am  to-day  !  " 

She  passed  her  handkerchief  over  her  eyes,  and  began 
to  get  ready. 

At  the  very  moment  of  her  departure  came  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  with  rosy,  happy  face,  and  an  odor  of  wine 
and  cigars. 

Anna's  tender-heartedness  had  communicated  itself 
to  Dolly,  and,  when  she  kissed  her  for  the  last  time,  she 
whispered  :  — 

"  Think,  Anna !  what  you  have  done  for  me  !  I  shall 
never  forget.  And  remember  that  I  love  you,  and  al- 
ways shall  love  you  as  my  best  friend !  " 

"  I  don't  understand  why,"  replied  Anna,  kissing  her, 
and  struggling  with  her  tears. 

"  You  have  understood  me,  and  you  do  understand 
me.     Farewell,  my  dearest !  "  ^ 

*  Proshchai,  vioya  pretest  t 


ANNA   KARENINA  129 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

"  Well  !  all  is  over,  and  thank  the  Lord  !  "  was  Anna's 
first  thought  after  she  had  said  good-by  to  her  brother, 
who  had  blocked  up  the  entrance  to  the  railway-carriage, 
even  after  the  third  bell  had  rung.  She  sat  down  on 
the  divanchik  next  Annushka,  her  maid,  and  began  to 
examine  the  feebly  lighted  compartment.  "Thank  the 
Lord !  to-morrow  I  shall  see  Serozha  and  Alekseif  Alek- 
sandrovitch,  and  my  good  and  commonplace  life  will 
begin  again  as  of  old." 

With  the  same  mental  preoccupation  that  had  pos- 
sessed her  all  that  day,  Anna  found  a  satisfaction  in 
attending  minutely  to  the  arrangements  for  the  journey. 
With  her  skilful  little  hands  she  opened  her  red  bag, 
and  took  out  a  cushion,  placed  it  on  her  knees,  wrapped 
her  feet  warmly,  and  composed  herself  comfortably. 

A  lady,  who  seemed  to  be  an  invalid,  had  already 
gone  to  sleep.  Two  other  ladies  entered  into  conversa. 
tion  with  Anna ;  and  a  fat,  elderly  dame,  well  wrapped 
up,  expressed  her  opinion  on  the  temperature.  Anna 
exchanged  a  few  words  with  the  ladies,  but,  not  taking 
any  interest  in  their  conversation,  asked  Annushka  for 
her  traveling-lamp,  placed  it  on  the  back  of  her  seat, 
and  took  from  her  bag  a  paper-cutter  and  an  English 
novel.  At  first  she  could  not  read  ;  the  going  and  com- 
ing and  the  general  bustle  disturbed  her ;  when  once 
the  train  had  started,  she  could  not  help  listening  to 
the  noises  :  the  snow  striking  against  the  window,  and 
sticking  to  the  glass ;  the  conductor,  as  he  passed  with 
the  snowflakes  melting  on  his  coat ;  the  remarks  about 
the  terrible  storm, — all  distracted  her  attention. 

Afterwards  it  became  more  monotonous  :  always  the 
same  jolting  and  jarring,  the  same  snow  on  the  window, 
the  same  sudden  changes  from  warmth  to  cold,  and  back 
to  warmth  again,  the  same  faces  in  the  dim  light,  and 
the  same  voices.  And  Anna  began  to  read,  and  to  fol- 
low what  she  was  reading. 

Annushka  was  already  asleep,  holding  the  little  red 


ijo  ANNA   KARENINA 

bag  on  her  knees  with  great,  clumsy  hands,  clad  in 
gloves,  one  of  which  was  torn. 

Anna  read,  and  understood  what  she  read ;  but  it 
was  not  pleasant  to  her  to  read,  in  other  words  to  enter 
into  the  lives  of  other  people.  She  had  too  keen  a 
desire  to  live  herself.  If  she  read  how  the  heroine  of 
her  story  took  care  of  the  sick,  she  would  have  liked 
to  go  with  noiseless  steps  into  the  sick-room.  If  she 
read  how  a  member  of  Parliament  made  a  speech,  she 
would  have  liked  to  make  that  speech.  If  she  read  how 
Lady  Mary  rode  after  the  hounds,  and  made  sport  of 
her  sister-in-law,  and  astonished  every  one  by  her  au- 
dacity, she  would  have  liked  to  do  the  same.  But  she 
could  do  nothing  ;  and  with  her  little  hands  she  clutched 
the  paper-cutter,  and  forced  herself  to  read  calmly. 

The  hero  of  her  novel  had  reached  the  summit  of  his 
English  ambition, — a  baronetcy  and  an  estate;  and 
Anna  felt  a  desire  to  go  with  him  to  this  estate,  when 
suddenly  it  seemed  to  her  that  he  ought  to  feel  a  sense 
of  shame,  and  that  she  ought  to  share  it.  But  why  should 
he  feel  ashamed  }  "  Why  should  I  feel  ashamed  } "  she 
asked  herself  with  astonishment  and  discontent.  She 
closed  the  book,  and,  leaning  back  against  the  chair, 
held  the  paper-cutter  tightly  in  both  hands. 

There  was  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of :  she  reviewed 
all  her  memories  of  her  visit  to  Moscow ;  they  were  all 
pleasant  and  good.  She  remembered  the  ball,  she 
remembered  Vronsky  and  his  humble  and  passionate 
face,  she  recalled  all  her  relations  with  him  ;  there  was 
nothing  to  be  ashamed  of.  But  at  the  same  time  in 
these  reminiscences  the  sense  of  shame  kept  growing 
stronger  and  stronger ;  and  it  seemed  to  her  that  in- 
ward voice,  whenever  she  thought  of  Vronsky,  seemed 
to  say,  "Warmly,  very  warmly,  passionately.".... 

"Well!  what  is  this.^"  she  asked  herself  resolutely, 
as  she  changed  her  position  in  the  seat.  "What  does 
this  mean .-'  Am  I  afraid  to  face  these  memories  ^  Well ! 
what  is  it."*  Is  there,  can  there  be,  any  relationship 
between  that  boy-officer  and  me  beyond  what  exists 
between  all  acquaintances.-'" 


ANNA   KARENINA  131 

She  smiled  disdainfully,  and  again  took  up  her  book ; 
but  now  she  really  could  not  any  longer  comprehend 
what  she  was  reading.  She  rubbed  her  paper-cutter 
over  the  pane,  and  then  pressed  its  cool,  smooth  surface 
to  her  cheek,  and  then  she  almost  laughed  out  loud  with 
the  joy  that  unreasonably  took  possession  of  her.  She 
felt  her  nerves  grow  more  and  more  tense  like  the 
strings  on  some  musical  instrument  screwed  up  to  the 
last  degree  ;  she  felt  her  eyes  open  wider  and  wider, 
her  fingers  and  her  toes  twitched  nervously,  something 
seemed  to  choke  her,  and  all  objects  and  sounds  in  the 
wavering  semi-darkness  surprised  her  by  their  exag- 
gerated proportions.  She  kept  having  moments  of 
doubt  as  to  whether  they  were  going  backwards  or 
forwards,  or  if  the  train  had  come  to  a  stop.  Was  it 
Annushka  there,  sitting  next  her,  or  was  it  a  stranger  ? 

"  What  is  that  on  the  hook .-'  —  my  fur  shuba  or  an 
animal  ?  And  what  am  I  doing  here  ?  Am  I  myself, 
or  some  one  else  ."* " 

It  was  terrible  to  her  to  yield  to  these  hallucinations ; 
but  something  kept  attracting  her  to  them  and  she  could 
by  her  own  will  either  yield  to  them  or  withdraw  from 
them.  In  order  to  regain  possession  of  herself,  Anna 
arose,  took  off  her  plaid  and  laid  aside  her  pelerine  of 
thick  cloth.  For  a  moment  she  thought  that  she  had  con- 
quered herself,  for  when  a  tall,  thin  muzhik,  dressed  in 
a  long  nankeen  overcoat,  which  lacked  a  button,  came 
in,  she  recognized  in  him  the  stove-tender.  She  saw 
him  look  at  the  thermometer,  and  noticed  how  the  wind 
and  the  snow  came  blowing  in  as  he  opened  the  door ; 
and  then  everything  became  confused  again. 

The  tall  peasant  began  to  draw  fantastic  figures  on 
the  wall  ;  the  old  lady  seemed  to  stretch  out  her  legs, 
and  fill  the  whole  carriage  as  with  a  black  cloud  ;  then 
she  thought  she  heard  a  terrible  thumping  and  rapping, 
a  noise  like  something  tearing  ;  then  a  red  and  blinding 
fire  flashed  in  her  eyes,  and  then  all  vanished  in  dark- 
ness. Anna  felt  as  if  she  was  falling.  But  this  was 
not  at  all  alarming,  but  rather  pleasant. 

The  voice  of  a  man  all  wrapped  up,  and  covered  with 


132  ANNA    KARENINA 

snow,  shouted  something  in  her  ear.  She  started  up, 
recovered  her  wits,  and  perceived  that  they  were  ap. 
proaching  a  station,  and  the  man  was  the  conductor. 
She  bade  Annushka  give  her  the  pelerine  which  she  had 
laid  aside  and  her  handkerchief,  and,  having  put  them 
on,  she  went  to  the  door. 
,  "  Do  you  wish  to  go  out .-' "  asked  Annushka. 

"  Yes  ;  I  want  to  get  a  breath  of  fresh  air.  It  is  very 
hot  here." 

And  she  opened  the  door.  The  snow-storm  and  the 
wind  rushed  in  to  meet  her  and  disputed  the  door  with 
her.  And  this  seemed  to  her  very  jolly.  The  storm 
seemed  to  be  waiting  for  her,  it  gayly  whistled  and  was 
eager  to  carry  her  away ;  but  she  clung  to  the  cold  rail- 
ing with  one  hand,  and,  holding  her  dress,  she  stepped 
out  on  the  platform,  and  left  the  car.  The  wind  was 
fierce  on  the  steps,  but  on  the  platform,  under  the  shel- 
ter of  the  station,  it  was  calmer,  and  she  found  a  genuine 
pleasure  in  filling  her  lungs  with  the  frosty  air.  Stand' 
ing  near  the  car  she  watched  the  platform  and  the  stE' 
tion  gleaming  with  lights. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

A  FURIOUS  snow-storm  was  raging,  and  whistlings 
among  the  wheels  of  the  carriages,  around  the  columns, 
and  into  the  corners  of  the  station.  The  carriages,  the 
pillars,  the  people,  everything  visible,  were  covered  on 
one  side  with  snow,  and  it  was  increasing  momently. 
Once  in  a  while  there  would  be  a  lull,  but  then  again  it 
blew  with  such  gusts  that  it  seemed  impossible  to  make 
way  against  it.  Meantime  a  few  people  were  running 
hither  and  thither,  talking  gayly,  opening  and  shutting 
the  great  doors  of  the  station,  and  making  the  platform 
planks  creak  under  their  feet.  The  flitting  shadow  of  a 
man  passed  rapidly  by  her  feet,  and  she  heard  the  blows 
of  a  hammer  falling  on  the  iron. 

"  Send  off  the  telegram,"  cried  an  angry  voice  on  the 


ANNA   KARENINA  133 

other  side  of  the  track  in  the  midst  of  the  drifting 
storm. 

"This  way,  please,  No.  28,"  cried  other  voices,  and 
several  people  covered  with  snow  hurried  by.  Two 
gentlemen,  with  lighted  cigarettes  in  their  mouths, 
passed  near  Anna.  She  was  just  about  to  reenter  the 
carriage,  after  getting  one  more  breath  of  fresh  air,  and 
had  already  taken  her  hand  from  her  muff,  to  lay  hold 
of  the  railing,  when  the  flickering  light  from  the  reflector 
was  cut  off  by  a  man  in  a  military  coat,  who  came  close 
to  her.  She  looked  up,  and  that  instant  recognized 
Vronsky's  face. 

Raising  his  hand  to  his  vizor  he  bowed  low,  and  asked 
if  she  needed  anything,  if  he  might  not  be  of  service  to 
her. 

She  looked  at  him  for  a  considerable  time  without 
replying,  and  although  he  was  in  the  shadow,  she  saw, 
or  thought  she  saw,  the  expression  of  his  face  and  even 
of  his  eyes.  It  was  a  repetition  of  that  respectful  ad- 
miration which  had  so  impressed  her  on  the  evening 
of  the  ball.  More  than  once  that  day  she  had  said  to 
herself  that  Vronsky,  for  her,  was  only  one  of  the 
hundred  young  men  whom  one  meets  in  society,  that 
she  would  never  permit  herself  to  give  him  a  second 
thought !  but  now,  on  the  first  instant  of  seeing  him 
again,  a  sensation  of  pride  and  joy  seized  her.  She 
had  no  need  to  ask  why  he  was  there.  She  knew,  as 
truly  as  if  he  had  told  her,  that  he  was  there  so  as  to  be 
where  she  was. 

"  I  did  not  know  that  you  were  going  to  Petersburg. 
Why  are  you  going  .<• "  said  she,  letting  her  hand  fall 
from  the  railing.  A  joy  which  she  could  not  restrain 
shone  in  her  face. 

"Why  am  I  going  .-• "  he  repeated,  looking  straight 
into  her  eyes.  "You  know  that  I  came  simply  for  this, 
—  to  be  where  you  are,"  he  said.  "I  could  not  do 
otherwise." 

And  at  this  instant  the  wind,  as  if  it  had  conquered 
every  obstacle,  blew  the  snow  from  the  roofs  of  the 
carriages,    and    whirled    away    a  piece    of    sheet-iron 


134  ANNA    KARENINA 

which  it  had  torn  off,  and  at  the  same  time  the  deep 
whistle  of  the  locomotive  gave  a  melancholy,  mournful 
cry.  Never  had  the  horror  of  a  tempest  appeared  to 
her  more  beautiful  than  now.  He  had  said  what  her 
heart  longed  to  hear  but  what  her  better  judgment  con- 
demned. She  made  no  reply,  but  he  perceived  by  her 
face  how  she  fought  against  herself. 

"  Forgive  me  if  what  I  said  displeases  you,"  he  mur- 
mured  humbly. 

He  spoke  respectfully,  courteously,  but  in  such  a  reso- 
lute, decided  tone,  that  for  some  time  she  was  unable  to 
reply. 

"  What  you  said  was  wrong ;  and  I  beg  of  you,  if  you 
are  a  gentleman,  to  forget  it,  as  I  shall  forget  it,"  said 
she  at  last. 

"  I  shall  never  forget,  and  I  shall  never  be  able  to 
forget  any  of  your  words,  any  of  your  gestures  .... " 

"  Enough,  enough  !  "  she  cried,  vainly  endeavoring  to 
give  an  expression  of  severity  to  her  face,  at  which 
Vronsky  was  passionately  gazing.  And  grasping  the 
cold  railing  she  mounted  the  steps,  and  quickly  entered 
the  vestibule  of  the  carriage.  But  she  stopped  in  the 
little  vestibule,  and  tried  to  recall  to  her  imagination 
what  had  taken  place.  But  though  she  found  it  impos- 
sible to  remember  either  her  own  words  or  his,  she  in- 
stinctively felt  that  this  brief  conversation  had  brought 
them  frightfully  close  together,  and  she  was  at  once 
alarmed  and  delighted.  After  she  had  stood  there  a 
few  seconds,  she  went  back  into  the  carriage  and  sat 
down  in  her  place. 

The  nervous  strain  which  had  been  tormenting  her  not 
only  returned,  but  became  more  intense,  until  she  began 
to  fear  every  moment  that  something  would  snap  her 
brain.  She  did  not  sleep  all  night ;  but  in  this  nervous 
tension,  and  in  the  fantasies  which  filled  her  imagina- 
tion, there  was  nothing  disagreeable  or  painful ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  was  joyous,  burning  excitement. 

Toward  morning,  Anna  dozed  as  she  sat  in  her  arm- 
chair ;  and  when  she  awoke  it  was  broad  daylight,  and 
the  train  was  approaching   Petersburg.     Instantly  the 


ANNA   KARENINA  135 

thought  of  her  home,  her  husband,  her  son,  and  all  the 
labors  of  the  day  and  the  coming  days,  filled  her  mind. 

The  train  had  hardly  reached  the  station  at  Peters- 
burg, when  Anna  stepped  out  on  the  platform  ;  and  the 
first  person  that  she  saw  was  her  husband  waiting  for 
her. 

"  Oh,  good  heavens  !  Why  do  his  ears  stand  out  so  !  "  / 
she  thought,  as  she  looked  at  his  reserved  and  portly 
figure  and  especially  at  his  stiff  cartilaginous  ears,  which, 
as  they  propped  up  the  rim  of  his  round  hat,  struck  her 
for  the  first  time.  When  he  saw  her,  he  came  to  meet 
her  at  the  carriage,  compressing  his  lips  into  his  habitual 
smile  of  irony,  looking  straight  at  her  with  his  great, 
weary  eyes.  A  disagreeable  thought  made  her  heart 
sink  when  she  saw  his  stubborn,  weary  look ;  she  felt 
that  she  had  expected  to  find  him  different.  Especially 
was  she  astounded  by  the  feeling  of  self-dissatisfaction 
which  she  experienced  on  meeting  him.  This  feeling 
was  associated  with  her  home,  akin  to  the  state  of  hypoc- 
risy which  she  recognized  in  her  relations  with  her  hus- 
band. This  feeling  was  not  novel ;  she  had  felt  it  before 
without  heeding  it,  but  now  she  realized  it  clearly  and 
painfully. 

"There!  you  see,  I'm  a  tender  husband,  tender  as 
the  first  year  of  our  marriage  ;  I  was  burning  with  desire 
to  see  you,"  said  he,  in  his  slow,  deliberate  voice,  and 
with  the  light  tone  of  raillery  that  he  generally  used  in 
speaking  to  her,  a  tone  of  ridicule  of  any  one  who 
should  really  say  such  things. 

"  Is  Serozha  well  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  And  is  this  all  the  reward,"  he  said,  "for  my  ardor? 
He  is  well,  very  well." .... 


CHAPTER   XXXI 

Vronsky  also  had  not  even  attempted  to  sleep  all  that 
night.  He  sat  in  his  arm-chair,  now  gazing  straight  for- 
ward, now  looking  at  those  who  came  in  and  went  out, 
and  if  before  he  had  impressed  strangers  and  irritated 


136  ANNA    KARENINA 

them  by  his  imperturbable  dignity,  now  he  would  have 
seemed  to  them  far  more  haughty  and  self-contained 
He  looked  at  men  as  if  they  were  things.  A  nervous 
young  man,  employed  in  the  district  court,  was  sitting 
opposite  him  in  the  carriage,  and  cam-e  to  hate  him  on 
account  of  this  aspect.  The  young  man  asked  for  a 
light,  and  spoke  to  him,  and  even  touched  him,  in  order 
to  make  him  perceive  that  he  was  not  a  thing  but  a 
man  ;  yet  Vronsky  looked  at  him  exactly  as  he  looked 
at  the  carriage-lamp.  And  the  young  man  made  a 
grimace,  feeling  that  he  should  lose  command  of  him- 
self to  be  so  scorned  by  a  man. 

Vronsky  saw  nothing,  saw  no  one.  He  felt  as  if  he 
were  a  tsar,  not  because  he  believed  that  he  had  made 
an  impression  upon  Anna,  —  he  did  not  fully  realize 
that,  as  yet,  —  but  because  the  impression  which  she 
had  made  on  him  filled  him  with  happiness  and  pride. 

What  would  be  the  outcome  of  all  this  he  did  not 
know,  and  did  not  even  consider ;  but  he  felt  that  all 
his  hitherto  dissipated  and  scattered  powers  were  now 
concentrating  and  converging  with  frightful  rapidity 
toward  one  beatific  focus.  And  he  was  happy  in 
this  thought.  He  knew  only  that  he  had  told  her  the 
truth  when  he  said  he  was  going  where  she  was,  that 
all  the  happiness  of  life,  the  sole  significance  of  life,  he 
found  now  in  seeing  and  hearing  her.  And  when  he  left 
his  compartment  at  Bologovo  to  get  a  glass  of  seltzer, 
and  he  saw  Anna,  involuntarily  his  first  word  told  her 
what  he  thought.  And  he  was  glad  that  he  had  spoken 
as  he  did  ;  glad  that  she  knew  all  now,  and  was  thinking 
about  it.  He  did  not  sleep  all  night.  Returning  to  his 
carriage  he  did  not  cease  recalling  all  his  memories  of 
her,  the  words  that  she  had  spoken,  and  in  his  imagina- 
tion glowed  the  pictures  of  a  possible  future  which  over- 
whelmed his  heart. 

When,  on  reaching  Petersburg,  he  left  the  carriage, 
after  his  sleepless  night  he  felt  as  fresh  and  vigorous  as 
if  he  had  just  had  a  cold  bath.  He  stood  near  his  car- 
riage, waiting  to  see  her  pass.  "  Once  more  I  shall  see 
her,"  he  said  to  himself,  with  a  smile.     "I  shall  see  her 


ANNA    KARENINA  137 

graceful  bearing,  her  face  ;  she  will  speak  a  word  to  me, 
will  turn  her  head,  will  look  at  me,  perhaps  she  will 
smile  on  me." 

But  it  was  her  husband  whom  first  he  saw,  politely 
escorted  through  the  crowd  by  the  station-master. 

"  Oh,  yes  !  the  husband  !  " 

And  then  Vronsky  for  the  first  time  clearly  realized 
that  the  husband  was  an  important  factor  in  Anna's  life. 
He  knew  that  she  had  a  husband,  but  he  had  not  realized 
his  existence,  and  he  now  fully  realized  it  only  as  he  saw 
his  head  and  shoulders,  and  his  legs  clothed  in  black 
trowsers,  and  especially  when  he  saw  this  husband  un- 
concernedly take  her  hand  with  an  air  of  proprietorship. 

When  he  saw  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  with  his 
Petersburgish-fresh  face,  and  his  solid,  self-confident 
figure,  his  round  hat,  and  his  slightly  stooping  shoul- 
ders, he  began  to  believe  in  his  existence,  and  he  expe- 
rienced an  unpleasant  sensation  such  as  a  man  tormented 
by  thirst  might  experience,  who  should  discover  a  foun- 
tain, but  find  that  a  dog,  a  sheep,  or  a  pig  has  been 
drinking  and  fouling  the  water. 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch's  stiff  and  heavy  gait  was 
exceedingly  distasteful  to  Vronsky.  He  would  not  ac- 
knowledge that  any  one  besides  himself  had  the  right 
to  love  Anna.  But  she  was  still  the  same  and  the  sight 
of  her  had  still  the  same  effect  on  him,  physically  kind- 
ling him,  stirring  him,  and  filling  his  heart  with  joy. 
He  ordered  his  German  body-servant,  who  came  hurry- 
ing up  to  him  from  the  second-class  carriage,  to  see  to 
the  baggage  and  to  go  home ;  and  he  himself  went  to 
her.  Thus  he  witnessed  the  first  meeting  between 
husband  and  wife,  and  with  a  lover's  intuition,  perceived 
the  shade  of  constraint  with  which  Anna  spoke  to  her 
husband. 

"  No,  she  does  not  love  him,  and  she  cannot  love 
him,"  was  his  mental  judgment. 

Even  as  he  came  up  to  Anna  Arkadyevna  from  behind, 
he  noticed  with  joy  that  she  felt  him  near  her  and 
looked  round,  and  having  recognized  him,  she  went  on 
talking  with  her  husband. 


ijS  ANNA   KARENINA 

"Did  yon  pass  a  good  night?"  he  inquired,  bowing 
to  her  and  her  husband  and  allowing  Aleksei"  Aleksan- 
drovitch  the  opportunity  to  accept  the  honor  of  the  salu- 
tation and  recognize  him  or  not  recognize  him  as  it  might 
seem  good  to  him. 

"  Thank  you,  very  good,"  she  replied. 

Her  face  expressed  weariness,  lacked  that  spark  of 
animation  which  was  generally  hovering  now  in  her 
eyes,  now  in  her  smile ;  but,  for  a  single  instant,  at  the 
sight  of  Vronsky,  something  flashed  into  her  eyes,  and, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  fire  instantly  died 
away,  he  was  overjoyed  even  at  this.  She  raised  her 
eyes  to  her  husband,  to  see  whether  he  knew  Vronsky. 
AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  looked  at  him  with  displeasure, 
vaguely  remembering  who  he  was.  Vronsky's  calm 
self-assurance  struck  upon  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch's 
cool  superciliousness  as  a  scythe  strikes  a  rock. 

"  Count  Vronsky,"  said  Anna. 

"  Ah !  We  have  met  before,  it  seems  to  me,"  said 
Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  with  indifference,  extending 
his  hand.  "  Went  with  the  mother,  and  came  home 
with  the  son,"  said  he,  speaking  with  precision,  as  if 
his  words  were  worth  a  ruble  apiece.  "  I  presume  you 
are  returning  from  a  furlough  .-" "  And  without  waiting 
for  an  answer,  he  turned  to  his  wife,  in  his  ironical  tone, 
"  Did  they  shed  many  tears  in  Moscow  on  your  leaving 
them  .-• " 

By  thus  addressing  his  wife  he  intended  to  give 
Vronsky  to  understand  that  he  desired  to  be  left  alone, 
and  again  bowing  to  him  he  touched  his  hat ;  but  Vron- 
sky had  one  more  word  to  say  to  Anna. 

"  I  hope  to  have  the  honor  of  calling  on  you,"  said 
he. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  with  weary  eyes,  looked  at 
Vronsky, 

"Very  happy,"  he  said  coldly;  "we  receive  on  Mon- 
days." 

Then,  leaving  Vronsky  entirely,  he  said  to  his  wife, 
still  in  a  jesting  tone  :  — 

"  And  how  fortunate  that  I  happened  to  have  a  spare 


ANNA    KARENINA  139 

half-hour  to  come  to  meet  you,  and  show  you  my  affec- 
tion." 

"You  emphasize  your  affection  too  much  for  me  to 
appreciate  it,"  she  replied,  in  the  same  spirit  of  raillery, 
involuntarily  listening  to  Vronsky's  steps  behind  them. 
"  But  what  is  that  to  me  .-' "  she  asked  herself  in  thought. 
Then  she  began  to  ask  her  husband  how  Serozha  had 
got  along  during  her  absence. 

"  Oh !  excellently.  Mariette  says  that  he  has  been 
very  good,  and  ....I  am  sorry  to  mortify  you  ....  he  did 
not  seem  to  miss  you  —  not  so  much  as  your  husband 
did.  But  again,  merci,  my  dear,  that  you  came  a  day 
earlier,  .  Our  dear  Samovar  will  be  delighted." 

He  called  the  celebrated  Countess  Lidya  Ivanovna 
by  the  nickname  of  the  Satnovar,  because,  like  a  tea- 
urn,  she  was  always  and  everywhere  bubbling  and  boil- 
ing. "  She  has  kept  asking  after  you ;  and  do  you 
know,  if  I  make  bold  to  advise  you,  you  would  do  well 
to  go  to  see  her  to-day.  You  see,  her  heart  is  always 
sore  about  something.  At  present,  besides  her  usual 
cares,  she  is  greatly  concerned  about  the  reconciliation 
of  the  Oblonskys." 

The  Countess  Lidya  Ivanovna  was  a  friend  of  Anna's 
husband,  and  the  center  of  a  certain  clique  in  Peters- 
burg society,  to  which  Anna  on  her  husband's  account, 
rather  than  for  any  other  reason,  belonged. 

"  Yes  !     But  did  n't  I  write  her  > " 

"  She  must  have  all  the  details.  Go  to  her,  my  love, 
if  you  are  not  too  tired.  Well !  Kondratu  will  call 
your  carriage,  and  I  am  going  to  a  committee-meeting. 
I  shall  not  have  to  dine  alone  to-day,"  continued  Aleksei 
Aleksandrovitch,  not  in  jest  this  time,  "You  cannot 
imagine  how  used  I  am  to.,.,  " 

And  with  a  peculiar  smile,  giving  her  a  long  pressure 
of  the  hand,  he  conducted  her  to  the  carriage. 


I40  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER    XXXII 

The  first  person  to  meet  Anna  when  she  reached 
home  was  her  son.  He  darted  down-stairs,  in  spite  of 
his  governess's  reproof,  and  with  wild  deUght  cried, 
"  Mamma !  mamma !  "  Rushing  up  to  her  he  threw 
his  arms  round  her  neck. 

"  I  told  you  it  was  mamma !  "  he  shouted  to  the  gov- 
erness.    "  I  knew  it  was  !  " 

But  the  son,  no  less  than  the  husband,  awakened  in 
Anna  a  feeling  like  disillusion.  She  imagined  him  bet- 
ter than  he  was  in  reality.  She  was  obliged  to  descend 
to  the  reality  in  order  to  look  on  him  as  he  was.  But  in 
fact,  he  was  lovely,  with  his  fair  curls,  his  blue  eyes,  and 
his  pretty  plump  legs  in  their  neatly  fitting  stockings. 
She  felt  an  almost  physical  satisfaction  in  feeling  him 
near  her,  and  in  his  caresses,  and  a  moral  calm  in  looking 
into  his  tender,  confiding,  loving  eyes,  and  in  hearing 
his  innocent  questions.  She  unpacked  the  gifts  sent 
him  by  Dolly's  children,  and  told  him  how  there  was 
a  little  girl  in  Moscow,  named  Tanya,  and  how  this 
Tanya  knew  how  to  read,  and  was  teaching  the  other 
children  to  read. 

"  Am  I  not  as  good  as  she } "  asked  Serozha. 

"  Eor  me,  you  are  worth  all  the  rest  of  the  world." 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Serozha,  smiling. 

Anna  had  not  finished  drinking  her  coffee,  when  the 
Countess  Lidya  Ivanovna  was  announced.  The  Coun- 
tess Lidya  Ivanovna  was  a  tall,  stout  woman,  with  an 
unhealthy,  sallow  complexion,  and  handsome,  dreamy 
black  eyes.  Anna  liked  her,  but  to-day,  as  if  for  the 
first  time,  she  saw  her  with  all  her  faults. 

"  Well !  my  dear,  did  you  carry  the  olive-branch .''  " 
demanded  the  Countess  Lidya  Ivanovna,  as  she  entered 
the  room. 

"Yes,  it  is  all  made  up,"  replied  Anna;  "but  it  was 
not  so  bad  as  we  thought.  As  a  general  thing,  my 
sister-in-law  is  too  peremptory." 

But  the  Countess  Lidya,  who  was  interested  in  every- 


ANNA    KARENINA  141 

thing  that  did  not  specially  concern  herself,  had  the  habit 
of  sometimes  not  heeding  what  did  interest  her.  She 
interrupted  Anna :  — 

"Well!  This  world  is  full  of  woes  and  tribulations, 
and  I  am  all  worn  out  to-day." 

"  What  is  it  ? "  asked  Anna,  striving  to  repress  a 
smile. 

"  I  am  beginning  to  weary  of  the  ineffectual  attempts 
to  get  at  the  truth,  and  sometimes  I  am  utterly  discour- 
aged. The  work  of  the  Little  Sisters  "  —  this  was  a  phil- 
anthropic and  religiously  patriotic  institution  —  "  used 
to  get  along  splendidly,  but  there  is  nothing  to  be  done 
with  these  men,"  added  the  Countess  Lidya  Ivanovna, 
with  an  air  of  ironical  resignation  to  fate.  "  They  got 
hold  of  the  idea,  they  mutilated  it,  and  then  they  judge 
it  so  meanly,  so  wretchedly.  Two  or  three  men,  your 
husband  among  them,  understand  all  the  significance  of 
this  work  ;  but  the  others  only  discredit  it.  Yesterday 
I  had  a  letter  from  Pravdin  ....  " 

Pravdin  was  a  famous  Panslavist,  who  lived  abroad, 
and  the  Countess  Lidya  Ivanovna  related  what  he  had 
said  in  his  letter. 

Then  she  went  on  to  describe  the  troubles  and  snares 
that  blocked  the  work  of  uniting  the  churches,  and 
finally  departed  in  haste,  because  it  was  the  day  for  her 
to  be  present  at  the  meeting  of  some  society  or  other, 
and  at  the  sitting  of  the  Slavonic  Committee. 

"All  this  is  just  as  it  has  been,  but  why  did  I  never 
notice  it  before  ? "  said  Anna  to  herself.  "  Was  she  very 
irritable  to-day  .-•  But  at  any  rate,  it  is  ridiculous  :  her 
aims  are  charitable,  she  is  a  Christian,  and  yet  she  is 
angry  with  every  one,  and  every  one  is  her  enemy ;  and 
yet  all  h6r  enemies  are  working  for  Christianity  and 
charity." 

After  the  departure  of  the  Countess  Lidya  Ivanovna, 
came  a  friend,  the  wife  of  a  director,  who  told  her  all 
the  news  of  the  city.  At  three  o'clock  she  went  out, 
promising  to  be  back  in  time  for  dinner.  Alekseif  Alek- 
sandrovitch  was  at  the  meeting  of  the  ministry.  The 
hour  before  dinner,  which  Anna  spent  alone,  she  em- 


142  ANNA    KARENINA 

ployed  sitting  with  her  son,  —  who  had  his  dinner  by 
himself,  —  in  arranging  her  things,  and  in  reading  and 
answering  the  letters  and  notes  heaped  up  on  her  writ- 
ing-table. 

The  sensation  of  causeless  shame,  and  the  agitation 
from  which  she  had  suffered  so  strangely  during  her 
journey,  now  completely  disappeared.  Under  the  con- 
ditions of  her  ordinary  every-day  life,  she  felt  calm,  and 
free  from  reproach,  and  she  was  filled  with  wonder  as 
she  recalled  her  condition  of  the  night  before. 

"  What  was  it  ?  Nothing.  Vronsky  said  a  foolish 
thing ;  it  is  easy  to  put  an  end  to  such  nonsense,  and  I 
answered  him  exactly  right.  To  speak  of  it  to  my  hus- 
band is  unnecessary  and  impossible.  To  speak  about 
it  would  seem  to  attach  importance  to  what  has  none." 

And  she  recalled  how,  when  a  young  subordinate  of 
her  husband's  in  Petersburg  had  almost  made  her  a 
declaration  and  she  had  told  him  about  it,  Aleksef  Alek- 
sandrovitch  answered  that  as  she  went  into  society,  she, 
like  all  society  women,  might  expect  such  experiences, 
but  that  he  had  perfect  confidence  in  her  tact,  and  never 
would  permit  himself  to  humiliate  her  or  him  by  jealousy. 
"  Why  tell,  then  ?  Besides,  thank  God,  there  is  nothing 
to  tell." 


CHAPTER   XXXIII 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  returned  from  the  min- 
istry about  four  o'clock ;  but,  as  often  happened,  he 
found  no  time  to  speak  to  Anna.  He  went  directly  to 
his  private  room  to  give  audience  to  some  petitioners 
who  were  waiting  for  him,  and  to  sign  some  papers 
brought  him  by  his  chief  secretary. 

The  Karenins  always  had  at  least  three  visitors  to 
dine  with  them  ;  and  that  day  there  came  an  old  lady, 
a  cousin  of  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch's,  a  department  di- 
rector with  his  wife,  and  a  young  man  recommended  to 
AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  for  employment.  Anna  came 
to  the  drawing-room  to  receive  them  at  five  o'clock  pre- 


ANNA    KARENINA  143 

cisely.  The  great  bronze  clock,  of  the  time  of  Peter  the 
Great,  had  not  yet  finished  its  fifth  stroke,  when  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch,  in  white  cravat,  and  with  two  decora- 
tions on  his  dress-coat,  left  his  dressing-room  ;  he  had 
an  engagement  immediately  after  dinner.  Every  mo- 
ment of  Alekse'i"  Aleksandrovitch's  life  was  counted  and 
occupied  ;  and  in  order  to  accomplish  what  he  had  to  do 
every  day,  he  was  forced  to  use  the  strictest  punctuality. 
"Without  haste,  and  without  rest,"  was  his  motto.  He 
entered  the  dining-room,  bowed  to  his  guests,  and,  giv- 
ing his  wife  a  smile,  hastily  sat  down. 

"Yes,  my  solitude  is  over!  You  can't  believe  how 
irksome,"  —  he  laid  a  special  stress  on  the  word  nelovko, 
irksome,  —  "  it  is  to  dine  alone  !  " 

During  the  dinner  he  talked  with  his  wife  about  mat- 
ters in  Moscow,  and,  with  his  mocking  smile,  inquired 
especially  about  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  ;  but  the  conver- 
sation dwelt  for  the  most  part  on  common  subjects, 
about  official  and  social  matters  in  Petersburg.  After 
dinner  he  spent  a  half-hour  with  his  guests,  and  then, 
giving  his  wife  another  smile,  and  pressing  her  hand,  he 
left  the  room  and  went  to  the  council. 

Anna  did  not  go  out  that  evening  either  to  the  Prin- 
cess Betsy  Tverskaya's,  who,  having  heard  of  her  arri- 
val, had  sent  her  an  invitation  ;  or  to  the  theater,  where 
she  just  now  had  a  box.  She  did  not  go  out  principally 
because  the  gown  on  which  she  had  counted  was  not 
finished.  After  the  departure  of  her  guests,  Anna  took 
a  general  survey  of  her  wardrobe,  and  was  very  angry. 
She  was  extremely  clever  in  dressing  at  small  expense, 
and  just  before  she  went  to  Moscow  she  had  given 
three  gowns  to  her  dressmaker  to  make  over.  These 
gowns  required  to  be  made  over  in  such  a  way  that  no 
one  would  recognize  them,  and  they  should  have  been 
ready  three  days  before.  Two  of  the  gowns  proved 
to  be  absolutely  unfinished,  and  one  was  not  made  over 
in  a  way  which  Anna  liked.  The  dressmaker  sought 
to  explain  what  she  had  done,  declaring  that  her  way 
was  best ;  and  Anna  reprimanded  her  so  severely  that 
afterwards  she  felt  ashamed  of    herself.     To  calm  her 


144  ANNA    KARENINA 

agitation,  she  went  to  the  nursery,  and  spent  the  whole 
evening  with  her  son,  put  him  to  bed  herself,  made  the 
sign  of  the  cross  over  him,  and  tucked  the  quilt  about 
him.  She  was  glad  that  she  had  not  gone  out,  and 
that  she  had  spent  such  a  happy  evening.  It  was  so 
quiet  and  restful,  and  now  she  saw  clearly  that  all  that 
had  seemed  so  important  during  her  railway  journey 
was  only  one  of  the  ordinary  insignificant  events  of 
social  life,  —  that  she  had  nothing  of  which  to  be 
ashamed,  either  in  her  own  eyes,  or  in  the  eyes  of 
others.  She  sat  down  in  front  of  the  fireplace  with  her 
English  novel,  and  waited  for  her  husband.  At  half- 
past  ten  exactly  his  ring  was  heard  at  the  door,  and  he 
.came  into  the  room. 

"  Here  you  are,  at  last,"  she  said,  giving  him  her 
hand.     He  kissed  her  hand,  and  sat  down  near  her. 

"  Your  journey,  I  see,  was  on  the  whole  very  success- 
ful," said  he. 

"Yes,  very,"  she  replied;  and  she  began  to  relate  all 
the  details  from  the  beginning  —  her  journey  with  the 
Countess  Vronskaya,  her  arrival,  the  accident  at  the 
station,  the  pity  which  she  had  felt,  first  for  her  brother, 
and  afterwards  for  Dolly. 

"  I  do  not  see  how  it  is  possible  to  pardon  such  a 
man,  even  though  he  is  your  brother,"  said  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch,  severely. 

Anna  smiled.  She  appreciated  that  he  said  this  to 
show  that  not  even  kinship  could  bend  him  from  the 
strictness  of  his  honest  judgment.  She  knew  this  trait 
in  her  husband's  character,  and  liked  it. 

"  I  am  glad  that  all  ended  so  satisfactorily,  and  that 
you  have  come  home  again,"  he  continued,  "  Well ! 
what  do  they  say  there  about  the  new  measures  that 
I  introduced  in  the  council  .■• " 

Anna  had  heard  nothing  said  about  this  new  measure, 
and  she  was  confused  because  she  had  so  easily  forgotten 
something  which  to  him  was  so  important. 

"  Here,  on  the  contrary,  it  has  made  a  great  sensa- 
tion," said  he,  with  a  self-satisfied  smile. 

She  saw  that  Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch  wanted  to  tell 


ANNA    KARENINA  145 

her  something  very  flattering  to  himself  about  this 
affair,  and,  by  means  of  questions,  she  led  him  up  to 
the  story.  And  he,  with  the  same  self-satisfied  smile, 
began  to  tell  her  of  the  congratulations  which  he  had 
received  on  account  of  this  measure,  which  had  been 
passed. 

"  I  was  very,  very  glad.  This  proves  that  at  last 
reasonable  and  serious  views  about  this  question  are 
beginning  to  be  formed  among  us." 

After  he  had  taken  his  second  glass  of  tea,  with  cream 
and  bread,  Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch  arose  to  go  to  his 
library. 

"  But  you  did  not  go  out ;  was  it  very  tiresome  for 
you }"  he  said. 

"  Oh,  no  !  "  she  replied,  rising  with  her  husband,  and 
going  with  him  through  the  hall  to  the  library. 

"  What  are  you  reading  now  ?  "  she  asked.  d 

"Just  now  I  am  reading  the  Due  de  Lille  —  Po/sie 
des  enfers''  he  replied,  "a  very  remarkable  book." 

Anna  smiled,  as  one  smiles  at  the  weaknesses  of  those 
we  love,  and,  passing  her  arm  through  her  husband's, 
accompanied  him  to  the  library  door.  She  knew  that 
his  habit  of  reading  in  the  evening  had  become  inex- 
orable, and  that,  notwithstanding  his  absorbing  duties, 
which  took  so  much  of  his  time  at  the  council,  he  felt 
it  his  duty  to  follow  all  that  seemed  remarkable  in  the 
sphere  of  literature.  She  also  knew  that  while  he  felt 
a  special  interest  in  works  on  political  economy,  philoso- 
phy, and  religion,  art  was  quite  foreign  to  his  nature ; 
and  notwithstanding  this,  or  better,  for  that  very  reason, 
Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  allowed  nothing  that  was  at- 
tracting attention  in  that  field  to  escape  his  notice,  but 
considered  it  his  duty  to  read  everything.  She  knew 
that  in  the  province  of  political  economy,  philosophy, 
religion,  Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch  had  doubts,  and  tried 
to  solve  them  ;  but  in  questions  of  art  or  poetry,  par- 
ticularly in  music,  the  comprehension  of  which  was 
utterly  beyond  him,  he  had  the  most  precise  and  defi- 
nite opinions.  He  loved  to  talk  of  Shakespeare,  Raphael, 
and  Beethoven  ;  of  the  importance  of  the  new  school 


146  ANNA   KARENINA 

of  music  and  poetry, — all  of  whom  were  classed  by 
him  according  to  the  most  rigorous  logic. 

"Well!  God  be  with  you,"  she  said,  as  they  reached 
the  door  of  the  library.  Near  her  husband's  arm-chair 
were  standing,  as  usual,  the  shade-lamp  already  lighted, 
and  a  carafe  with  water.  "  And  I  am  going  to  write  to 
Moscow." 

Again  he  pressed  her  hand,  and  kissed  it. 

"Taken  all  in  all,  he  is  a  good  man  ;  upright,  excel- 
lent, remarkable  in  his  sphere,"  said  Anna  to  herself, 
on  her  way  to  her  room,  as  if  she  was  defending  him 
from  some  one  who  accused  him  of  not  being  lov- 
able. 

"  But  why  do  his  ears  stick  out  so  ?  Or  does  he  cut 
his  hair  too  short  .■*  " 

It  was  just  midnight,  and  Anna  was  still  sitting  at 
her  writing-table  finishing  a  letter  to  Dolly,  when  meas- 
ured steps  in  slippers  were  heard  ;  and  Aleksef  Alek- 
sandrovitch,  who  had  washed  his  face  and  brushed  his 
hair,  came  in  with  his  book  under  his  arm. 

"  Late,  late,"  said  he,  with  his  usual  smile,  and  passed 
on  to  his  sleeping-room. 

"  And  what  right  had  he  to  look  at  him  so  .''  "  thought 
Anna,  recalling  Vronsky's  expression  when  he  saw  Alek- 
seif  Aleksandrovitch.  Having  undressed,  she  went  to 
her  room  ;  but  in  her  face  there  was  none  of  that  ani- 
mation that  shone  in  her  eyes  and  in  her  smile  at  Mos- 
cow. On  the  contrary,  the  fire  had  either  died  away, 
or  was  somewhere  far  away  and  out  of  sight. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 

On  leaving  Petersburg,  Vronsky  had  installed  his 
beloved  friend  and  comrade,  Petritsky,  in  his  ample 
quarters  on  the  Morskaya. 

Petritsky  was  a  young  lieutenant,  not  particularly  dis- 
tinguished, and  not  only  not  rich,  but  over  ears  in  debt. 
Every  evening  he  came  home  tipsy,  and  he  spent  much 
of  his  time  at  the  police  courts,  in  search  of  strange 


ANNA   KARENINA  147 

or  amusing  or  scandalous  stories  ;  but  in  spite  of  all 
he  was  a  favorite  with  his  comrades  and  his  chiefs. 

About  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  Vronsky 
reached  his  rooms  after  his  journey,  he  saw  at  the  en- 
trance an  izvoshchik's  carriage,  which  he  knew  very 
well.  From  the  door,  when  he  rang,  he  heard  men's 
laughter  and  the  lisping  of  a  woman's  voice,  and  Petrit- 
sky  shouting :  — 

"  If  it 's  any  of  those  villains,  don't  let  'em  in." 

Vronsky,  not  allowing  his  denshchik  to  announce  his 
presence,  quietly  entered  the  anteroom.  The  Baroness 
Shilton,  a  friend  of  Petritsky's,  shining  in  a  lilac  satin 
robe,  and  with  her  little  pink  face,  was  making  coffee 
before  a  round  table,  and,  like  a  canary-bird,  was  filling 
the  room  with  her  Parisian  slang.  Petritsky  in  his 
overcoat,  and  Captain  Kamerovsky  in  full  uniform,  ap- 
parently just  from  duty,  were  sitting  near  her. 

"  Bravo,  Vronsky !  "  cried  Petritsky,  leaping  up  and 
overturning  the  chair.  "  The  master  himself.  Baron- 
ess, coffee  for  him  from  the  new  coffee-pot !  We  did 
not  expect  you.  I  hope  that  you  are  pleased  with  the 
new  ornament  in  your  library,"  he  said,  pointing  to  the 
baroness.     "  You  are  acquainted,  are  n't  you  .-* " 

"  I  should  think  so ! "  said  Vronsky,  smiling  gayly, 
and  squeezing  the  baroness's  dainty  little  hand.  "  We  're 
old  friends." 

"  Are  you  back  from  a  journey  .-* "  asked  the  baroness. 
"  Then  I  'm  off.  Akh  !  I  am  going  this  minute  if  I  am 
in  the  way." 

"You  are  at  home  wherever  you  are,  baroness,"  said 
Vronsky.  "  How  are  you,  Kamerovsky?"  coolly  shak- 
ing hands  with  the  captain. 

"  There  now !  you  would  never  think  of  saying  such 
lovely  things  as  that,"  said  the  baroness  to  Petritsky. 

"  No  }  Why  not .-'  After  dinner  I  could  say  better 
things  ! " 

"  Yes,  after  dinner  there  's  no  more  merit  in  them. 
Well !  I  will  make  your  coffee  while  you  go  and  wash 
your  hands  and  brush  off  the  dust,"  said  the  baroness, 
again  sitting  down,  and  industriously  turning  the  screw 


r48  ANNA    KARENINA 

of  the  new  coffee-pot.  "  Pierre,  bring  some  more  coffee," 
said  she  to  Petritsky,  whom  she  called  Pierre,  after  his 
family  name,  making  no  concealment  of  her  intimacy 
with  him.     "  I  will  add  it." 

"  You  will  spoil  it." 

"  No  !  I  won't  spoil  it.  Well !  and  your  wife  ? "  said 
the  baroness,  suddenly  interrupting  Vronsky's  remarks 
to  his  companions.  "  We  have  been  marrying  you  off. 
Did  you  bring  your  wife  .?  " 

"  No,  baroness.  I  was  born  a  Bohemian,  and  I  shall 
die  a  Bohemian." 

"  So  much  the  better,  so  much  the  better ;  give  us 
your  hand ! " 

And  the  baroness,  without  letting  him  go,  began  to 
talk  with  him,  developing  her  various  plans  of  life,  and 
asking  his  advice  with  many  jests. 

"  He  will  never  be  willing  to  let  me  have  a  divorce. 
Well!  what  am  I  to  do  .'*  [//<?  was  her  husband.]  I  now 
mean  to  institute  a  lawsuit.  What  should  you  think  of 
it } ....  Kamerovsky,  just  watch  the  coffee  !     It 's  boiling 

over You  see  how  well   I   understand  business  !     I 

mean  to  begin  a  lawsuit  to  get  control  of  my  fortune. 
Do  you  understand  this  nonsense  .-'  Under  the  pretext 
that  I  have  been  unfaithful,"  said  she,  in  a  scornful  tone, 
"  he  means  to  get  possession  of  my  estate." 

Vronsky  listened  with  amusement  to  this  gay  prattle 
of  the  pretty  woman,  approved  of  what  she  said,  gave 
her  half-jesting  advice,  and  assumed  the  tone  he  usually 
affected  with  women  of  her  character.  In  his  Peters- 
burg world,  humanity  was  divided  into  two  absolutely 
distinct  categories, —  the  one  of  a  low  order,  trivial, 
stupid,  and  above  all  ridiculous  people,  who  declared 
that  one  husband  ought  to  live  with  one  wedded  wife, 
that  girls  should  be  virtuous,  women  chaste,  men  brave, 
temperate,  and  upright,  occupied  in  bringing  up  their 
children  decently,  in  earning  their  bread,  and  paying 
their  debts,  and  other  such  absurdities.  People  of  this 
kind  were  old-fashioned  and  ridiculous. 

But  there  was  another  and  vastly  superior  class,  to 
which  he  and  his  friends  belonged,  and  in  this  the  chief 


ANNA   KARENINA  149 

requirement  was  that  its  members  should  be  elegant, 
generous,  bold,  gay,  unblushingly  given  over  to  every 
passion,  and  scornful  of  all  the  rest. 

Only  for  the  first  moment  was  Vronsky  bewildered 
under  the  impressions  which  he  had  brought  back  from 
Moscow,  of  an  entirely  different  world.  But  soon,  and 
as  naturally  as  one  puts  on  old  slippers,  he  got  into  the 
spirit  of  his  former  gay  and  jovial  life. 

The  coffee  was  never  served;  it  boiled  over,  spattered 
them  all,  and  wet  a  costly  table-cloth  and  the  baroness's 
dress ;  but  it  served  the  end  that  was  desired,  for  it 
gave  rise  to  many  jests  and  merry  peals  of  laughter. 

"  Well,  now,  good-by,  for  you  will  never  get  dressed, 
and  I  shall  have  on  my  conscience  the  worst  crime  that 
a  decent  man  can  commit,  —that  of  not  taking  a  bath. 
....  So  you  advise  me  to  put  the  knife  to  his  throat .-' " 

"  By  all  means,  and  in  such  a  way  that  your  little 
hand  will  come  near  his  lips.  He  will  kiss  your  little 
hand,  and  all  will  end  to  everybody's  satisfaction,"  said 
Vronsky. 

"This  evening  at  the  Theatre  Fran^ais,"  and  she  took 
her  departure  with  her  rustling  train. 

Kamerovsky  likewise  arose,  but  Vronsky,  without 
waiting  for  him  to  go,  shook  hands  with  him,  and  went 
to  his  dressing-room.  While  he  was  taking  his  bath, 
Petritsky  sketched  for  him  in  a  few  lines  his  situation, 
and  how  it  had  changed  during  Vronsky's  absence,  — 
no  money  at  all ;  his  father  declaring  that  he  would  not 
give  him  any  more,  or  pay  a  single  debt.  One  tailor 
determined  to  have  him  arrested,  and  a  second  no  less 
determined.  His  colonel  insisted  that,  if  these  scandals 
continued,  he  should  leave  the  regiment.  The  baroness 
was  as  annoying  to  him  as  a  bitter  radish,  principally 
because  she  was  always  wanting  to  squander  money  ; 
"  but  she  is  a  daisy,  a  charmer,"  he  assured  Vronsky, 
"  in  the  strict  Oriental  style,  —your  servant  Rebecca 
kind,  you  know."  He  had  been  having  a  quarrel  with 
Berkoshef,  and  he  wanted  to  send  him  his  seconds,  but 
he  imagined  nothing  v/ould  come  of  it.  As  for  the  rest, 
everything  was  getting  along  particularly  jolly. 


I50  ANNA   KARENINA 

And  then,  without  leaving  Vronsky  time  to  realize 
the  minutiae  of  his  situation,  Petritsky  began  to  retail 
the  news  of  the  day.  As  he  listened  to  Petritsky's  well- 
known  gossip,  in  the  familiar  environment  of  his  quar- 
ters where  he  had  lived  for  three  years,  Vronsky  ex- 
perienced the  pleasant  sensation  of  his  return  to  his 
gay  and  idle  Petersburg  life. 

"  It  cannot  be  !  "  he  cried,  as  he  turned  the  faucet  of 
his  wash-stand  and  let  the  water  stream  over  his  red, 
healthy  neck;  "it  cannot  be!"  he  cried,  referring  to 
the  report  that  Laura  had  taken  up  with  Mileef  and 
thrown  Fertinghof  over.  "And  is  he  as  stupid  and 
as  conceited  as  ever  ?....  Well,  and  how  about  Buzulu- 
kof  ? " 

"Akh!  Buzulukof!  here's  a  good  story,  fascinating!" 
said  Petritsky.  "You  know  his  passion,  —  balls;  and 
he  never  misses  one  at  court.  At  the  last  one  he  went 
in  a  new  helmet.  Have  you  seen  the  new  helmets  ? 
Very  handsome, ....  light.  Well,  he  was  standing.... 
No ;  but  listen." 

"  Yes,  I  am  listening,"  replied  Vronsky,  rubbing  his 
face  with  a  towel. 

"The  grand  duchess  was  just  going  by  on  the  arm 
of  some  foreign  ambassador  or  other,  and  unfortunately 
for  him  their  conversation  turned  on  the  new  helmets. 
The  grand  duchess  wanted  to  point  out  one  of  the  new 
helmets,  and,  seeing  our  galubchik  standing  there,"  — 
here  Petritsky  showed  how  he  stood  in  his  helmet,  — 
"she  begged  him  to  show  her  his  helmet.  He  did  not 
budge.  What  does  it  mean  ?  The  fellows  wink  at  him, 
make  signs,  scowl  at  him.  '  Give  it  to  her.' ....  He  does 
not  stir.  He  is  like  a  dead  man.  You  can  imagine  the 
scene!....  Now....  as  he....  then  they  attempt  to  take  it 

off He  won't  let  it  go ! ....  At  last  he  himself  takes  it 

off,  and  hands  it  to  the  grand  duchess. 

" '  Here,  this  is  the  new  kind,'  said  the  grand  duch- 
ess. But,  as  she  turned  it  over,  —  you  can  imagine  it 
—  out  came,  bukh  !  pears,  bonbons,  ....t^o  pounds  of 
bonbons  ! ....  He  had  been  to  market,  galubchik  !  " 

Vronsky  burst  out  laughing ;   and   long  afterwards, 


ANNA   KARENINA  151 

even  when  speaking  of  other  things,  the  memory  of 
the  unfortunate  helmet  caused  him  to  break  out  into 
a  good-natured  laugh  which  showed  his  handsome,  regu- 
lar teeth. 

Having  learned  all  the  news,  Vronsky  donned  his  uni- 
form with  the  aid  of  his  valet,  and  went  out  to  report 
himself.  After  he  had  reported,  he  determined  to  go 
to  his  brother's,  to  Betsy's,  and  to  make  a  few  calls,  so 
as  to  secure  an  entry  into  the  society  where  he  should 
be  likely  to  see  Madame  Karenina ;  and  in  accordance 
with  the  usual  custom  at  Petersburg,  he  left  his  rooms, 
expecting  to  return  only  when  it  was  very  late  at  night. 


PART    SECOND 


CHAPTER  I 

TOWARD  the  end  of  the  winter  the  Shcherbatskys 
held  a  consultation  of  physicians  in  order  to  find  out 
what  was  the  state  of  Kitty's  health,  and  what  measures 
were  to  be  taken  to  restore  her  strength  ;  she  was  ill, 
and  the  approach  of  spring  only  increased  her  ailment. 
The  family  doctor  had  ordered  cod-liver  oil,  then  iron, 
and  last  of  all,  nitrate  of  silver ;  but  as  none  of  these 
remedies  did  any  good,  and  as  he  advised  them  to  take 
her  abroad,  it  was  then  resolved  to  consult  a  celebrated 
specialist. 

This  celebrated  doctor,  still  a  young  man,  and  very 
neat  in  his  appearance,  insisted  on  a  careful  investiga- 
tion of  the  trouble.  He  with  especial  satisfaction,  as  it 
seemed,  insisted  that  maidenly  modesty  is  only  a  relic 
of  barbarism,  and  that  nothing  is  more  natural  than  that 
a  young  man  should  make  examination  of  a  girl  in  un- 
dress. He  found  this  natural  because  he  did  it  every 
day,  and  he  was  conscious  of  no  impropriety  in  it,  as 
far  as  he  could  see ;  and,  therefore,  any  sense  of  shame 
on  the  part  of  the  girl  he  considered  not  only  a  relic  of 
barbarism,  but  also  an  insult  to  himself. 

It  was  necessary  to  submit,  since,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  all  the  other  doctors  were  taught  in  the  same 
school  and  studied  the  same  books,  and  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  certain  persons  declared  that  this  celebrated 
doctor  was  a  bad  doctor,  yet  in  the  princess's  house  and 
in  her  circle  of  friends  it  was  admitted  somehow  that 
this  celebrated  doctor  was  the  only  one  known  who  had 
the  special  knowledge,  and  was  the  only  one  who  could 
save  Kitty's  life.  After  a  careful  examination  and  a 
prolonged  thumping  on  the  lungs  of  the  poor  sick  girl, 

152 


ANNA   KARENINA  153 

trembling  with  mortification,  the  celebrated  physician 
carefully  washed  his  hands,  and  returned  to  the  draw- 
ing-room, and  gave  his  report  to  the  prince. 

The  prince,  with  a  little  cough,  hstened  to  what  he 
had  to  say,  and  frowned.  He  was  a  man  of  experience 
and  brains,  was  in  good  health,  and  he  had  no  faith  in 
medicine.  He  was  all  the  more  angry  at  this  comedy, 
because  possibly  he  alone  understood  what  ailed  his 
daughter. 

*'A  regular  humbug,"^  thought  the  old  prince,  as  he 
listened  to  the  doctor's  loquacity  concerning  the  symp- 
toms of  his  daughter's  illness,  mentally  applying  to  the 
celebrated  doctor  a  term  from  the  vocabulary  of  hunting. 

The  doctor,  on  his  part,  with  difficulty  disguised  his 
disdain,  with  difficulty  stooped  to  the  low  level  of  his 
intelligence,  for  this  old  gentleman.  It  seemed  to  him 
scarcely  necessary  to  speak  to  the  old  man,  since,  in  his 
eyes,  the  head  of  the  house  was  the  princess.  He  was 
ready  to  pour  out  before  her  all  the  floods  of  his  elo- 
quence. At  this  mbment  she  came  in  with  the  family 
doctor.  The  prince  left  the  room,  so  as  not  to  show 
too  clearly  how  ridiculous  this  whole  comedy  seemed 
to  him.  The  princess  was  troubled,  and  did  not  know 
what  course  to  take.  She  felt  a  little  guilty  in  regard 
to  Kitty. 

"  Well !  Doctor,  decide  on  our  fate,"  said  the  prin- 
cess ;  "tell  me  all." 

She  wanted  to  say,  "  Is  there  any  hope  ? "  but  her 
lips  trembled,  and  she  could  not  put  this  question  to 
him.     "  Well,  doctor  ?  " 

'*  In  a  moment,  princess,  I  shall  be  at  your  service, 
after  I  have  conferred  with  my  colleague.  I  shall  then 
have  the  honor  of  giving  you  my  opinion." 

"  Do  you  wish  to  be  alone .'' " 

•'Just  as  you  please." 

The  princess  sighed,  and  left  the  room. 

When  the  doctors  were  left  alone,  the  family  physi- 
cian  began  timidly  to  express  his  opinion  about   her 

1  Pustobrekh,  empty  barker,  signifying  one  who  has  had  no  luck,  but 
comes  home  with  large  storiea.  • — -Tk. 


154  ANNA   KARENINA 

condition,  and  gave  his  reasons  for  thinking  that  it  was 
the  beginning  of  tubercular  disease,  but .... 

The  celebrated  physician  listened,  and  in  the  midst  of 
his  diagnosis  took  out  his  great  gold  watch. 

"Yes,"  said  he,  "but...." 

The  family  physician  stopped  respectfully. 

"You  know  that  we  can  hardly  decide  when  tubercu- 
lar disease  first  begins.  In  the  present  case,  apparently 
there  is  as  yet  no  decided  lesion.  We  can  only  surmise. 
And  the  symptoms  are :  indigestion,  nervousness,  and 
others.  The  question,  therefore,  stands  thus  :  What  is 
to  be  done,  granting  that  a  tubercular  development  is  to 
be  feared,  in  order  to  superinduce  improved  alimenta- 
tion .? " 

"  But  you  know  well,  in  such  cases  there  are  always 
some  moral  or  spiritual  causes,"  said  the  family  doctor, 
with  a  cunning  smile. 

"Of  course,"  replied  the  celebrated  doctor,  looking 
at  his  watch  again.  "  Excuse  me,  but  do  you  know 
whether  the  bridge  over  the  Ya'usa  is  finished  yet, 
or  whether  one  has  to  go  around .-'  Oh,  it  is  finished, 
is  it .''  Well !  Then  I  have  twenty  minutes  left.  — 
We  were  just  saying  that  the  question  remains  thus  : 
to  improve  the  digestion,  and  strengthen  the  nerves ; 
the  one  is  connected  with  the  other,  and  it  is  necessary 
to  act  on  both  halves  of  the  circle." 

"  But  the  journey  abroad  .-*  " 

"  I  am  opposed  to  these  journeys  abroad.  I  beg  you 
to  follow  my  reasoning.  If  tubercular  development  has 
already  set  in,  which  we  are  not  yet  in  a  condition  to 
prove,  then  a  journey  abroad  would  do  no  good.  The 
main  thing  is  to  discover  a  means  of  promoting  good 
digestion." 

And  the  celebrated  doctor  began  to  develop  his  plan 
for  a  cure  by  means  of  Soden  water,  the  principal  merits 
of  which  were,  in  his  eyes,  their  absolutely  inoffensive 
character. 

The  family  doctor  listened  with  attention  and  re. 
spect. 

"  But  I  should  urge  in  favor  of  a  journey  abroad  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  i>55 

change  of  her  habits  and  dissociation  from  the  con 
ditions  that  serve  to  recall  unhappy  thoughts.  And 
finally,  her  mother  wants  her  to  go." 

"  Ah,  well,  in  that  case  let  them  go,  provided  always 
that  those  German  charlatans  do  not  aggravate  her 
disease They  must  follow....    Yes  !  let  them  travel." 

And  again  he  looked  at  his  watch. 

"  It  is  time  for  me  to  go ; "  and  he  started  for  the 
door. 

The  celebrated  doctor  explained  to  the  princess  that 
he  wished  to  see  the  invalid  once  more  —  a  sense  of 
propriety  dictated  this. 

"What!  have  another  examination  .'' "  cried  the  prin- 
cess, with  horror. 

"  Oh,  no  !  only  a  few  minor  points,  princess." 

"Then  come  in,  I  beg  of  you." 

And  the  mother  ushered  the  doctor  into  the  drawing- 
room  where  Kitty  was.  Emaciated  and  flushed,  with  a 
peculiar  gleam  in  her  eyes,  the  result  of  the  mortifica- 
tion she  had  borne,  Kitty  was  standing  in  the  middle  of 
the  room.  When  the  doctor  came  in  her  eyes  filled 
with  tears,  and  she  turned  crimson.  Her  whole  illness 
and  the  medical  treatment  seemed  to  her  such  stupid, 
even  ridiculous  nonsense.  The  medical  treatment  of  her 
case  seemed  to  her  as  absurd  as  to  gather  up  the  frag- 
ments of  a  broken  vase.  Her  heart  was  broken,  and 
could  it  be  healed  by  pills  and  powders .''  But  it  was 
impossible  to  wound  her  mother's  feelings,  the  more  be- 
cause her  mother  felt  that  she  had  been  to  blame. 

"  Will  you  sit  down,  princess  ? "  said  the  celebrated 
doctor. 

With  a  smile  he  sat  down  in  front  of  her,  felt  her 
pulse,  and  with  a  smile  began  a  series  of  wearisome 
questions.  At  first  she  replied  to  them,  then  suddenly 
arose  impatiently. 

"  Excuse  me,  doctor ;  but,  indeed,  this  all  leads  to 
nothing.  This  is  the  third  time  that  you  have  asked 
me  the  same  question." 

The  celebrated  doctor  took  no  offense, 

"It  is  her  nervous  irritability,"  he  remarked  to  the 


156  ANNA   KARENINA 

princess  when  Kitty  had  gone  from  the  room.  "  How- 
ever, I  had  finished."  .... 

And  the  celebrated  doctor  explained  the  young  prin- 
cess's condition  to  her  mother,  treating  her  as  a  woman 
of  remarkable  intelligence,  and  concluded  with  direc- 
tions how  to  drink  those  waters  which  were  valueless. 

On  the  question,  "  Is  it  best  to  take  her  abroad  ? "  the 
doctor  pondered  deeply,  as  if  he  were  deciding  a  diffi- 
cult problem.  The  decision  was  at  last  expressed  :  '  Go, 
but  put  no  faith  in  charlatans,  and  consult  him  in  every= 
thing.' 

After  the  doctor's  departure,  everybody  felt  as  if 
something  jolly  had  happened.  The  mother,  in  much 
better  spirits,  rejoined  her  daughter,  and  Kitty  declared 
that  she  was  better  already.  Often,  almost  all  the  time, 
of  late,  she  felt  obliged  to  pretend. 

"  Truly,  I  am  well,  viaman,  but  if  you  desire  it,  let  us 
go,"  said  she  ;  and  in  her  endeavor  to  show  that  she 
was  interested  in  the  journey,  she  began  to  speak  of 
their  preparations. 


CHAPTER  n 

Shortly  after  the  doctor  went,  Dolly  came.  She 
knew  that  the  consultation  was  to  take  place  that  day ; 
and  though  she  was  as  yet  scarcely  able  to  go  out,  hav- 
ing had  a  little  daughter  toward  the  end  of  the  winter, 
and  although  she  had  many  trials  and  cares  of  her  own, 
she  left  her  nursing  baby  and  one  of  the  little  girls  who 
was  ailing,  and  came  to  learn  what  Kitty's  fate  should  be. 

"Well !  how  is  it  "i  "  she  said,  as  she  came  into  the 
drawing-room  with  her  hat  on.  "  You  are  all  happy ! 
Then  all  is  well?" 

They  endeavored  to  tell  her  what  the  doctor  had 
said ;  but  it  seemed  that,  although  the  doctor  had 
spoken  very  fluently  and  lengthily,  no  one  was  able  to 
tell  what  he  had  said.  The  only  interesting  point  was 
the  decision  in  regard  to  the  journey  abroad. 

Dolly   sighed    involuntarily.      Her   sister,  -her   best 


ANNA    KARENINA  157 

',  was  going  away  ;  and  life  for  her  was  not  joy- 
ous. Her  relations  with  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  since 
the  reconciliation  had  become  humiliating ;  the  union 
brought  about  by  Anna  had  not  been  of  long  duration, 
and  the  family  concord  had  broken  down  in  the  same 
place.  There  was  nothing  definite,  but  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch was  scarcely  ever  at  home,  there  was  scarcely 
ever  any  money  in  the  house,  and  suspicions  of  his 
unfaithfulness  constantly  tormented  Dolly,  but  she  kept 
driving  them  away  in  terror  of  the  unhappiness  which 
jealousy  caused  her.  The  first  explosion  of  jealousy, 
having  been  lived  down,  could  not  indeed  be  experi- 
enced again ;  and  even  the  discovery  of  his  unfaithful- 
ness could  not  have  such  an  effect  on  her  as  it  had  the 
first  time.  Such  a  discovery  now  would  only  break  up  the 
family,  and  she  preferred  to  shut  her  eyes  to  his  decep- 
tion, despising  him,  and  above  all  herself,  because  of  this 
weakness.  Moreover,  the  cares  of  a  numerous  family 
constantly  annoyed  her ;  first  the  nursing  of  her  baby 
was  unsatisfactory,  then  the  nurse  went  off,  and  now  one 
of  the  children  was  ill. 

"And  how  are  the  children  .-*  "  asked  the  princess. 

'Akh  ,  maman  !  we  have  so  many  tribulations.  Lili 
is  ill  in  bed,  and  I  am  afraid  it  is  the  scarlatina.  I 
came  out  now  to  see  how  you  were,  for  there'll  be  no 
getting  out  for  me  after  this,  if  it  is  scarlatina — which 
God  forbid ! " 

The  old  prince  also,  after  the  doctor's  departure,  came 
out  from  his  library,  presented  his  cheek  to  Dolly,  ex- 
changed a  few  words  with  her,  and  then  turned  to  his 
wife :  — 

"  What  decision  have  you  come  to  }  Shall  you  go  ? 
Well !  and  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  me  \  " 

"  I  think,  Aleksandr,  that  you  had  better  stay  at 
home." 

"  Just  as  you  please." 

"  Maman,  why  does  n't  papa  come  with  us  ? "  said 
Kitty,     "  It  would  be  gayer  for  him  and  for  us." 

The  old  prince  got  up  and  smoothed  Kitty's  hair  with 
his  hand  ;  she  raised  her  head,  and  with  an  effort  smiled 


158  ANNA   KARENINA 

as  she  looked  at  him  ;  it  always  seemed  to  her  that  he 
understood  her  better  than  any  one  else  in  the  family, 
though  he  did  not  say  much.  She  was  the  youngest, 
and  therefore  her  father's  favorite  daughter,  and  it 
seemed  to  her  that  his  love  made  him  clairvoyant. 
When  she  saw  his  kind  blue  eyes  steadily  fixed  on  her, 
it  seemed  to  her  that  he  read  her  very  soul,  and  saw  all 
the  evil  that  was  working  there.  She  blushed,  and  bent 
toward  him,  expecting  a  kiss ;  but  he  only  pulled  her 
hair,  saying:  — 

"  These  stupid  cJdgnons !  one  never  gets  down  to 
the  real  daughter,  but  you  caress  the  hair  of  departed 
females.  Well !  Dolinka,"  turning  to  his  eldest  daugh- 
ter, "  what  is  that  trump  of  yours  doing  }  " 

"  Nothing,  papa,"  said  Dolly,  perceiving  that  her 
father  referred  to  her  husband  ;  "  he  is  always  away 
from  home,  and  I  scarcely  ever  see  him,"  she  could  not 
refrain  from  adding,  with  an  ironical  smile. 

"  Has  he  not  gone  yet  to  the  country  to  sell  his 
wood  ?" 

"  No  ;  he  is  always  putting  it  off." 

"  Truly,"  said  the  old  prince,  "  is  he  taking  after  me  ? 
—  I  hear  you,"  he  said  in  reply  to  his  wife,  and  sitting 
down.  "And  as  for  you,  Katya,"  he  said,  addressing  his 
youngest  daughter,  "  do  you  know  what  you  ought  to 
do  ?  Sometime,  some  fine  morning,  wake  up  and  say, 
'  There !  I  am  perfectly  well  and  happy,  papa,  and  we 
must  go  for  our  early  morning  walk  in  the  cold,'  ha  ? " 

What  her  father  said  seemed  very  simple,  but  at  his 
words  Kitty  felt  confused  and  disconcerted  like  a  con- 
victed criminal.  "Yes,  he  knows  all,  he  understands 
all,  and  these  words  mean  that  I  ought  to  overcome  my 
humiliation,  however  great  it  has  been." 

She  could  not  summon  up  the  courage  to  reply.  She 
began  to  say  something,  but  suddenly  burst  into  tears, 
and  ran  from  the  room. 

"Just  like  'your  tricks!"  said  the  princess  to  her 
husband,  angrily.  "  You  always ....  "  and  she  began  one 
of  her  tirades. 

The  prince  listened  for  some  time  to  her  reproaches, 


ANNA   KARENINA  159 

and  made  no  reply,  but  his  face  kept  growing  darker 
and  darker. 

"She  is  so  sensitive,  poor  little  thing,  so  sensitive! 
and  you  don't  understand  how  she  suffers  at  the  slight- 
est allusion  to  the  cause  of  her  suffering.  Akh !  how 
mistaken  we  are  in  people  !  "  said  the  princess. 

And  by  the  change  in  the  inflection  of  her  voice, 
Dolly  and  the  prince  perceived  that  she  had  reference 
to  Vronsky. 

"  I  don't  understand  why  there  are  not  any  laws  to 
punish  such  vile,  such  ignoble  men." 

"Akh!  do  hear  her,"  said  the  prince  with  a  frown, 
getting  up  from  his  chair  and  evidently  anxious  to  make 
his  escape,  but  halting  on  the  threshold  :  — 

"  There  are  laws,  matushka ;  and  if  you  force  me  to 
this,  I  will  tell  you  who  is  to  blame  in  all  this  trouble. 
You,  you  alone !  There  are  laws  against  such  young 
fops,  and  there  always  will  be ;  and  if  things  had  not 
been  as  they  ought  never  to  have  been,  old  man  that  I 
am,  I  should  have  put  that  dandy  on  the  fence.  Yes, 
and  now  to  cure  her,  you  bring  in  these  quacks." 

The  prince  would  have  had  still  more  to  say,  but  as 
soon  as  the  princess  heard  his  tone  she  immediately 
became  humble  and  repentant,  as  always  happened  when 
important  questions  came  up. 

"  Alexandre  !  Alexandre  !  "  she  murmured,  going  up 
to  him,  and  weeping. 

The  prince  held  his  peace  when  he  saw  her  tears. 
He  went  to  meet  her  :  — 

"Well,  let  it  go,  let  it  go.  I  know  that  it  is  hard  for 
you  also.     What  is  to  be  done  .■*     There  is   no  great 

harm.     God   is   merciful Thank  you!"  said  he,  not 

knowing  what  he  said,  and  replying  to  the  princess's 
damp  kiss  which  he  felt  on  his  hand.  Then  the  prince 
left  the  room. 

As  soon  as  Kitty,  weeping,  had  left  the  room,  Dolly, 
with  her  maternal  domestic  instinct,  perceived  that  this 
was  an  affair  which  required  a  woman's  management, 
and  she  was  preparing  to  follow  her.  She  took  her  hat 
and   morally  tucking   up  her  sleeves,  prepared  to  act 


i6o  ANNA    KARENINA 

But  when  her  mother  began  to  attack  her  father,  she 
tried  to  restrain  her,  as  far  as  her  filial  respect  allowed. 
When  the  prince's  outburst  occurred,  she  said  nothing ; 
she  was  ashamed  for  her  mother  and  she  felt  a  deep 
affection  because  of  the  instant  return  of  his  good- 
nature ;  but  when  he  went  out,  she  determined  to  do 
the  chief  thing  that  was  necessary  — to  go  to  Kitty 
and  calm  her. 

"  I  have  long  wanted  to  tell  you,  tnaman;  did  you 
know  that  when  Levin  was  here  the  last  time,  he  in- 
tended to  offer  himself  to  Kitty .?     He  told  Stiva." 

"What  is  that .-'     I  do  not  understand  ....  " 

"  Then  perhaps  Kitty  refused  him  ? ....  Did  n't  she  tell 
you.?" 

"  No,  she  did  not  say  anything  to  me  about  either  of 
them  ;  she  is  too  proud.  But  I  know  that  all  this  comes 
from....  " 

"  Yes ;  but  think,  if  she  refused  Levin.  I  know 
that  she  would  not  have  done  so  if  it  had  not  been  for 
the  other  one....  and  then  he  deceived  her  so  abom- 
inably." 

It  was  terrible  to  the  princess  to  think  how  blame- 
worthy she  had  been  toward  her  daughter,  and  she  grew 
angry. 

"Akh!  I  don't  know  anything  about  it.  Nowadays 
every  girl  wants  to  live  as  she  pleases,  and  not  to  say 
anything  to  her  mother,  and  so  it  comes  that ....  " 

*^  Maman^  I  am  going  to  see  her." 

"  Go  !  I  will  not  prevent  you,"  said  her  mother. 


CHAPTER  HI 

As  she  entered  Kitty's  pretty  little  rosy  boudoir,  with 
figurines  in  vieiix  saxe,  a  room  as  youthful,  as  rosy,  as 
gay  as  Kitty  herself  had  been  two  months  before, 
Dolly  remembered  with  what  pleasure  and  interest  the 
two  had  decorated  it  the  year  before ;  how  happy  and 
gay  they  were  then !  She  felt  a  chill  at  her  heart  as 
she  saw  her  sister  sitting  on  a  low  chair  near  the  door, 


ANNA    KARENINA  i6i 

her  motionless  eyes  fixed  on  a  corner  of  the  carpet. 
Kitty  glanced  up  at  her  sister,  but  the  cold  and  rather 
stern  expression  of  her  face  underwent  no  change. 

"  I  am  going  now,  and  I  may  be  confined  at  home, 
and  it  will  be  impossible  for  you  to  see  me,"  said  Darya 
Aleksandrovna,  sitting  down  near  her  sister;  "I  wanted 
to  have  a  little  talk  with  you." 

"  What  about  ? "  asked  Kitty,  quickly  raising  her  head 
in  alarm. 

"  What  else  than  about  your  sorrow  ? " 

"  I  have  no  sorrow." 

"That'll  do,  Kitty.  "Do  you  really  imagine  that  I 
don't  know .-'  I  know  everything  ;  and  believe  me,  this 
is  such  a  trifle ....     All  of  us  have  been  through  this." 

Kitty  said  nothing,  and  her  face  resumed  its  severe 
expression. 

"  He  is  not  worth  the  trouble  that  you  have  given 
yourself  because  of  him,"  continued  Darya  Aleksan- 
drovna, coming  right  to  the  point. 

"Yes  !  because  he  jilted  me!  "  murmured  Kitty,  with 
trembling  voice.  "Don't  speak  of  it,  please  don't 
speak  of  it ! " 

"But  who  said  that  to  you.^  No  one  said  such  a 
thing  !  I  am  sure  that  he  was  in  love  with  you,  — that 
he  is  still  in  love  with  you  ;  but ....  " 

"Ah!  nothing  exasperates  me  so  as  compassion," 
cried  Kitty,  in  a  sudden  rage.  She  turned  around  in 
her  chair,  flushed  scarlet,  and  moved  her  belt-buckle 
back  and  forth  from  one  hand  to  the  other,  clutching 
it  in  her  fingers. 

Dolly  well  knew  this  habit  of  her  sister  when  she  was 
provoked.  She  knew  that  she  was  capable  of  forgetting 
herself,  and  saying  harsh  and  cruel  things  in  moments 
of.  petulance,  and  she  tried  to  calm  her;  but  it  was  too 
late. 

"  What,  what  do  you  wish  me  to  understand }  what  is 
it  ? "  cried  Kitty,  talking  fast :  —  "that  I  was  in  love  with 
a  man  who  did  not  care  for  me,  and  that  I  am  dying 
of  love  for  him .-'  And  it  is  my  sister  who  says  this  to 
me!  —  my  sister  who  thinks  that ....  that ....  that ....  she 

VOL.  I.  —  II 


i62  ANNA   KARENINA 

is  showing  me  her  sympathy! ....  I  hate  such  sympathy 
and  such  hypocrisy  !  " 

"Kitty,  you  are  unjust." 

"  Why  do  you  torment  me  .-' " 

"  Why,  on  the  contrary  ....  I  saw  that  you  were  sad ...." 

Kitty  in  her  anger  did  not  heed  her. 

"  I  have  nothing  to  break  my  heart  over,  and  need  no 
consolation.  I  am  too  proud  ever  to  love  a  man  who 
does  not  love  me." 

"  Well !  I  do  not  say  ....  I  say  only  one  thing  ....  Tell 
me  the  truth,"  added  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  taking  her 
hand.     "Tell  me,  did  Levin  speak  to  you  }  ".... 

At  the  name  of  Levin,  Kitty  lost  all  control  of  her- 
self ;  she  sprang  up  from  her  chair,  threw  the  buckle  on 
the  floor,  and  with  quick,  indignant  gestures  cried :  — 

"  Why  do  you  speak  to  me  of  Levin  ?  I  don't  see 
why  you  need  to  torment  me.  I  have  already  said,  and 
I  repeat  it,  that  I  am  proud,  and  never,  never  would  I  do 
what  you  have  done,  — go  back  to  a  man  who  had  been 
false  to  me,  who  had  made  love  to  another  woman.  I 
do  not  understand  this  ;  you  can,  but  I  cannot !  " 

As  she  said  these  words,  she  looked  at  her  sister,  and 
seeing  that  Dolly  bent  her  head  sadly  without  answering, 
she  sat  down  near  the  door  again,  and  hid  her  face  in 
her  handkerchief  instead  of  leaving  the  room  as  she  had 
intended  to  do. 

The  silence  lasted  several  minutes.  Dolly  was  think- 
ing of  herself.  Her  humiliation,  of  which  she  was  always 
conscious,  appeared  to  her  more  cruel  than  ever,  thus 
recalled  by  her  sister.  She  did  not  expect  such  bitter- 
ness from  her  sister,  and  it  made  her  angry.  But  sud- 
denly she  heard  the  rustling  of  a  dress,  a  broken  sob, 
and  some  one's  arms  were  thrown  around  her  neck. 
Kitty  was  on  her  knees  before  her. 

"  Dolinka,  I  am  so  unhappy !  "  she  murmured  in  ex- 
culpation ;  and  her  pretty  face,  wet  with  tears,  was  hid 
in  Dolly's  skirt. 

Those  tears  were  evidently  the  indispensable  lubricant 
without  which  the  machinery  of  mutual  communion 
between  the  two  sisters  could  not  work.     At  all  events, 


ANNA   KARENINA  163 

after  a  good  cry,  they  spoke  no  more  on  the  subject 
which  interested  them  both,  but  even  while  they  were 
talking  about  irrelevant  topics  they  understood  each 
other.  Kitty  knew  that  the  cruel  words  that  she  had 
uttered  in  her  anger,  about  the  husband's  unfaithfulness 
—  the  unfaithfulness  of  Dolly's  husband — and  her  hu- 
miliation, struck  deep  into  her  poor  sister's  heart,  but 
that  she  forgave  her.  Dolly,  on  her  side,  knew  all  that 
she  wanted  to  know,  she  was  convinced  that  her  suspi- 
cions were  correct,  that  the  pain  Kitty  felt,  the  irremedia- 
ble pain,  lay  in  the  fact  that  Levin  had  offered  himself  to 
her,  and  that  she  had  refused  him,  and  that  Vronsky  had 
played  her  false,  and  that  she  was  ready  to  love  Levin 
and  to  hate  Vronsky.  Kitty  said  not  a  word  about  this; 
she  spoke  only  of  the  general  state  of  her  soul. 

"  I  have  no  sorrow,"  she  said,  regaining  her  calmness 
a  little  ;  "  but  you  cannot  imagine  how  wretched,  disgust- 
ing, and  vulgar  everything  seems  to  me  —  above  all  my- 
self. You  cannot  imagine  what  evil  thoughts  come 
into  my  mind." 

"Yes,  but  what  evil  thoughts  can  you  have?"  asked 
Dolly,  with  a  smile. 

"The  most  abominable,  the  most  repulsive.  I  can- 
not describe  them  to  you.  It  is  not  melancholy,  and  it 
is  not  ennui.  It  is  much  worse.  It  is  as  if  all  the  good 
that  was  in  me  had  disappeared,  and  only  the  evil  was 
left.  Now  how  can  that  be,  I  tell  you  .-• "  she  asked, 
looking  in   perplexity  into   her   sister's   eyes.      "  Papa 

began  to  say  something  to  me  a  few  minutes  ago It 

seems  to  me  he  thinks  that  all  I  need  is  a  husband. 
Mamma  takes  me  to  the  ball.  It  seems  to  me  that  she 
takes  me  there  for  the  sole  purpose  of  getting  rid  of  me, 
of  getting  me  married  as  soon  as  possible.  I  know  that 
it  is  not  true,  and  yet  I  cannot  drive  away  these  ideas. 
So-called  marriageable  young  men  are  unendurable  to 
me.  It  always  seems  to  me  that  they  are  taking  my 
measure.  A  short  time  ago,  to  go  anywhere  in  a  ball 
gown  was  a  simple  delight  to  me ;  I  admired  myself,  I 
enjoyed  it ;  now  it  is  a  bore  to  me,  and  I  feel  ill  at  ease. 
Now,  what  do  you  think.-*....  The  doctor....  well ....  " 


i64  ANNA   KARENINA 

Kitty  stopped  ;  she  wanted  to  say  further  that,  since 
she  had  felt  this  great  change  in  herself,  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch  had  become  unendurably  distasteful  to  her, 
that  she  could  not  see  him  without  the  most  repulsive 
and  unbecoming  conjectures  arising  in  her  mind. 

"  Indeed,  everything  takes  the  most  repulsive,  dis- 
gusting aspect  in  my  sight,"  she  continued.  "It  is  a 
disease,  —  perhaps  it  will  pass  away." 

"  But  don't  for  a  moment  think,..." 

"  I  cannot  help  it.  I  do  not  feel  at  ease  except  with 
you  and  the  children." 

"What  a  pity  that  you  can't  come  home  with  me 
now  ! " 

"  Well,  I  will  go.  I  have  had  scarlatina.  I  will  per- 
suade maman." 

Kitty  insisted  so  eagerly,  that  she  was  allowed  to  go 
to  her  sister's,  and  throughout  the  course  of  the  disease, 
—  which  proved  to  be  the  scarlatina,  —  she  looked  after 
the  children.  The  two  sisters  successfully  nursed  all 
the  six  children  ;  but  Kitty's  health  did  not  improve, 
and  at  Lent  the  Shcherbatskys  went  abroad. 


CHAPTER   IV 

The  highest  Petersburg  society  is  remarkably  united. 
Every  one  knows  every  one  else,  and  every  one  exchanges 
visits.  But  in  this  great  circle  there  are  subdivisions. 
Anna  Arkadyevna  Karenina  had  friends  and  close  re- 
lations with  three  different  circles.  One  was  the  official 
circle,  to  which  her  husband  belonged,  composed  of  his 
colleagues  and  subordinates,  bound  together,  or  even 
further  subdivided,  by  the  most  varied,  and  often  the 
most  capricious,  social  relations.  It  was  now  difficult 
for  Anna  to  call  back  the  sentiment  of  almost  religious 
respect  which  at  first  she  felt  for  all  these  personages. 
Now  she  knew  them  all,  as  one  knows  people  in  a  pro- 
vincial city.  She  knew  what  habits  and  weaknesses 
were  characteristic  of  each,  and  what  feet  the  shoe 
pinched.     She  knew  what  were  their  relations  among 


ANNA   KARENINA  165 

themselves,  and  to  the  official  center.  She  knew  how 
this  one  agreed  with  that  and  on  what  grounds,  and  how 
another  disagreed  with  still  another,  and  wherefore. 
But  this  administrative  clique,  to  which  her  husband 
belonged,  could  never  interest  her,  in  spite  of  the  Coun- 
tess Lidya  Ivanovna's  suggestions,  and  she  avoided  it. 

The  second  circle  in  which  Anna  moved  was  that 
which  had  helped  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  in  his  career. 
The  center  of  this  circle  was  the  Countess  Lidya  Iva- 
novna ;  it  was  composed  of  aged,  ugly,  charitable,  and 
devout  women,  and  intelligent,  learned,  and  ambitious 
men.  One  of  the  clever  men  who  belonged  to  this  cir- 
cle had  called  it  the  "conscience  of  Petersburg  society." 
Karenin  was  very  much  devoted  to  this  circle ;  and 
Anna,  who  had  the  faculty  of  getting  along  with  all  peo- 
ple, had,  during  the  early  days  of  her  life  in  Petersburg, 
made  friends  in  its  number.  After  her  return  from 
Moscow,  this  set  of  people  seemed  to  her  insupportable  ; 
it  seemed  as  if  she  herself,  as  well  as  all  the  rest  of 
them,  were  hypocritical,  and  she  felt  depressed  and  ill 
at  ease  in  this  society.  She  saw  the  Countess  Lidya  as 
infrequently  as  she  possibly  could. 

Finally,  the  third  circle  in  which  Anna  had  connec- 
tions was  Society,  properly  speaking,  the  fashionable 
society  of  balls,  dinner-parties,  brilliant  toilets  —  the 
society  which  with  one  hand  lays  fast  hold  of  "the  court 
lest  it  descend  to  the  level  of  the  demi-monde,  which  the 
members  of  this  circle  affect  to  despise,  and  yet  whose 
tastes  are  not  only  similar,  but  the  same.  The  bond 
that  united  her  to  this  society  was  the  Princess  Betsy 
Tverskaya,  the  wife  of  one  of  her  cousins,  who  enjoyed 
an  income  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  rubles, 
and  who  had  taken  a  great  fancy  to  Anna  as  soon  as 
she  came  to  Petersburg,  flattered  her,  introduced  her 
among  her  friends,  and  made  ridicule  of  the  Countess 
Lidya's  friends. 

"  When  I  am  old  and  ugly,  I  will  do  the  same,"  said 
Betsy ;  "  but  a  young  and  pretty  woman  like  yourself 
has  as  yet  no  place  in  such  an  asylum." 

Anna  at  first  had  avoided  as  far  as  possible  the  society 


i66  ANNA    KARENINA 

to  which  the  Princess  Betsy  Tverskaya  belonged,  as  it 
called  for  expenses  beyond  her  means,  and  in  her  heart 
she  preferred  the  first-mentioned  coterie  ;  but  after  her 
visit  to  Moscow  all  this  was  changed.  She  neglected  her 
worthy  old  friends,  and  cared  to  go  only  into  grand  soci- 
ety. There  she  met  Vronsky,  and  experienced  tumultu- 
ous pleasure  in  these  meetings.  They  met  with  especial 
frequency  at  the  house  of  Betsy,  who  was  a  Vronskaya 
before  her  marriage,  and  was  an  own  cousin  of  the  count. 
Vronsky  went  everywhere  that  he  was  likely  to  meet 
Anna,  and,  if  possible,  spoke  to  her  of  his  love.  She 
gave  him  no  encouragement ;  but  every  time  she  met 
him,  there  flamed  up  in  her  soul  the  same  sense  of  ani- 
mation which  had  seized  her  the  moment  that  they  met, 
for  the  first  time,  on  the  train  at  Moscow ;  she  herself 
was  conscious  that  at  the  sight  of  him  this  joy  shone  in 
her  eyes,  in  her  smile,  but  she  had  not  the  power  to 
hide  it. 

Anna  at  first  sincerely  believed  that  she  was  angry 
because  he  persisted  in  following  her ;  but  one  evening, 
not  long  after  her  return  from  Moscow,  when  she  was 
present  at  a  house  where  she  expected  to  meet  him, 
and  he  failed  to  come,  she  perceived  clearly,  by  the 
pang  that  went  through  her  heart,  that  she  was  deceiv- 
ing herself,  that  this  insistence  of  his  not  only  was  not 
disagreeable  to  her  but  that  it  formed  the  ruling  passion 
of  her  life, 

A  famous  diva  was  singing  for  the  second  time,  and 
all  the  high  society  of  Petersburg  was  at  the  theater. 
Vronsky,  from  his  seat  in  the  first  row  saw  his  cousin 
there,  and  without  waiting  for  the  entr'acte,  left  to  visit 
her  box. 

"  Why  did  n't  you  come  to  dinner }  "  she  asked  ;  and 
then  with  a  smile  she  added,  so  as  to  be  heard  only  by 
him,  "  I  admire  this  clairvoyance  of  lovers  ;  s/te  was  not 
there.     But  come  to  my  house  after  the  opera." 

Vronsky  looked  at  her  questioningly.  She  nodded. 
He  thanked  her  with  a  smile  and  sat  down  by  her  side. 

"But  how  I  miss  your  pleasantries;   what  have  be- 


ANNA    KARENINA  167 

come  of  them  ?  "  continued  the  Princess  Betsy,  who  fol- 
lowed with  keen  pleasure  the  progress  of  this  passion. 
"  You  are  in  the  toils,  my  dear  !  " 

"  That  is  all  that  I  ask  for,"  he  replied,  with  his  calm, 
good-natured  smile,  "  to  be  in  the  toils.  If  I  complain, 
it  is  not  because  I  am  too  little  in  the  toils  if  the  truth 
must  be  told.     I  am  beginning  to  lose  hope." 

"  What  hope  could  you  have  ? "  asked  Betsy,  taking 
the  part  of  her  friend.  "  Let  us  have  a  clear  under- 
standing." But  the  fire  in  her  eyes  told  with  sufficient 
clearness  that  she  understood  as  well  as  he  did  what  his 
hope  meant. 

**  None,"  replied  Vronsky,  laughing,  and  showing  his 
regular  white  teeth.  "  Excuse  me,"  he  added,  taking 
the  opera-glasses  from  his  cousin's  hand,  in  order  to 
direct  it  across  her  bare  shoulder  at  one  of  the  opposite 
boxes.     "  I  fear  I  am  becoming  ridiculous." 

He  knew  very  well  that  in  Betsy's  eyes,  and  in  those 
of  her  world,  he  ran  no  risk  of  being  ridiculous  ;  he 
knew  very  well  that  in  the  eyes  of  such  people  the  role 
of  an  unsuccessful  lover  of  a  young  girl  or  an  unmarried 
woman  might  be  ridiculous ;  but  not  so  the  role  of  a 
man  who  pursues  a  married  woman  and  at  any  price 
makes  it  his  aim  to  lead  her  into  committing  adultery. 
This  role  is  something  beautiful  and  majestic  and  can 
never  be  ridiculous,  and  therefore  Vronsky,  as  he  handed 
back  the  opera-glasses,  looked  at  his  cousin  with  a  smile 
of  pride  and  joy  lurking  under  his  mustache. 

"  And  why  did  n't  you  come  to  dinner .''  "  she  asked 
again,  unable  to  refrain  from  admiration  of  him. 

"I  must  tell  you;  I  was  busy  ....and  what  about.-*  I 
will  give  you  one  guess  out  of  a  hundred  —  out  of  a  thou- 
sand ....  you  would  never  hit  it.  I  have  been  reconciling 
a  husband  with  his  wife's  persecutor.     Yes,  fact !  " 

"  What !  and  you  reconciled  them  .-* " 

"  Pretty  nearly." 

"  You  must  tell  me  all  about  it,"  said  Betsy,  rising. 
"Come  during  the  next  entr'acte^ 

"  Impossible  ;  I  am  going  to  the  French  Theater." 

"  From  Nilsson  ? "    said  Betsy,   with   horror,  though 


i68  ANNA    KARENINA 

she  could  not  have  distinguished  Niisson  from  the  poor- 
est chorus-singer. 

"  But  what  can  I  do  ?  I  have  made  an  appointment 
in  order  to  finish  my  act  of  peacemaking." 

"Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,  for  they  shall  be 
saved,"  said  Betsy,  remembering  that  she  had  heard 
somewhere  some  such  quotation.  "Well,  then,  sit  down 
and  tell  me  all  about  it." 

And  she  resumed  her  seat. 


CHAPTER  V 

*'  It  's  a  little  improper,  but  so  amusing,  that  I  wanted 
awfully  to  tell  you  about  it,"  said  Vronsky,  looking  at 
her  with  sparkling  eyes.  "  However,  I  will  not  mention 
any  names." 

"  But  I  can  guess  ?  so  much  the  better ! " 
•'Listen,  then.     Two  gay  young  men  were  dining...." 
"Officers  of  your  regiment,  of  course  ...." 
"  I  did  not  say  that  they  were  officers,  but  simply 
young  men,  who  had  dined  well ...." 
"Translated,  tipsy ! " 

"  Possibly.  They  went  to  dine  with  a  comrade,  in 
most  excellent  spirits.  They  saw  a  pretty  young  woman 
passing  them  in  a  hired  carriage  ;  she  turns  around,  and, 
as  it  seems  to  them,  nods  to  them  and  laughs.  Of  course 
they  follow  her.  They  gallop  like  mad.  To  their 
amazement  their  beauty  stops  at  the  entrance  of  the 
very  house  where  they  are  going ;  she  mounts  to  the 
upper  floor,  and  they  see  nothing  but  a  pair  of  rosy  lips 
under  a  short  veil,  and  a  pair  of  pretty  little  feet." 

"You  describe  the  scene  with  so  much  feeling  that 
you  make  me  believe  that  you  were  in  the  party." 

"Why  do  you  accuse  me  so  soon.-"  Well!  the  two 
young  men  climb  up  to  their  comrade's  room,  where 
there  is  to  be  a  farewell  dinner,  and  there  they  drink, 
perhaps,  more  than  is  good  for  them,  as  is  usually  the 
case  at  farewell  dinners.  And  at  dinner  they  ask  who 
lives  on  the  top  story  of  that  house.     No  one  knows  any- 


ANNA    KARENINA  169 

thing  about  it ;  only  their  friend's  valet,  to  their  ques- 
tions, '  Do  any  mamselles  live  on  the  top  floor  ? '  replies 
that  there  are  a  good  many.  After  dinner  the  two 
young  men  go  into  their  friend's  library  and  write  a 
letter  to  the  unknown.  They  write  a  passionate  letter, 
a  declaration ;  they  themselves  carry  up  the  letter,  in 
order  to  explain  whatever  in  the  letter  might  not  be 
perfectly  understood." 

"  But  why  do  you  tell  me  such  horrible  things } 
Well } " 

"  They  ring.  A  girl  comes  to  the  door ;  they  give 
her  the  letter,  telling  her  they  are  so  desperately  in  love 
that  they  are  ready  to  die,  there  at  the  door.  The  girl 
is  in  doubt  and  parleys  with  them.  Suddenly  a  gentle- 
man appears,  red  as  a  lobster  and  with  side-whiskers  like 
sausages,  declares  that  there  is  no  one  there  except  his 
wife,  and  unceremoniously  puts  them  out  of  the  door." 

"  How  did  you  know  that  his  side-whiskers  were  like 
sausages  .-* " 

"  But  now  listen.  I  have  just  made  peace  between 
them." 

"  Well !  what  came  of  it .?  " 

"  This  is  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  affair.  The 
happy  couple  prove  to  be  a  titular  counselor  and  his 
wife.  The  titular  counselor  brings  a  complaint,  and  I 
am  obliged  to  serve  as  peacemaker.  What  a  peace- 
maker ! ....  I  assure  you  Talleyrand  compared  to  me 
was  nobody." 

"  What  were  your  difficulties .'' " 

"  Here  now  !  Listen  ! ....  We  make  excuses  as  in  duty 
bound,  as  :  *  We  are  desperately  sorry,'  we  said ;  '  we  beg 
you  to  pardon  us  for  this  unfortunate  misunderstanding.' 
The  titular  counselor  with  the  sausage-whiskers  seemed 
to  be  thawing ;  but  he  felt  it  necessary  to  express  his 
feelings,  and  as  soon  as  he  began  to  express  his  feelings 
he  began  to  get  wrathy,  and  to  say  harsh  things,  and 
again  I  was  obliged  to  bring  all  my  diplomatic  talents 
into  requisition  :  *  I  agree  that  their  conduct  was  repre- 
hensible, but  please  take  into  consideration  that  there 
was  a  misunderstanding  ;  they  were  young,  and  had  just 


t70  ANNA   KARENINA 

come  from  a  good  dinner.  You  understand  !  Now  they 
are  sorry  from  the  bottom  of  their  hearts,  and  beg  you 
to  forgive  them  their  fault.'  The  titular  counselor  soft- 
ened still  more  :  '  I  agree  with  you,  count,  and  I  am 
ready  to  pardon  them  ;  but  you  perceive  that  my  wife, 
my  wife,  a  virtuous  woman,  has  been  exposed  to  insult, 
to  persecution,  to  the  impudence  of  good-for-nothing 
young  scound.... '  And  the  impudent,  good-for-noth- 
ing young  fellows  being  present,  I  had  to  exert  myself 
to  calm  them  down  ;  again  I  put  my  diplomacy  to  work, 
and  every  time  I  seem  on  the  point  of  success  my  titular 
counselor  gets  wrathy  again,  and  his  face  gets  red,  and 
his  sausages  begin  to  wag  up  and  down,  and  I  find  my- 
self drowned  in  the  waves  of  diplomatic  subtleties." 

•' Akh  !  we  must  tell  you  all  about  this,"  said  Betsy  to 
a  lady  who  at  this  moment  came  into  her  box.  "  It  has 
amused  me  much  !  " 

"  Well,  good  luck  go  with  you,"  she  added,  giving 
Vronsky  one  of  her  fingers,  as  she  held  her  fan  ;  and 
then,  shrugging  her  shoulders  so  as  to  keep  the  waist 
of  her  gown  from  coming  up,  so  that  she  might  be  as 
naked  as  possible  when  she  should  go  to  the  front  of 
the  box,  and  sit  down  in  the  full  blaze  of  gas  and  in  the 
eyes  of  all. 

Vronsky  went  to  the  French  Theater,  where  he  really 
had  to  meet  his  regimental  commander,  who  never  failed 
to  be  present  at  a  single  representation.  He  wished  to 
speak  with  him  in  regard  to  his  business  as  peacemaker 
which  had  occupied  and  amused  him  for  three  days. 
Petritsky,  whom  he  liked,  was  involved  in  this  affair,  and 
the  other  one  was  a  charming,  a  glorious  fellow,  young 
Prince  Kerdrof,  who  had  lately  joined  their  regiment. 
But  the  principal  point  was  that  the  affair  concerned 
the  interests  of  his  regiment. 

Both  the  young  men  belonged  to  Vronsky's  company. 
Venden,  the  titular  counselor,  had  come  to  the  regi- 
mental commander  with  a  complaint  that  the  oflficers 
had  insulted  his  wife.  His  young  wife  —  Venden  said  he 
had  been  married  only  half  a  year  —  had  been  to  church 
with  her  mother,  and,  feeling  indisposed,  owing  to  her 


ANNA    KARENINA  171 

ncate  condition,  so  that  she  could  not  stand  any  longer, 
had  engaged  the  first  decent  izvoshchik  at  hand.  The 
officers  had  chased  her;  she  was  frightened  and,  feeling 
still  more  ill,  had  run  up  the  stairs.  Venden  himself, 
who  had  just  returned  from  his  office,  heard  the 
sound  of  a  bell  and  voices.  He  came  out,  and,  seeing 
drunken  officers  with  a  letter,  he  had  put  them  out.  He 
demanded  that  they  should  be  severely  punished. 

"  No,  it 's  all  very  well  to  talk,"  said  the  regimental 
commander  to  Vronsky,  whom  he  had  asked  to  join 
him,  "  but  Petritsky  is  becoming  unbearable.  Not  a 
week  passes  by  without  some  scandal.  This  chinovnik 
will  not  stop  here,  he  will  go  farther." 

Vronsky  saw  all  the  unpleasantness  of  this  affair,  and 
he  felt  that  a  duel  should  be  avoided,  and  that  every- 
thing should  be  done  to  make  the  titular  counselor  re- 
lent and  smooth  over  the  scandal.  The  regimental 
commander  had  summoned  him  because  he  knew  he 
was  a  shrewd  and  gentlemanly  man,  and  zealous  for  the 
interests  of  the  regiment.  They  had  talked  the  matter 
over  and  decided  that  Vronsky,  accompanied  by  Petrit- 
sky and  Kerdrof,  should  go  to  make  their  excuses  to 
the  titular  counselor.  The  regimental  commander  and 
Vronsky  both  realized  that  Vronsky's  name  and  his 
fliigel-adjutant's  monogram  ought  to  have  a  great  effect 
in  soothing  the  titular  counselor.  In  reality  these  two 
influences  proved  partially  efficacious,  but  the  results 
of  the  reconciliation  remained  in  doubt,  as  Vronsky 
said. 

When  he  reached  the  French  Theater,  Vronsky  took 
the  regimental  commander  into  the  lobby,  and  told  him 
of  his  success,  or  rather  lack  of  success.  After  reflec- 
tion the  regimental  commander  decided  to  leave  the 
matter  in  abeyance ;  but  afterward  he  began  to  ques- 
tion Vronsky  regarding  the  details  of  the  interview,  and 
he  could  not  help  laughing  as  he  heard  Vronsky  tell  how 
the  titular  counselor  kept  suddenly  flaming  out  in  wrath 
as  he  recalled  the  particulars  of  the  affair,  and  how 
Vronsky,  veering  round  at  the  last  mention  of  reconcili- 
ation, had  withdrawn,  pushing  Petritsky  before  him,  and 


lyi  ANNA    KARENINA 

his  repeated  attempts  to  bring  him  into  a  suitable  frame 
of  mind. 

"It  is  a  wretched  piece  of  business,  but  comical 
enough.  Kerdrof  cannot  fight  with  this  gentleman. 
Was  he  so  horribly  angry  ? "  he  asked,  laughing.  "  And 
how  do  you  like  Claire  this  evening.?  —  charming !" 
said  he,  referring  to  a  new  French  actress.  "  One  can't 
see  her  too  often ;  she  is  always  new.  Only  the  French 
can  do  that !  " 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Princess  Betsy  left  the  theater  without  waiting 
for  the  end  of  the  last  act.  She  had  scarcely  had  more 
than  time  enough,  after  reaching  home,  to  go  into  her 
dressing-room,  and  scatter  a  little  rice-powder  over  her 
long,  pale  face,  rearrange  her  toilet,  and  order  tea  to  be 
served  in  the  large  drawing-room,  when  the  carriages 
began  one  after  another  to  arrive  at  her  enormous  house 
on  the  Bolshaya  Morskaya.  The  guests  came  up  to  the 
wide  entrance,  and  a  portly  Swiss  who  during  the  morn- 
ing read  the  newspaper  for  the  edification  of  passers-by, 
as  he  sat  behind  the  glass  door,  now  kept  noiselessly 
opening  this  great  door  and  admitting  the  visitors. 
They  came  in  by  one  door  almost  at  the  same  instant 
that  by  another  came  the  mistress  of  the  mansion,  with 
renewed  color,  and  hair  rearranged.  The  walls  of  the 
great  drawing-room  were  hung  with  somber  draperies, 
and  on  the  floor  were  thick  rugs.  On  the  table,  which 
was  covered  with  a  cloth  of  dazzling  whiteness,  shining  in 
the  light  of  numberless  candles,  stood  a  silver  samovar 
and  a  tea-service  of  transparent  porcelain. 

The  princess  took  her  place  behind  the  samovar  and 
drew  off  her  gloves.  With  the  help  of  attentive  servants, 
the  guests  brought  up  chairs  and  took  their  places, 
dividing  into  two  camps,  the  one  around  the  princess, 
the  other  at  the  opposite  end  of  the  drawing-room 
around  the  wife  of  a  foreign  ambassador,  a  handsome 
lady,   dressed   in   black  velvet,  and   with   black,   well- 


ANNA    KARENINA  173 

defined  eyebrows.  The  conversation,  as  usual  at  the 
beginning  of  a  reception,  was  desultory,  being  inter- 
rupted by  the  arrival  of  newcomers,  offers  of  tea,  and 
the  exchange  of  salutations,  and  seemed  to  be  endeavor- 
ing to  find  a  common  subject  of  interest. 

"  She  is  remarkably  handsome  for  an  actress ;  you 
can  see  that  she  has  studied  Kaulbach,"  said  a  diploma- 
tist in  the  group  around  the  ambassador's  wife.  "  Did 
you  notice  how  she  fell .-'  "  .... 

"Akh  !  please  let  us  not  speak  of  Nilsson.  Nothing 
new  can  be  said  about  her,"  said  a  great  fat  lady,  with 
light  complexion,  without  either  eyebrows  or  cJiigiion, 
and  dressed  in  an  old  silk  gown.  This  was  the  Princess 
Miagkaya,  famous  for  her  simplicity  and  frightful  man- 
ners, and  surnamed  the  Enfant  terrible.  Princess  Miag- 
kaya was  seated  between  the  two  groups,  listening  to 
what  was  said  on  both  sides  of  her,  and  taking  impartial 
interest  in  both.  "This  very  day,  three  people  have 
made  that  same  remark  about  Kaulbach.  It  must  be 
fashionable.  I  don't  see  why  that  phrase  should  be  so 
successful." 

The  conversation  was  cut  short  by  this  remark,  and 
a  new  theme  had  to  be  started. 

"Tell  us  something  amusing,  but  don't  let  it  be 
naughty,"  said  the  ambassador's  wife,  who  was  a  mis- 
tress of  the  art  of  conversation  called,  by  the  English, 
small  talk.  She  was  addressing  the  diplomatist,  who 
was  at  a  loss  what  topic  to  start. 

"  They  say  this  is  very  hard,  that  only  naughty  things 
are  amusing,"  replied  the  diplomatist,  with  a  smile. 
"  However,  I  will  do  my  best.  Give  me  a  theme. 
Everything  depends  upon  the  theme.  When  you  get 
that  for  a  background,  you  can  easily  fill  it  in  with  em- 
broidery. I  often  think  that  the  celebrated  talkers  of 
the  past  would  be  exceedingly  embarrassed  if  they  were 
alive  now ;  everything  intellectual  is  considered  so 
dull.".... 

"That  was  said  long  ago,"  remarked  the  ambassa- 
dor's wife,  interrupting  him  with  a  smile. 

The  conversation  began   amiably,  and  for   the  very 


174  ANNA   KARENINA 

reason  that  it  was  too  amiable,  it  languished  again.  It 
was  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  an  unfailing,  never 
changing  subject — gossip. 

"Don't  you  think  that  there  is  something  Louis  XV. 
about  Tushkievitch  ? "  asked  he,  indicating  a  handsome, 
light-haired  young  man,  who  was  standing  near  the 
table. 

"  Oh,  yes  !  he 's  quite  in  the  style  of  the  drawing- 
room,  and  that  is  why  he  is  here  so  often." 

This  subject  sustained  the  conversation,  since  it 
consisted  wholly  of  hints  regarding  something  which 
could  not  be  treated  openly  in  that  drawing-room,  in 
other  words,  Tushkievitch's  relations  with  the  Princess 
Betsy. 

Around  the  samovar,  the  conversation  hesitated  for 
some  time  upon  three  inevitable  subjects, — the  news 
of  the  day,  the  theater,  and  a  lawsuit  which  was  to  be 
tried  the  next  day.  At  last  the  same  subject  arose  that 
was  occupying  the  other  group  —  gossip. 

"Have  you  heard  that  Maltishcheva — that  is,  the 
mother,  not  the  daughter — has  had  a  costume  in  dia- 
ble  rose?" 

"  Is  it  possible  ?     No  !     That  is  delicious." 

"  I  am  astonished  that  with  her  sense,  —  for  she  is 
certainly  not  stupid,  —  she  does  not  perceive  how  ridic- 
ulous she  is." 

Every  one  found  something  in  which  to  criticize  and 
tear  to  pieces  the  unfortunate  Madame  Maltishcheva ; 
and  the  conversation  grew  lively,  brilliant,  and  gay, 
like  a  flaming  pyre. 

The  Princess  Betsy's  husband,  a  tall,  good-natured 
man,  a  passionate  collector  of  engravings,  hearing  that 
his  wife  had  guests,  came  into  the  drawing-room  before 
going  to  his  club,  and  desired  to  show  himself  in  her 
circle.  Noiselessly,  on  the  thick  carpet,  he  approached 
the  Princess  Miagkaya. 

"  How  did  you  like  Nilsson  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Akh !  Do  you  steal  in  upon  a  body  that  way  > 
How  you  startled  me !  "  she  cried.  "  Don't  speak  to 
me  about  the  opera,  I  beg  of  you ;  you  don't  know  any 


ANNA    KARENINA  175 

thing  about  music.  I  prefer  to  descend  to  your  level 
and  talk  with  you  about  your  engravings  and  majolicas. 
Well !     What  treasures  have  you  discovered  lately  .''  " 

"  If  you  would  like,  I  will  show  them  to  you  ;  but  you 
are  no  judge  of  them." 

"  Show  them  to  me  all  the  same.  I  am  getting  my 
education  among  these  —  bankers,  as  you  call  them. 
They  have  lovely  engravings.  They  like  to  show 
them." 

"Have  you  been  at  the  Schiitzburgs' .''"  asked  the 
mistress  of  the  house,  from  her  place  by  the  samovar. 

"Certainly,  ma  chkre.  They  invited  my  husband  and 
me  to  dinner,  and  they  told  me  that  the  sauce  at  this 
dinner  cost  a  thousand  rubles,"  replied  the  Princess 
Miagkaya,  in  a  loud  voice,  conscious  that  all  were  lis- 
tening to  her;  "and  it  was  a  very  poor  sauce,  too, — 
something  green.  I  had  to  return  the  compliment, 
and  I  got  them  up  a  sauce  that  cost  eighty-five  kopeks,^ 
and  all  were  satisfied.  I  can't  make  thousand-ruble 
sauces ! " 

"  She  is  unique,"  said  the  hostess. 

"Astonishing,"  said  another. 

The  Princess  Miagkaya  never  failed  of  making  her 
speeches  effective,  and  the  secret  of  their  effectiveness 
lay  in  the  fact  that,  although  she  did  not  always  select 
suitable  occasions,  as  was  the  case  at  the  present  time, 
yet  she  spoke  simply  and  sensibly.  In  the  society 
where  she  moved,  what  she  said  gave  the  effect  of  the 
most  subtle  wit.  She  could  not  comprehend  why  it 
had  such  an  effect,  but  she  recognized  the  fact,  and 
took  advantage  of  it. 

While  the  Princess  Miagkaya  was  speaking,  all  lis- 
tened to  her,  and  the  conversation  around  the  ambas- 
sador's wife  stopped  ;  so  the  hostess,  wishing  to  make 
the  conversation  more  united,  turned  to  the  ambassa- 
dor's wife  and  said  :  — 

"  Are  you  sure  that  you  will  not  have  some  tea  ? 
Then  please  join  us." 

"  No  ;  we  are  very  well  where  we  are,  in  this  corner,' 

*  One  ruble,  or  one  hundred  kopeks,  is  worth  eighty  cents. 


176  ANNA    KARENINA 

replied  the  ambassador's  wife,  with  a  smile,  resuming  the 
thread  of  a  conversation  which  interested  her  very  deeply. 

They  were  criticizing  Karenin  and  his  wife. 

"  Anna  is  very  much  changed  since  her  return  from 
Moscow.  There  is  something  strange  about  her,"  said 
one  of  her  friends. 

"The  change  is  due  to  the  fact  that  she  brought 
back  in  her  train  the  shadow  of  Aleksei  Vronsky,"  said 
the  ambassador's  wife. 

"  What  is  that  ?  There 's  a  story  in  Grimm  —  a  man 
without  a  shadow  —  a  man  deprived  of  his  shadow.  It 
was  a  punishment  for  something  or  other.  I  cannot  see 
where  the  punishment  lies,  but  it  must  be  disagreeable 
for  a  woman  to  be  without  her  shadow." 

"  Yes,  but  the  women  who  have  shadows  generally 
come  to  some  bad  end,"  said  Anna's  friend. 

"  Hold  your  tongues  !  "  ^  cried  the  Princess  Miagkaya, 
as  she  heard  these  words.  "Madame  Karenina  is  a 
charming  woman  ;  I  don't  like  her  husband,  but  I  like  her." 

"Why  don't  you  like  her  husband.-"'  asked  the  am- 
bassador's wife.  "  He  is  such  a  remarkable  man.  My 
husband  says  there  are  few  statesmen  in  Europe  equal 
to  him." 

"  My  husband  says  the  same  thing,  but  I  don't  be- 
lieve it,"  replied  the  Princess  Miagkaya.  "  If  our  hus- 
bands had  not  had  this  idea,  we  should  have  seen  Alekseif 
Aleksandrovitch  as  he  really  is  ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  he 

is  a  blockhead,      I  only  say  this  in  a  whisper Is  it 

not  true  how  everything  comes  out  clearly.'*  Formerly 
when  I  was  told  that  he  was  clever  I  used  to  try  to  dis- 
cover it,  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  was  stupid 
because  I  could  not  see  wherein  he  was  clever ;  but  as 
soon  as  I  said  to  myself, — under  my  breath,  —  he  is 
stupid,  all  was  explained.     Is  n't  that  so  ? " 

"  How  severe  you  are  to-night !  " 

"  Not  at  all,  I  have  no  other  alternative.  One  of  us 
two  is  stupid.  Now  you  know  that  one  can  never  say 
such  a  thing  of  oneself." 

1  Tipun  vam  na  yazuik !  A  slang  expression,  meaning  literally, 
"  May  your  tongue  have  the  pip  1 " 


ANNA    KARENINA  177 

"  No  one  is  satisfied  with  his  circumstances,  and  every 
one  is  satisfied  with  his  brain,"  said  a  diplomat,  quoting 
a  French  couplet. 

"  There,  that  is  the  very  thing,"  exclaimed  the  Prin- 
cess Miagkay  a  turning  to  him,  "but  I  make  an  exception 
of  Anna.  She  is  so  lovely  and  good.  Is  it  her  fault 
if  all  men  fall  in  love  with  her  and  follow  her  like 
shadows .-' " 

"Well!  I  do  not  allow  myself  to  judge  her,"  said 
Anna's  friend,  justifying  herself. 

"Because  no  one  follows  us  like  a  shadow,  it  does 
not  prove  that  we  have  the  right  to  judge." 

Having  thus  appropriately  disposed  of  Anna's  friend, 
the  Princess  Miagkaya  arose,  and  with  the  ambassador's 
wife  drew  up  to  the  table,  and  joined  in  the  general 
conversation  about  some  trifle.^ 

"  Whom  have  you  been  gossiping  about  ? "  asked 
Betsy. 

"  About  the  Karenins.  The  princess  has  been  pictur- 
ing Alekser  Aleksandrovitch,"  replied  the  ambassador's 
wife,  sitting  down  near  the  table,  with  a  smile. 

"Shame  that  we  could  not  have  heard  it,"  said  Betsy, 
looking  toward  the  door.  "Ah  !  here  you  are  at  last," 
said  she,  turning  to  Vronsky,  who  at  that  moment 
came  in. 

Vronsky  knew,  and  met  every  day,  all  the  people 
whom  he  found  collected  in  his  cousin's  drawing-room  ; 
therefore  he  came  in  with  the  calmness  of  a  man  who 
rejoins  friends  from  whom  he  has  only  just  parted. 

"  Where  have  I  come  from  .-' "  said  he,  in  reply  to  a 
question  from  the  ambassador's  wife.  "  What  can  I  do  .-* 
I  must  confess, — from  Les  Bouffes.  'Tis  for  the  hun- 
dredth time,  and  always  with  a  new  pleasure.  It  is 
charming.  It  is  humiliating,  I  know,  but  I  get  sleepy  at 
the  opera ;  but  at  Les  Boiiffes  I  sit  it  out  up  to  the  very 
last  minute  and  enjoy  it.     To-night ....  " 

He  mentioned  a  French  actress,  and  was  going  to  tell 
some  story  about  her,  but  the  ambassador's  wife  stopped 
him  with  an  expression  of  mock  terror. 

^  Literally,  "  about  the  king  of  Prussia." 
VOL.1. —  12 


lyS  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Please  don't  speak  to  us  of  that  fright !  " 

"Well !  I  will  not,  and  the  more  willingly  because  you 

all  know  these  frights." 

"  And  you  would  all  go  there  if  it  were  as  fashionable 

as  the  opera,"  added  the  Princess  Miagkaya. 


CHAPTER   VII 

Steps  were  heard  near  the  door,  and  the  Princess 
Betsy,  knowing  that  it  was  Madame  Karenina,  looked 
at  Vronsky.  He  was  looking  toward  the  door,  and  his  face 
had  a  strange,  new  expression.  Joyfully,  expectantly, 
and  almost  timidly  he  gazed  at  Anna  as  she  entered, 
and  he  rose  slowly.  Anna  came  into  the  drawing-room, 
as  always  holding  herself  very  erect  and  looking  neither 
to  right  nor  to  left.  She  crossed  the  short  distance  be- 
tween her  and  the  hostess,  with  that  rapid,  light,  but 
decided  step  which  distinguished  her  from  all  the  other 
women  of  this  circle.  She  went  directly  up  to  Betsy, 
and  shook  hands  with  a  smile,  and  with  the  same  smile 
she  looked  at  Vronsky,  He  bowed  low  and  offered  her 
a  chair. 

She  responded  only  by  bending  her  head  a  little,  and 
blushed,  and  frowned.  But  instantly  she  was  nodding 
to  her  acquaintances  and  shaking  hands ;  then  she 
turned  to  Betsy  :  — 

"  I  have  been  at  the  Countess  Lidya's  ;  I  wanted  to 
get  away  earlier,  but  I  was  detained.  Sir  John  was 
there.     He  is  very  interesting." 

"  Oh,  that  missionary  ?  " 

"Yes;  he  related  many  very  curious  things  about 
life  in  India." 

The  conversation,  which  Anna's  entrance  had  inter- 
rupted, again  wavered,  like  the  flame  of  a  lamp  in  a 
draught. 

i  "Sir  John!  yes,  Sir  John!  I  have  seen  him.  He 
speaks  well.  The  Vlasieva  is  actually  in  love  with 
him  ! " 


ANNA   KARENINA  179 

*  Is  it  true  that  the  youngest  Vlasieva  is  going  to 
marry  Topof  ? " 

"Yes  ;  people  say  that  it  is  fully  decided." 

"  I  am  astonished  at  her  parents.  They  say  that  it  is 
a  love-match." 

"  A  love-match  .■*  What  antediluvian  ideas  you  have  ! 
Who  speaks  of  love  in  our  days  .'' "  said  the  ambassador's 
wife. 

"What  is  to  be  done  about  it  ?  That  foolish  old  cus- 
tom has  not  entirely  gone  out  of  date,"  said  Vronsky. 

"  So  much  the  worse  for  those  who  adhere  to  it ;  the 
only  happy  marriages  that  I  know  about  are  those  of 
reason." 

"Yes  ;  but  how  often  it  happens  that  these  marriages 
of  reason  break  like  ropes  of  sand,  precisely  because  of 
this  love  which  you  affect  to  scorn  ! "  said  Vronsky. 

"  But  what  we  call  a  marriage  of  reason  is  where  both 
parties  take  an  equal  risk.  It  is  like  scarlatina,  through 
which  we  all  must  pass." 

"  In  that  case  it  would  be  wise  to  find  an  artificial 
means  of  inoculation  for  love,  as  for  small-pox." 

"  When  I  was  young  I  fell  in  love  with  a  sacristan ;  I 
should  like  to  know  what  good  that  did  me !  "  said  the 
Princess  Miagkaya. 

"  No  ;  but,  jesting  aside,  I  believe  that  to  know  what 
love  really  is,  one  must  have  been  deceived  once,  and 
then  been  set  right,"  said  the  Princess  Betsy. 

"  Even  after  marriage  ?  "  asked  the  ambassador's  wife, 
laughing. 

"  It  is  never  too  late  to  mend,"  said  the  diplomatist, 
quoting  the  English  proverb. 

"But  really,"  interrupted  Betsy,  "you  must  be  de- 
ceived, so  as  afterwards  to  get  into  the  right  path. 
What  do  you  think  about  this.''"  said  she,  addressing 
Anna,  who  was  listening  silently  to  the  conversation 
with  a  scarcely  perceptible  smile  on  her  firm  lips. 

"  I  think,"  said  Anna,  playing  with  her  glove,  which 
she  had  removed,  "I  think....  if  there  are  as  many 
opinions  as  there  are  heads,  then  there  are  as  many 
ways  of  loving  as  there  are  hearts." 


i8o  ANNA   KARENINA 

Vronsky  looked  at  her,  and  with  a  violent  beating  of 
the  heart  waited  for  her  answer ;  after  she  had  spoken 
those  words  he  drew  a  deep  breath,  as  if  he  had  escaped 
some  danger. 

She  turned  suddenly  to  Vronsky. 

"  I  have  just  had  a  letter  from  Moscow.  They  write 
me  that  Kitty  Shcherbatskaya  is  very  ill." 

"  Really,"  said  Vronsky,  with  a  frown. 

Anna  looked  at  him  with  a  severe  expression. 

"  Does  n't  that  interest  you  } " 

"  It  certainly  does.  I  am  very  sorry.  Exactly  what 
did  they  write  you,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  inquire } " 

Anna  arose  and  went  to  Betsy. 

"  Will  you  give  me  a  cup  of  tea  ? "  she  said,  standing 
behind  her  chair.  While  Betsy  was  pouring  the  tea, 
Vronsky  went  to  Anna. 

"  What  did  they  write  you  } " 

"  I  often  think  that  men  do  not  know  what  nobility 
means,  though  they  are  all  the  time  talking  about  it," 
said  Anna,  not  answering  his  question. 

**  I  have  been  wanting  to  tell  you  for  a  long  time," 
she  added,  and  taking  a  few  steps  she  sat  down  at  a 
corner  table  laden  with  albums. 

"  I  don't  quite  know  what  your  words  mean,"  he  said, 
offering  her  a  cup  of  tea. 

She  glanced  at  the  divan  near  her,  and  he  instantly 
sat  down  on  it. 

"Yes,  I  have  been  wanting  ,Jo  tell  you,"  she  con- 
tinued, without  looking  at  him.  "You  have  acted 
badly,  —  very  badly." 

"Don't  I  know  that  I  have?  But  whose  fault  was 
it?" 

"Why  do  you  say  that  to  me?"  said  she,  with  a 
severe  look. 

"You  know  why,"  he  replied  boldly  and  joyously, 
meeting  her  gaze,  and  without  dropping  his  eyes. 

She,  not  he,  felt  confused. 

"This  simply  proves  that  you  have  no  heart,"  said 
she.  But  her  eyes  told  the  story,  that  she  knew  that 
he  had  a  heart,  and  that  therefore  she  feared  him. 


ANNA   KARENINA  i8i 

"What  you  were  talking  about  just  now  was  error, 
not  love." 

"  Remember  that  I  have  forbidden  you  to  speak  that 
word,  that  hateful  word,"  said  Anna,  trembling;  and 
instantly  she  felt  that  by  the  use  of  that  one  word 
"forbidden,"  she  recognized  a  certain  jurisdiction  over 
him,  and  thus  encouraged  him  to  speak  of  love.  "  For 
a  long  time  I  have  been  wanting  to  say  this  to  you," 
she  continued,  looking  steadily  into  his  eyes,  and  all 
aflame  with  the  color  that  burned  in  her  face.  "  I  have 
come  to-night  on  purpose,  knowing  that  I  should  find 
you  here  ;  I  have  come  to  tell  you  this  must  come  to  an 
end.  I  have  never  had  to  blush  before  any  one  before, 
and  you  somehow  cause  me  to  feel  guilty  in  my  own 
eyes." 

He  looked  at  her,  and  was  struck  with  the  new  spiri- 
tual beauty  of  her  face. 

"  What  do  you  want  me  to  do  .■* "  said  he,  simply  and 
gravely. 

"  I  want  you  to  go  to  Moscow,  and  beg  Kitty's 
pardon." 

"  You  do  not  want  that,"  said  he. 

He  saw  that  she  was  compelling  herself  to  say  one 
thing,  while  she  really  desired  something  else. 

"  If  you  love  me,  as  you  say  you  do,"  she  murmured, 
"  then  do  what  will  give  me  peace  !  " 

Vronsky's  face  lighted  up. 

"  Don't  you  know  that  you  are  my  life  ?  But  I  don't 
know  what  peace  means,  and  I  can't  give  it  to  you. 
Myself,  my  love,  I  can  give — ^yes,  I  cannot  think  of  you 
and  of  myself  separately.  For  me,  you  and  I  are  one. 
I  see  no  hope  of  peace  for  you  or  for  me  in  the  future. 
I  see  the  possibility  of  despair,  of  misfortune,  —  unless  I 
see  the  possibility  of  happiness,  and  what  happiness  ! ..., 
Is  it  really  impossible  ?  "  he  murmured,  with  his  lips  only, 
but  she  heard  him. 

She  directed  all  the  forces  of  her  mind  to  say  what 
she  ought ;  but,  instead  of  that,  she  looked  at  him  with 
love  in  her  eyes,  and  said  nothing. 

"  Ah  ! "  he  thought,  with  rapture,  "at  the  very  moment 


i82  ANNA   KARENINA 

when  I  was  in  despair,  when  it  seemed  I  should  never 
succeed,  it  has  come  !    She  loves  me  !    She  confesses  it." 

"  Then  do  this  for  me,  and  never  speak  to  me  in  this 
way  again ;  let  us  be  good  friends,"  said  her  words  :  her 
eyes  told  a  totally  different  story. 

"  We  can  never  be  mere  friends ;  you  yourself  know 
it.  Shall  we  be  the  most  miserable,  or  the  happiest,  of 
human  beings  ?     It  is  for  you  to  decide." 

She  began  to  speak,  but  he  interrupted  her. 

"You  see  I  ask  only  one  thing,  the  right  of  hoping 
and  suffering,  as  I  do  now ;  if  it  is  impossible,  order  me 
to  disappear,  and  I  will  disappear ;  you  shall  not  see  me 
if  my  presence  is  painful  to  you." 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  drive  you  away." 

"Then  change  nothing;  let  things  go  as  they  are," 
said  he,  with  trembling  voice.     "  Here  is  your  husband  !  " 

Indeed,  Alekse'f  Aleksandrovitch  at  that  instant  was 
entering  the  drawing-room,  with  his  calm  face  and  awk- 
ward gait. 

Glancing  at  his  wife  and  Vronsky,  he  went  first  to  the 
hostess,  and  then  he  sat  down  with  a  cup  of  tea,  and  in 
his  slow  and  well-modulated  voice,  in  his  habitual  tone 
of  persiflage,  which  seemed  always  to  deride  some  one 
or  something,  he  said,  as  he  glanced  around  at  the 
assembly :  — 

"  Your  Rarabouillet  is  complete,  —  the  Graces  and 
the  Muses ! " 

But  the  Princess  Betsy  could  not  endure  this  "  sneer- 
ing" tone  of  his,  as  she  called  it,  —  and,  like  a  clever 
hostess,  quickly  brought  him  round  to  a  serious  discus- 
sion of  the  forced  conscription.  Aleksef  Aleksandro- 
vitch immediately  entered  into  it,  and  began  gravely  to 
defend  the  new  ukase  against  Betsy's  attacks. 

Vronsky  and  Anna  still  sat  near  their  little  table. 

"  That  is  getting  rather  pronounced,"  said  a  lady,  in  a 
whisper,  indicating  with  her  eyes  Karenin,  Anna,  and 
Vronsky. 

"  What  did  I  tell  you  > "  said  Anna's  friend. 

Not  only  these  ladies,  but  nearly  all  who  were  in  the 
drawing-room,  even  the  Princess  Miagkaya  and  Betsy 


ANNA    KARENINA  183 

herself,  glanced  more  than  once  at  them  sitting  apart 
from  the  general  company,  as  if  it  disturbed  them. 
Only  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  never  once  looked  in 
their  direction,  and  was  not  diverted  from  the  interest- 
ing conversation  on  which  he  had  started. 

Betsy,  perceiving  the  disagreeable  impression  that  all 
felt,  substituted  some  one  else  in  her  place  to  listen  to 
Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  and  crossed  over  to  Anna. 

"  I  always  admire  your  husband's  clear  and  explicit  lan- 
guage," she  said.  "The  most  transcendental  thoughts 
seem  within  my  reach  when  he  speaks." 

"  Oh,  yes ! "  said  Anna,  with  a  radiant  smile  of  joy, 
and  not  understanding  a  word  that  Betsy  had  said. 
Then  she  went  over  to  the  large  table,  and  joined  in 
the  general  conversation. 

After  he  had  stayed  half  an  hour  Aleksef  Aleksandro- 
vitch spoke  to  his  wife  and  proposed  to  her  that  they 
should  go  home  together ;  but  she  answered,  without 
booking  at  him,  that  she  wished  to  remain  to  supper. 
Alekser  Aleksandrovitch  took  leave  of  the  company  and 
departed. 

Madame  Karenina's  coachman,  a  portly  old  Tatar, 
in  his  lacquered  leather  coat,  was  having  some  difficulty 
in  restraining  his  left-hand  gray,  which  was  excited  with 
the  cold.  A  lackey  stood  holding  open  the  carriage 
door.  The  Swiss  was  standing  ready  to  open  the  outer 
door ;  Anna,  Arkadyevna  was  listening  with  ecstasy  to 
what  Vronsky  whispered,  while  she  was  freeing,  with 
nervous  fingers,  the  lace  of  her  sleeve,  which  had  caught 
on  the  hook  of  her  fur  cloak. 

"  You  have  said  nothing,  let  us  admit,  and  I  make  no 
claim,"  Vronsky  was  saying,  as  he  accompanied  her 
down,  "  but  you  know  that  it  is  not  friendship  that  I 
ask  fbr ;  for  me,  the  only  possible  happiness  of  my  life 
is  contained  in  that  word  that  you  do  not  like .... 
love." 

"  Love ...."  she  repeated  slowly,  as  if  she  had  spoken 
to  herself;  then  suddenly,  as  she  disentangled  her  lace, 
she  said,  "  I  do  not  like  this  word,  because  it  means  too 


i84  ANNA    KARENINA 

much,  far  more  than  you  can  imagine,"  and  she  looked 
hirh  full  in  the  face.     "  Da  svidanya  i  "  ^ 

She  reached  him  her  hand,  and,  with  a  quick  elastic 
step,  passed  the  Swiss,  and  disappeared  in  her  carriage. 

Her  look,  her  pressure  of  his  hand,  filled  Vronsky 
with  passion.  He  kissed  the  palm  on  the  place  which 
she  had  touched,  and  went  home  with  the  happy  convic- 
tion that  that  evening  had  brought  him  nearer  to  the 
goal  of  which  he  dreamed,  than  all  the  two  months  past. 

CHAPTER   Vni 

AlekseV  Aleksandrovitch  found  nothing  unusual 
or  improper  in  the  fact  that  his  wife  and  Vronsky  had 
been  sitting  by  themselves  and  having  a  rather  lively 
talk  together ;  he  noticed  that  to  others  in  the  drawing- 
room  it  seemed  unusual  and  improper,  and  therefore  it 
seemed  to  him  also  improper.  He  decided  that  he 
ought  to  speak  about  it  to  his  wife. 

When  he  reached  home,  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  ac- 
cording to  his  usual  custom,  went  to  his  library,  threw 
himself  into  his  arm-chair,  and  opened  his  book  at  the 
place  marked  by  a  paper-cutter,  in  an  article  on  Papistry, 
and  read  till  the  clock  struck  one,  as  he  usually  did. 
From  time  to  time  he  passed  his  hand  across  his  high 
forehead,  and  shook  his  head,  as  if  to  drive  away  an  im- 
portunate thought.  At  his  usual  hour  he  arose  and  he 
prepared  to  go  to  bed.  Anna  Arkadyevna  had  not  yet 
returned.  With  his  book  under  his  arm,  he  went  up- 
stairs ;  but  that  evening,  instead  of  pursuing  his  usual 
train  of  reflections  and  thinking  over  his  governmental 
duties,  his  mind  was  occupied  with  his  wife  and  the  dis- 
agreeable impression  which  her  behavior  had  caused  him. 
Contrary  to  his  habit,  instead  of  going  to  bed  he  walked 
up  and  down  the  rooms  with  his  arms  behind  his  Back. 
He  could  not  go  to  bed  because  he  felt  that  first  it  was 
incumbent  on  him  to  ponder  anew  over  the  exigency 
that  had  arisen. 

1  Da  svidanya,  like  au  revoir  or  aufviieder'sehen,  has  no  equivalent  in 
English. 


ANNA   KARENINA  185 

When  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  made  up  his  mind 
that  he  must  have  a  talk  with  his  wife,  it  seemed 
to  him  very  simple  and  natural ;  but  now,  as  he  re- 
flected, it  occurred  to  him  that  the  matter  was  com- 
plicated and  perplexing. 

Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch  was  not  jealous.  Jealousy 
in  his  opinion  was  insulting  to  a  wife,  and  a  husband 
should  trust  in  her.  But  he  did  not  ask  himself  why 
one  should  trust  her,  that  is  to  say,  why  a  man  should 
expect  a  young  wife  always  to  love  him. 

But  he  had  not  felt  any  lack  of  confidence  simply 
because  he  trusted  her,  and  said  to  himself  that  it  was 
the  proper  thing  to  do.  But  now,  although  it  was  his 
conviction  that  jealousy  is  a  disgusting  state  of  mind, 
and  that  it  was  his  duty  to  trust  his  wife  and  that  his 
faith  was  still  intact,  yet  he  felt  that  he  was  placed  in 
an  illogical  and  ridiculous  position,  and  he  knew  not 
what  he  ought  to  do. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  was  now  standing  face  to 
face  with  life,  with  the  possibility  that  his  wife  was  in 
love  with  some  one  else  besides  him,  and  this  seemed 
to  him  very  senseless  and  incomprehensible,  because 
it  was  life  itself.  All  his  life  he  had  lived  and  labored 
in  a  round  of  official  duties  concerned  with  the  reflec- 
tions of  life.  And  whenever  he  came  in  contact  with 
life  itself  he  was  revolted  by  it.  Now  he  experienced 
a  sensation  such  as  a  man  feels,  who,  passing  calmly 
over  a  bridge  above  a  precipice,  suddenly  discovers  that 
the  arch  is  broken,  and  that  the  abyss  yawns  beneath  his 
feet. 

This  abyss  was  actual  life  ;  the  bridge  —  the  artifi- 
cial life  which  he  had  been  living.  The  idea  that  his 
wife  could  love  another  man  occurred  to  him  for  the 
first  time,  and  filled  him  with  terror. 

Without  undressing,  he  kept  walking  back  and  forth 
with  regular  steps  :  over  the  echoing  parquetry  floor  of  the 
dining-room  lighted  with  a  single  burner  ;  over  the  carpet 
of  the  dark  drawing-room,  where  the  light  fell  on  his 
recently  painted  full-length  portrait,  over  the  divan  ;  and 
then  through  his  wife's  boudoir,  where  two  candles  were 


i86  ANNA   KARENINA 

burning,  lighting  up  the  portraits  of  parents  and  friends, 
and  the  pretty  trinkets  upon  her  writing-table,  so  long 
familiar  to  him.  When  he  reached  the  door  of  her  bed- 
room he  turned  and  went  back. 

At  the  end  of  each  turn  in  his  pacing  back  and  forth, 
and  especially  on  the  hard-wood  floor  of  his  brightly 
lighted  dining-room,  he  would  stop  and  say  to  himself:  — 

"  Yes,  this  must  certainly  be  cut  short ;  it  must  be 
decided ;  I  must  tell  her  my  way  of  looking  at  it !  " 

And  then  he  would  turn  back  again. 

"But  what  can  I  say.?  what  decision  can  I  make.'" 
he  would  ask  himself  by  the  time  he  reached  the  draw- 
ing-room, and  find  no  answer. 

•'  But,  after  all,"  he  would  say,  as  he  turned  in  the 
library,  "what  has  been  done  .-•  Nothing.  She  had  a 
long  talk  with  him.  What  of  that }  But  whom  does 
not  a  society  woman  talk  with.?  To  be  jealous  is  de^ 
grading  both  her  and  me,"  he  would  say  to  himself  as 
he  reached  her  boudoir.  But  this  reasoning,  which  had 
hitherto  had  such  weight,  had  now  lost  its  cogency. 

From  the  door  of  her  sleeping-room  he  returned  again 
to  the  hall,  but,  as  he  crossed  fhe  dark  drawing-room, 
he  thought  he  heard  a  voice  saying  to  him,  "  It  is  not 
so !  the  fact  that  the  others  noticed  this  signifies  that 
there  must  be  something  in  it."  — And  by  the  time  he 
reached  the  dining-room  again  he  was  saying,  "  Yes,  the 
thing  must  be  decided,  and  broken  short  off."  And 
once  more  in  the  drawing-room,  just  before  he  turned 
about,  he  would  ask  himself  :  — 

"  How  can  I  decide  ?     How  can  I  tell  her.?" 

And  then  he  would  ask  himself,  "What  had  hap- 
pened.?" and  reply,  "Nothing,"  and  remember  that 
jealousy  is  a  feeling  degrading  to  a  woman  ;  but  again 
in  the  drawing-room  he  would  feel  persuaded  that  some- 
thing had  happened. 

His  thoughts,  like  his  steps,  followed  the  same  circle, 
and  he  struck  no  new  idea.  He  recognized  this,  rubbed 
his  forehead,  and  sat  down  in  her  boudoir. 

There,  as  he  looked  at  her  table,  with  its  malachite 
writing-tablet,  and  a  letter  unfinished,  his  thoughts  took 


ANNA   KARENINA  tSj 

another  direction ;  he  began  to  think  of  her,  and  how 
she  would  feel.  His  imagination  vividly  showed  him 
her  personal  life,  her  thoughts,  and  her  desires  ;  and  the 
idea  that  she  might,  that  she  must,  have  her  individual 
life  apart  from  his,  seemed  to  him  so  terrible,  that  he 
hastened  to  put  it  out  of  his  mind. 

This  was  the  abyss  which  it  was  so  dreadful  for  him 
to  gaze  into.  To  penetrate  by  thought  and  feeling  into 
the  soul  of  another  was  a  psychical  effort  strange  to 
Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch.  He  considered  it  a  pernicious 
and  dangerous  mental  habit. 

"And  what  is  most  terrible,"  he  said  to  himself,  "is 
that  this  senseless  uncertainty  comes  on  me  just  as  I 
am  about  to  bring  my  work  to  completion,"  —  he  re- 
ferred to  a  scheme  which  he  was  at  that  time  managing, 
—  "  and  when  I  need  perfect  freedom  from  agitation 
and  all  my  mental  powers.  What  is  to  be  done  .-*  I  am 
not  one  of  those  men  who  can  endure  agitation  and 
annoyance  and  have  the  strength  of  mind  to  face  them." 

"  I  must  reflect ;  I  must  take  some  stand  and  get  rid 
of  this  annoyance,"  he  added  aloud.  "I  do  not  admit 
that  I  have  any  right  to  probe  into  her  feelings,  or  to 
scrutinize  what  is  going  on  in  her  heart ;  that  belongs 
to  her  conscience,  and  comes  into  the  domain  of  relig- 
ion," he  said  to  himself,  feeling  some  consolation  that 
he  had  found  a  domain  of  law  applicable  to  the  circum- 
stances that  had  arisen. 

"  So,"  he  continued,  "  the  questions  relating  to  her 
feelings  and  the  like  are  questions  of  conscience,  in 
which  I  have  no  concern.  My  duty  lies  clearly  before 
me.  As  head  of  my  family,  I  am  bound  to  guide  her, 
and  therefore,  to  a  certain  degree,  I  am  responsible.  I 
must  point  out  the  danger  which  I  see ;  I  must  watch 
over  her,  and  even  use  my  powers.     I  must  speak  to  her." 

And  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  formulated  in  his  mind 
everything  that  he  should  say  to  his  wife.  While  he 
was  thinking  it  over  he  regretted  the  necessity  of  wast- 
ing his  time  and  his  intellectual  powers  in  family  matters. 
But,  in  spite  of  him,  his  plan  assumed,  in  his  thought, 
the  clear,  precise,  and  logical  form  of  a  report :  — 


i88  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  I  must  make  her  understand  as  follows  :  First,  The 
meaning  and  importance  of  public  opinion  and  deco- 
rum ;  Secondly,  The  religious  significance  of  marriage  ; 
Thirdly,  if  necessary.  The  unhappiness  which  it  might 
cause  her  son  ;  Fourthly,  The  unhappiness  which  might 
befall  herself." 

And  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  twisted  his  fingers  to- 
gether, palms  down,  and  made  the  joints  crack. 

This  gesture,  of  joining  his  hands  and  stretching  his 
finger-joints,  — a  bad  habit,  —  calmed  him,  and  conduced 
to  the  precision  of  which  he  now  stood  in  such  need. 

A  carriage  was  heard  driving  up  to  the  house.  Alek- 
sef Aleksandrovitch  stopped  in  the  middle  of  the  hall. 
He  heard  his  wife's  step  on  the  stairway.  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch  had  his  sermon  all  ready ;  but  still  he 
stood  there,  squeezing  his  crossed  fingers  and  trying  to 
make  the  joints  crack.     One  joint  cracked. 

Even  as  he  heard  her  light  steps  on  the  stairs  he  was 
conscious  of  her  presence,  and,  though  he  was  satisfied 
with  his  sermon,  he  dreaded  the  explanation  that  was 
imminent 


CHAPTER    IX 

Anna  entered  with  bent  head,  playing  with  the  tas- 
sels of  her  bashluik  or  Turkish  hood.  Her  face  shone 
with  a  bright  glow,  but  this  bright  glow  did  not  betoken 
joy  ;  it  reminded  one  of  the  terrible  glow  of  a  confla- 
gration against  a  midnight  sky.  When  she  saw  her 
husband,  she  raised  her  head  and  smiled,  as  if  she  had 
awakened  from  a  dream. 

"  You  are  not  abed  yet }  what  a  miracle  !  "  she  said, 
taking  off  her  bashluik ;  and,  without  pausing,  she  went 
into  her  dressing-room,  crying,  "  It  is  late,  Aleksei 
Aleksandrovitch,"  as  she  got  to  the  door. 

"Anna,  I  must  have  a  talk  with  you." 

"With  me.''"  she  said,  in  astonishment,  coming  out 
into  the  hall,  and  looking  at  him.  "What  is  it  "i  What 
about  1 "  she  asked,  and  sat  down.     "  Well,  let  us  talk, 


ANNA    KARENINA  189 

then,  if  it  is  so  necessary ;  but  I  would  much  rather  go 
to  sleep." 

Anna  said  what  came  to  her  tongue,  and  was  aston- 
ished to  hear  herself,  astonished  at  her  own  facility  at 
telling  a  lie.  How  perfectly  natural  her  words  sounded, 
and  how  probable  that  she  wanted  to  go  to  sleep ;  she 
felt  herself  clad  in  an  impenetrable  armor  of  falsehood. 
She  felt  that  some  invisible  power  assisted  her  and  sus- 
tained her. 

"Anna,  I  must  give  you  a  warning." 

"  A  warning  ? "  she  exclaimed  ;  "  why .? " 

She  looked  at  him  so  innocently,  so'gayly,  that  any 
one  who  did  not  know  her  as  her  husband  did  would 
have  noticed  nothing  unnatural  either  in  the  tone  of  her 
voice  or  in  the  meaning  of  what  she  said.  But  for  him, 
who  knew  her,  who  knew  that  when  he  was  five  minutes 
later  than  usual  she  always  remarked  on  it,  and  asked 
the  reason,  for  him  who  knew  that  her  first  impulse  was 
always  to  tell  him  of  her  pleasures  and  her  sorrows,  for 
him  now  to  see  the  fact  that  Anna  took  special  pains 
not  to  observe  his  agitation,  that  she  took  special  pains 
not  to  say  a  word  about  herself,  all  this  was  very  sig- 
nificant. He  saw  that  the  depths  of  her  soul,  hitherto 
always  opened  to  his  gaze,  were  now  shut  away  from  him. 
Moreover,  by  her  tone  he  perceived  that  she  was  not 
confused  by  this ;  but  as  it  were  she  said  openly  and  with- 
out dissimulation,  "  Yes,  I  am  a  sealed  book,  and  so  it 
must  be,  and  will  be  from  henceforth." 

He  felt  as  a  man  would  who  should  come  home  and 
find  his  house  barricaded  against  him. 

"  Perhaps  the  key  will  yet  be  found,"  thought  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch. 

"  I  want  to  warn  you,"  said  he,  in  a  gentle  voice, 
"  lest  by  your  imprudence  and  your  thoughtlessness 
you  give  people  cause  to  talk  about  you.  Your  rather 
too  lively  conversation  this  evening  with  Count  Vronsky  " 
—  he  pronounced  this  name  slowly  and  distinctly  — 
"attracted  attention." 

He  finished  speaking,  and  looked  at  Anna's  laughing 
eyes,  now  terrible  to  him  because  they  were  so  impene- 


I90  ANNA   KARENINA 

trable,  and  he  saw  all  the  idleness  and  uselessness  of 
his  words. 

"  You  are  always  like  this,"  she  said,  as  if  she  had 
not  understood  him,  and  intentionally  had  understood 
only  the  last  part  of  what  he  said.  "  Sometimes  you 
don't  like  it  because  I  am  bored,  and  sometimes  you 
don't  like  it  because  I  have  a  good  time.  I  was  not 
bored  this  evening;  does  that  disturb  you.-*" 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  trembled  ;  again  he  stretched 
his  fingers  till  the  knuckles  cracked. 

"Akh!  I  beg  of  you,  don't  crack  your  fingers,  I 
detest  it  so,"  said  she. 

"Anna,  is  this  you.''"  said  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch, 
trying  to  control  himself,  and  stopping  the  movement 
of  his  hands. 

"  Yes  !  but  what  is  it  ?  "  she  asked,  with  a  sincere 
and  almost  comic  astonishment.  "  What  do  you  want 
of  me } " 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  was  silent,  and  passed  his 
hand  across  his  brow  and  over  his  eyes.  He  felt  that, 
instead  of  having  done  as  he  intended,  that  is,  instead 
of  having  warned  his  wife  of  her  errors  in  the  sight 
of  the  world,  he  was  agitated  at  what  concerned  her 
conscience,  and  was  perhaps  striking  some  imaginary 
wall. 

"  This  is  what  I  wanted  to  say,"  he  continued, 
coldly  and  calmly,  "  and  I  beg  you  to  listen  to  me  until 
I  have  done.  As  you  know,  I  regard  jealousy  as  an 
insulting  and  degrading  sentiment,  and  I  never  allow 
myself  to  be  led  away  by  it ;  but  there  are  certain  laws 
of  propriety  which  one  cannot  cross  with  impunity. 
This  evening,  judging  by  the  impression  which  you 
made,  —  I  am  not  the  only  one  that  noticed  it,  all  did, 
—  you  did  not  conduct  yourself  at  all  in  a  proper 
manner." 

"  Decidedly  I  do  not  understand  at  all,"  said  Anna, 
shrugging  her  shoulders.  "  He  does  not  really  care," 
she  thought;  "all  that  he  fears  is  the  opinion  of  the 
world."  —  "  You  are  not  well,  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch," 
she  added,  rising,  and  starting  to  go  to  her  room. 


ANNA    KARENINA  191 

But  he  stepped  in  front  of  her  as  if  to  prevent  her  from 
going.  Never  had  Anna  seen  his  face  so  displeased 
and  ugly ;  she  remained  standing,  tipping  her  head  to 
one  side,  while  with  quick  fingers  she  began  to  pull  out 
the  hair-pins. 

"  Well !  I  will  hear  what  you  have  to  say,"  she  said, 
in  a  calm,  bantering  tone ;  "  I  shall  even  listen  with 
interest,  because  I  should  like  to  know  what  it  is  all 
about." 

She  herself  was  astonished  at  the  assurance  and  calm 
naturalness  with  which  she  spoke,  as  well  as  at  her 
choice  of  words. 

"  I  have  no  right  to  examine  your  feelings.  I  think 
it  is  useless  and  even  dangerous,"  AlekseY  Aleksandro- 
vitch  began.  "  If  we  probe  too  deeply  into  our  hearts, 
we  run  the  risk  of  touching  on  what  we  ought  not  to 
perceive.  Your  feelings  concern  your  conscience.  But 
in  presence  of  yourself,  of  me,  and  of  God,  I  am  in 
duty  bound  to  remind  you  of  your  obligations.  Our  lives 
are  united,  not  by  men,  but  by  God.  Only  by  crime 
can  this  bond  be  broken,  and  such  a  crime  brings  its 
own  punishment." 

"  I  don't  understand  at  all.  Oh,  heavens,  how  sleepy 
I  am  ! "  said  Anna,  swiftly  running  her  hand  over  her 
hair,  and  taking  out  the  last  pin. 

"  Anna !  in  the  name  of  Heaven,  don't  speak  so," 
said  he,  gently.  "  Maybe  I  am  mistaken  ;  but  believe 
me,  what  I  say  to  you  is  as  much  for  your  advantage  as 
for  mine ;  I  am  your  husband,  and  I  love  you." 

Anna's  face  for  an  instant  grew  troubled,  and  the 
mocking  fire  disappeared  from  her  eyes  ;  but  the  word 
"  love  "  irritated  her.  "  Love  !  "  she  thought ;  "  does  he 
know  what  it  means .-'  If  he  had  never  heard  that  there 
was  such  a  thing  as  love,  he  would  never  have  used  that 
word." 

*'  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  truly,  I  don't  know  what 
you  mean,"  she  said.     "They  say  you  find...." 

"  Allow  me  to  finish.  I  love  you,  but  I  am  not  speak- 
ing for  myself ;  those  who  are  chiefly  interested  are  our 
son  and  yourself.     It  is  quite  possible,  I  repeat,  that  my 


192 


ANNA   KARENINA 


words  may  seem  idle  and  ill-judged ;  possibly  they  are 
the  result  of  mistake  on  my  part.  In  that  case,  I  beg 
you  to  forgive  me ;  but  if  you  yourself  feel  that  there 
is  the  least  foundation  for  my  remarks,  then  I  earnestly 
urge  you  to  reflect,  and,  if  your  heart  inclines  you,  to. 
confide  in  me.".... 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  without  noticing  the  fact, 
had  spoken  a  very  different  discourse  from  the  one  that 
he  had  prepared. 

"  I  have  nothing  to  say."  And  she  added  in  a 
sprightly  tone,  scarcely  hiding  a  smile,  "  Truly,  it  is  time 
to  go  to  bed." 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  sighed,  and,  without  speak- 
ing further,  went  to  their  chamber. 

When  she  reached  the  room,  he  was  already  in  bed. 
His  lips  were  sternly  set,  and  he  did  not  look  at  her. 
Anna  got  into  bed,  every  moment  expecting  that  he 
would  speak  to  her  again  ;  she  both  feared  it  and  desired 
it,  but  he  said  nothing. 

She  waited  long  without  moving,  and  then  forgot  all 
about  him.  She  was  thinking  of  some  one  else  ;  she  saw 
him  and  was  conscious  of  her  heart  throbbing  with  emo- 
tion and  with  guilty  joy.  Suddenly  she  heard  a  slow 
and  regular  sound  of  snoring.  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch 
at  first  seemed  to  be  startled  himself,  and  stopped  ;  but 
at  the  end  of  a  second  the  snoring  began  again  with 
monotonous  regularity. 

"  Too  late  !  too  late ! "  she  whispered,  with  a  smile. 
She  lay  for  a  long  time  thus,  motionless,  with  open 
eyes,  the  shining  of  which  it  seemed  to  her  she  herself 
could  see  in  the  darkness. 


CHAPTER   X 

From  this  time  began  a  new  life  for  Alekse'f  Aleksan- 
drovitch and  his  wife.  Nothing  unusual  happened. 
Anna  continued  to  go  into  society,  and  was  especially 
often  at  the  Princess  Betsy's  ;  and  everywhere  she  met 
Vronsky.      Alekseif   Aleksandrovitch   saw   it,   but  was 


ANNA   KARENINA  193 

powerless  to  prevent  it.  Whenever  he  tried  to  bring 
about  an  explanation,  she  raised  up  against  him  an 
impenetrable  wall  of  humorous  perplexity. 

Outwardly,  everything  was  the  same,  but  their  rela- 
tions had  completely  changed.  Aleksei  Aleksandro- 
vitch,  a  remarkably  strong  man  in  matters  requiring 
statesmanship,  here  found  himself  powerless.  Like  an 
ox,  submissively  lowering  its  head,  he  waited  the  blow 
of  the  ax  which  he  felt  was  lifted  against  him.  When- 
ever he  began  to  think  about  it,  he  felt  that  once  more 
he  must  try  by  gentleness,  tenderness,  reason,  to  save 
Anna,  and  bring  her  back  to  him.  Every  day  he  made 
up  his  mind  to  speak  ;  but  as  soon  as  he  made  the 
attempt,  that  evil  spirit  of  falsehood  which  possessed 
her  seemed  to  lay  hold  of  him  also,  and  he  spoke  not  at 
all  in  the  tone  in  which  he  meant  to  speak.  Involun- 
tarily, what  he.  said  was  spoken  in  his  tone  of  raillery, 
which  seemed  to  cast  ridicule  on  those  who  would  speak 
as  he  did.  And  this  tone  was  not  at  all  suitable  for  the 
expression  of  the  thoughts  that  he  wished  to  express. 


CHAPTER  XI 

What  had  been  for  nearly  a  whole  year  the  sole  de- 
sire of  Vronsky's  life,  changing  all  his  former  desires  — 
what  Anna  had  looked  upon  as  an  impossible,  a  terrible, 
and,  therefore,  the  more  a  fascinating,  dream  of  bliss,  was 
at  last  realized.  Pale,  with  quivering  lower  jaw,  he 
stood  over  her,  begging  her  to  be  calm,  himself  not 
knowing  how  or  why. 

"Anna!  Anna!"  he  said,  with  trembling  voice. 
"Anna!  for  God's  sake!".... 

But  the  more  intensely  he  spoke  the  lower  she  hung 
her  once  proud,  joyous,  but  now  humiliated  head,  and 
she  crouched  all  down,  and  dropped  from  the  divan, 
where  she  had  been  sitting,  to  the  floor  at  his  feet. 
She  would  have  fallen  on  the  carpet  had  he  not  held  her. 

"My  God!  forgive  me!"  she  sobbed,  pressing  his 
VOL.  I.  — 13 


194  ANNA   KARENINA 

hands  to  her  breast.  She  felt  that  she  was  such  a  sinnef 
and  criminal  that  nothing  remained  for  her  except  to 
crouch  down  and  beg  for  forgiveness  ;  now  there  was 
nothing  else  for  her  in  life  but  him,  so  that  to  him  alone 
she  turned  her  prayer  for  forgiveness.  As  she  looked 
at  him  she  felt  her  humiliation  physically,  and  she  could 
say  no  more. 

But  he  felt  exactly  as  a  murderer  must  feel  when  he 
sees  the  lifeless  body  of  his  victim.  This  lifeless  body 
was  their  love  —  the  first  epoch  of  their  love.  There 
was  something  horrible  and  repulsive  in  the  recollection 
of  the  terrible  price  that  they  had  paid  for  this  shame. 
The  shame  in  the  presence  of  their  spiritual  nakedness 
oppressed  her  and  took  hold  of  him.  But  in  spite  of  all 
the  horror  felt  by  the  murderer  in  presence  of  the  body 
of  his  victim,  he  must  cut  it  in  pieces,  must  bury  it,  must 
take  advantage  of  his  crime. 

And,  as  with  fury  and  passion  the  murderer  throws 
himself  on  the  dead  body  and  drags  it  and  cuts  it,  so  he 
covered  her  face  and  shoulders  with  kisses.  She  held 
his  hand  and  did  not  stir. 

"  Yes,  these  kisses  were  what  had  been  bought  with 
this  shame !  Yes,  and  this  hand,  which  will  always  be 
mine,  is  the  hand  of  my  accomplice." 

She  raised  his  hand  and  kissed  it.  He  fell  on  his 
knees,  and  tried  to  look  into  her  face ;  but  she  hid  it 
and  said  nothing.  At  last,  as  if  trying  to  control  her- 
self, she  made  an  effort  to  rise,  and  pushed  him  away. 
Her  face  was  still  as  beautiful  as  ever ;  even  so  much 
the  more  was  it  pitiful. 

"All  is  ended,"  said  she;  "I  have  nothing  but  thee, 
remember  that." 

"  I  cannot  help  remembering  it,  since  it  is  my  life.  A 
moment  before  this  happiness  ....  " 

"What  happiness.?"  she  cried,  with  contempt  and 
horror.  And  horror  involuntarily  seized  him  also, 
"  For  God's  sake,  not  a  word,  not  a  word  more." 

She  quickly  got  up  and  moved  away  from  him,  and 
with  a  strange  expression  of  hopeless  despair,  such  as  he 
had  never  seen  before,  on  her  face,  she  stood  aloof  from 


ANNA    KARENINA  195 

him.  She  felt  that  at  that  moment  she  could  not  ex- 
press in  words  the  sense  of  shame,  rapture,  and  horror 
at  this  entrance  into  a  new  life,  and  she  did  not  wish  to 
speak  about  it  or  vulgarize  the  feeling  with  definite  words. 

But  even  afterward,  on  the  next  day,  on  the  third 
day,  not  only  did  she  fail  to  find  words  in  which  to 
express  the  complication  of  these  feelings,  but  she 
could  not  even  find  thoughts  by  which  to  formulate  to 
herself  all  that  was  in  her  soul. 

She  said  to  herself:  — 

"  No,  I  cannot  now  think  about  this  ;  by  and  by,  when 
I  am  calmer." 

But  this  calmness  never  came.  Every  time  when  the 
questions  arose:  "What  had  she  done.?  and  what  would 
become  of  her.?  and  what  ought  she  to  do.?"  she  was 
filled  with  horror,  and  she  compelled  herself  not  to  think 
about  them. 

"By  and  by,  by  and  by,"  she  repeated,  "when  I  am 
calmer." 

On  the  other  hand,  during  sleep,  when  she  had  no 
control  of  her  thoughts,  her  situation  appeared  in  its 
ugly  nakedness.  One  dream  almost  every  night  haunted 
her.  She  dreamed  that  she  was  the  wife  both  of  Vron- 
sky  and  of  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch,  and  that  both  lav- 
ished their  caresses  on  her,  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch 
kissed  her  hands,  and  said,  weeping,  "  How  happy  we  are 
now  ! "  Aleksei"  Vronsky,  also,  was  there,  and  he  was 
her  husband.  She  was  amazed  that  she  had  ever  be- 
lieved such  a  thing  impossible ;  and  she  laughed  as  she 
explained  to  them  that  this  was  far  simpler,  that  both 
would  henceforth  be  satisfied  and  happy.  But  this 
dream  weighed  on  her  like  a  nightmare,  and  she  always 
awoke  in  fright. 

CHAPTER    Xn 

Even  in  the  first  weeks  after  Levin  returned  from 
Moscow,  every  time  that  with  flushed  cheeks  and  a 
trembling  in  his  limbs  he  remembered  the  shame  of  hi^ 
rejection,  he  would  say  to  himself:  — 


196  ANNA    KARENINA 

"I  blushed  and  trembled  like  this,  and  I  felt  that  all 
was  lost,  when  I  got  one  in  physics,  and  had  to  go  into 
the  second  class  ;  and  I  thought  myself  irretrievably 
ruined  when  I  bungled  in  my  sister's  affairs,  which  were 
confided  to  me.  And  now  ?  Now  the  years  have  gone 
by,  and  I  look  back  and  wonder  how  it  could  disturb 
my  mind.  It  will  be  just  the  same  with  my  disap- 
pointment this  time.  Time  will  pass,  and  I  shall  grow 
callous." 

But  three  months  passed  away  and  the  callousness 
did  not  come,  and  it  was  as  painful  for  him  to  remember 
it  as  on  the  first  day.  He  could  not  reconcile  himself 
to  the  fact  that,  after  dreaming  so  long  of  family  life, 
after  being,  as  he  thought,  so  well  prepared  for  it,  not 
only  was  he  not  married,  but  found  himself  farther  than 
ever  from  marriage.  He  felt  painfully,  as  all  those 
around  him  felt,  that  it  is  not  good  for  a  man  of  his  age 
to  live  alone.  He  remembered  that  before  his  departure 
for  Moscow  he  had  once  said  to  his  cowherd,  Nikolai,  a 
simple-hearted  muzhik  with  whom  he  liked  to  talk :  — 

"  Do  you  know,  Nikolai,  I  am  thinking  of  getting 
married  ? "  whereupon  Nikolai  had  instantly  replied,  as 
if  there  could  not  be  the  slightest  doubt  about  it :  — 

"This  ought  to  have  been  long  ago,  Konstantin 
Dmitritch." 

And  now  marriage  was  farther  off  than  ever.  The 
place  was  taken ;  and  when,  exercising  his  imagination, 
he  put  into  that  place  some  young  girl  of  his  acquain- 
tance, he  felt  that  it  was  perfectly  impossible.  Moreover, 
the  recollection  of  how  Kitty  refused  him  and  of  the 
part  which  he  played  still  tormented  him  with  morti- 
fication. It  was  idle  to  say  that  he  was  not  to  blame  in 
this  ;  this  recollection,  taken  together  with  other  mortify- 
ing experiences  of  the  same  sort,  made  him  quiver  and 
grow  red  in  the  face.  He  had  on  his  conscience,  as 
every  man  has,  the  remembrance  of  evil  deeds  for  which 
he  should  have  repented  ;  but  the  remembrance  of  these 
evil  deeds  did  not  trouble  him  nearly  so  much  as  the 
feeling  of  his  humiliation,  slight  as  it  really  was.  It  was 
a  wound  that  refused  to  heal.     He  could  not  keep  out 


ANNA    KARENINA  197 

of  his  mind  his  rejection,  and  the  miserable  position  in 
which  he  must  have  been  placed  in  the  eyes  of  others. 

Time  and  labor,  however,  brought  their  balm ;  the 
painful  impressions  little  by  little  began  to  fade  in  pres- 
ence of  the  events  of  the  country  life,  important  in 
reality,  in  spite  of  their  apparent  insignificance.  Each 
week  his  thoughts  turned  to  Kitty  v/ith  less  frequency. 
He  even  began  to  await  with  impatience  the  news  that 
she  was  married,  or  was  going  to  be  married,  hoping  that 
this  event  would  bring  healing  in  the  same  way  as  the 
pulling  of  a  tooth  may. 

Meantime  spring  came,  beautiful,  friendly,  without 
treachery  or  false  promises, — a  spring  such  as  fills 
plants  and  animals,  no  less  than  men,  with  joy.  This 
splendid  season  gave  Levin  new  zeal,  and  confirmed  his 
resolution  to  tear  himself  from  the  past  so  as  to  reorgan- 
ize his  solitary  life  on  conditions  of  permanence  and 
independence.  Although  many  of  the  plans  that  he 
had  formed  on  his  return  to  the  country  had  not  been 
put  into  effect,  yet  the  most  essential  one  —  that  his  life 
should  be  kept  pure -7- had  been  realized.  He  expe- 
rienced none  of  that  sense  of  shame  which  ordinarily 
tormented  him  after  a  fall ;  and  he  could  look  fearlessly 
into  men's  eyes. 

In  February  he  had  received  a  letter  from  Marya 
Nikolayevna,  who  informed  him  that  his  brother's  health 
was  failing,  and  that  he  would  not  use  any  rcmedi'js. 
In  consequence  of  this  letter  he  had  immediately  gone 
to*  Moscow,  where  he  persuaded  Nikolai  to  consult  a 
physician,  and  then  to  go  abroad  for  the  baths.  He 
succeeded  so  well  in  persuading  his  brother  and  in  lend- 
ing him  money  for  the  journey,  without  exasperating 
him,  that  he  felt  quite  satisfied  with  himself. 

Besides  his  farm-labors,  which  especially  occupied  his 
attention  that  spring,  and  his  ordinary  reading,  Levin 
was  deeply  engaged  in  writing  a  work  on  rural  economy, 
which  he  had  begun  during  the  winter.  His  theory  was 
that  in  farming  the  laborer's  temperament  is  a  factor  as 
important  as  climate  or  the  soil,  and  that  consequently 
ail  the  deductions  of  agronomic  science  are  drawn,  not 


198  ANNA    KARENINA 

from  the  premises  of  soil  and  climate  alone,  but  from 
the  soil,  the  climate,  and  the  certain  unchangeable 
character  of  the  laborer. 

Thus,  notwithstanding  his  loneliness  or  in  conse- 
quence of  his  loneliness,  his  life,  therefore,  was  very  busy 
and  full ;  only  occasionally  he  felt  the  need  of  some  one 
besides  Agafya  Mikhallovna  with  whom  to  communi- 
cate the  ideas  that  came  into  his  head.  However,  he 
brought  himself  to  discuss  with  her  about  physics,  the 
theories  of  rural  economy,  and,  above  all,  philosophy. 
Philosophy  was  Agafya  Mikhailovna's  favorite  subject. 

The  spring  opened  late.  During  the  last  weeks  of 
Lent  the  weather  was  clear  but  cold.  During  the  day 
the  snow  melted  in  the  sun,  but  at  night  the  mercury 
w^ent  down  to  seven  degrees ;  the  crust  on  the  snow  was 
so  thick  that  carts  could  go  anywhere  across  the  fields. 

It  snowed  on  Easter  Sunday.  Then  suddenly,  on  the 
following  day,  a  warm  wind  blew,  the  clouds  drifted 
over,  and  for  three  days  and  three  nights  a  warm  and 
heavy  rain  fell  ceaselessly.  On  Thursday  the  wind  went 
down,  and  then  over  the  earth  was  spread  a  thick  gray 
fog,  as  if  to  conceal  the  mysteries  that  were  accomplish- 
ing in  nature ;  under  this  fog,  the  fields  were  covered 
with  water,  the  ice  was  melting  and  disappearing,  the 
brooks  ran  more  swiftly,  foaming  and  muddy.  Toward 
evening  the  Krasnaya  Gorka,  or  Red  Hill,  began  to  show 
through  the  fog,  the  clouds  scattered  like  snipe,  and 
spring  in  reality  was  there  in  all  her  brilliancy. 

The  next  morning  the  sun  rose  bright  and  quickly 
melted  away  the  thin  sheet  of  ice  that  still  covered 
the  ponds,  and  the  warm  atmosphere  grew  moist  with 
the  vapors  rising  from  the  earth  ;  the  old  grass  and  the 
young  blades  peeping  from  the  sod,  with  its  tiny  needles, 
the  buds  on  the  snow-ball  trees,  the  currant  bushes,  and 
the  sticky  sappy  birch  trees,  grew  green,  swelled,  and 
on  their  branches,  powdered  with  golden  bloom,  swarms 
of  honey-bees  buzzed  in  the  sun.  Invisible  larks  trilled 
their  songs  over  the  velvet  of  the  green  and  the  prairies 
freed  from  snow ;  the  lapwings  lamented  for  their  hoi- 
lows  and   marshes,  submerged   by  the  stormy  waters; 


ANNA    KARENINA  199 

the  wild  swans  and  geese  flew  high  in  the  air,  with  their 
calls  of  spring.  The  cattle,  with  rough  hair  and  spots 
worn  bare,  lowed  as  they  went  out  to  pasture  ;  the 
bandy-legged  lambs  gamboled  around  the  bleating  ewes^ 
soon  to  lose  their  wool  ;  swift-footed  children  ran  bare- 
foot over  the  wet  paths,  where  their  footprints  were  left 
like  fossils  ;  the  peasant-women  gossiped  gayly  around 
the  edge  of  the  pond,  where  they  were  bleaching  their 
linen  ;  and  in  the  yards  resounded  the  axes  of  the  mu- 
zhiks, repairing  their  plows  and  their  wagons. 
Spring  had  really  come. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

Levin  put  on  his  heavy  boots,  and,  for  the  first  time, 
his  sleeveless  cloth  coat  instead  of  his  fur  shuba,  and 
went  out  to  look  over  his  estate,  tramping  through  the 
brooklets  which  dazzled  his  eyes  as  they  glanced  in  the  sun, 
and  stepping,  now  on  a  cake  of  ice,  and  now  in  sticky  mud. 

Spring  is  the  epoch  of  plans  and  projects.  Levin,  as 
he  went  out  into  his  court,  no  more  definitely  knew  what 
he  would  first  take  in  hand  in  his  beloved  farming  than 
the  tree  in  early  spring  knows  how  and  why  his  young 
sprouts  and  branches  grow  out  from  their  enveloping 
buds  ;  but  he  felt  that  he  was  going  to  originate  the 
most  charming  projects  and  the  most  sensible  plans. 

He  went  first  to  see  his  cattle.  The  cows  had  been 
let  out  into  the  yard,  and  with  their  smooth  new  coats 
of  hair  glistening  as  they  warmed  themselves  in  the 
sun,  they  were  lowing  as  if  to  beg  permission  to  go  out 
to  pasture.  Levin  knew  them  all,  even  to  the  minutest 
particulars.  He  contemplated  them  with  satisfaction, 
and  gave  orders  to  take  them  to  pasture,  and  to  let  the 
calves  out  into  the  yard.  The  cow-boy  gayly  started  to 
drive  them  out  into  the  field.  The  milkmaids,  gather- 
ing up  their  petticoats,  and  splashing  through  the  mud 
with  bare  feet,  white  as  yet,  and  free  from  tan,  chased 
the  bellowing  calves,  silly  with  the  rapture  of  spring,  and 
with  switches  kept  them  from  escaping  froni  the  yard. 


400  ANNA    KARENINA 

Admiring  the  young  cattle  which  the  year  had 
brought,  for  they  were  uncommonly  beautiful, — the 
oldest  already  as  large  as  a  peasants'  cow,  and  Pava's 
daughter,  three  months  old,  as  big  as  a  yearling,  — ■ 
Levin  ordered  the  trough  to  be  brought  out  for  them, 
and  their  hay  to  be  given  them  behind  gratings.^  He 
found,  however,  that  these  gratings,  which  had  been 
made  in  the  autumn,  but  were  not  used  during  the 
winter,  were  out  of  repair.  He  sent  for  the  carpenter, 
who  was  supposed  to  be  busy  repairing  the  threshing- 
machine  ;  but  it  seemed  that  the  carpenter  was  not 
there.  He  was  repairing  the  harrows,  which  should 
have  been  repaired  during  Lent.  This  made  Levin 
very  indignant.  He  was  indignant  at  this  everlasting 
repetition  of  such  slovenliness,  against  which  he  had  so 
many  years  struggled  with  all  his  might.  The  gratings, 
as  he  soon  learned,  not  having  been  in  use  during  the 
winter,  had  been  carried  to  the  stable,  where,  as  they 
were  of  light  construction,  and  meant  only  for  calves, 
they  had  been  broken. 

Moreover,  it  appeared  that  nothing  had  been  done  to 
the  harrows  and  other  agricultural  implements,  which 
should  have  been  inspected  and  put  in  order  during  the 
winter  months,  and  for  this  purpose  especially  he  had 
hired  three  carpenters.  The  harrows  were  needed  im- 
mediately for  work  in  the  fields.  Levin  summoned  the 
overseer,^  then  he  himself  went  in  search  of  him. 
The  overseer,  as  radiant  as  everything  else  was  that 
day,  came  from  the  threshing-floor  dressed  in  a  lined 
lambskin  coat.^  He  was  twisting  a  straw  between  his 
fingers. 

"  Why  is  n't  the  carpenter  at  work  on  the  threshing- 
machine  .?  " 

"  Oh,  yes ;  that  is  what  I  meant  to  tell  you  last  even- 
ing :  the  harrows  had  to  be  repaired !  We  've  got  to 
plow." 

"  Yes  ;  but  what  have  you  been  doing  this  winter  ? " 

"Yes;  but  why  do  you  hire  such  a  carpenter  ?" 

1  Reshotki,  a  sort  of  portable  palisade. 

2  Prikashchik.  ^  Tulupchik. 


ANNA    KARENINA  201 

**  Where  are  the  gratings  for  the  calves  ? " 

"  I  ordered  them  to  be  put  in  place.  You  can't  do 
anything  with  such  people,"  replied  the  overseer,  wav- 
ing his  hands. 

"  Not  such  people,  but  such  an  overseer !  "  said  Levin, 
getting  still  more  angry.  *'  Well,  what  do  I  keep  you 
for  ?  "  he  shouted  ;  but,  recollecting  that  shouts  did  not 
do  any  good,  he  stopped  in  the  middle  of  his  remark 
and  only  sighed.  "  Well,  can  you  get  the  seed  in  yet  .-* " 
he  asked,  after  a  silence. 

"  Back  of  Turkino  we  might  to-morrow,  or  the  day 
after." 

"  And  the  clover  ? " 

"  I  sent  Vasili  and  Mishka  to  sow  it,  but  I  don't  know 
whether  they  succeeded  ;  it 's  muddy." 

"  On  how  many  acres  .'' " 

"  Sixteen  acres."  ^ 

"  Why  not  the  whole  ? "  cried  Levin. 

He  was  still  more  indignant  because  they  had  sowed 
only  sixteen  acres  instead  of  fifty-four:  he  knew  by  his 
own  experience,  as  well  as  by  theory,  the  need  of  sowing 
the  clover-seed  as  early  as  possible,  almost  in  the  snow, 
and  Levin  never  could  get  this  done. 

"Not  enough  people.  What  can  you  do  with  these 
men .-'  The  three  hired  men  did  not  come ;  and  then 
Semyon ....  " 

"Well,  you  would  better  have  taken  them  away  from 
the  straw." 

"  Yes  ;  I  did  that  very  thing." 

"  Where  are  all  the  people  ?" 

"  There  are  five  at  the  compote  [he  meant  to  say  com- 
post]  ;  four  are  moving  the  oats,  so  that  they  should  not 
spoil,  Konstantin  Dmitritch." 

Levin  knew  very  well  that  these  words,  "  So  that  they 
should  not  spoil,''  meant  that  his  English  oats  saved  for 
seed  were  already  ruined.  Again  they  had  not  done 
what  he  had  ordered. 

"  Yes  !  But  did  I  not  tell  you  during  Lent  to  put  in 
the  ventilating-chimneys  .''  "  he  cried. 

^  Six  desyatins ;   a  desyatina  is  2.7  acres. 


202  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Don't  you  be  troubled ;  we  will  do  all  in  good 
time." 

Levin  angrily  waved  his  hand,  and  went  to  examine 
his  oats  in  the  granary;  then  he  went  to  the  stables. 
The  grain  was  not  yet  spoiled,  but  the  workmen  were 
stirring  it  up  with  shovels  when  they  might  have  let  it 
down  from  one  story  to  the  other.  After  he  had 
straightened  this  matter  and  sent  two  hands  to  sow 
the  clover,  Levin  calmed  down  in  regard  to  his  over- 
seer. It  was  such  a  lovely  day  that  one  could  not  keep 
angry. 

"  Ignat,"  he  cried  to  his  coachman,  who,  with  upturned 
sleeves,  was  washing  the  carriage  near  the  pump,  "  sad- 
dle me  a  horse," 

"Which  one.?" 

"  Well,  Kolpik." 

"  I  will  do  so." 

While  he  was  saddling  the  horse,  Levin  again  called 
the  overseer,  who  was  busying  himself  in  his  vicinity, 
hoping  to  be  restored  to  favor,  and  began  to  speak  with 
him  about  the  work  that  he  wanted  done  during  the 
spring,  and  about  his  plans  for  carrying  on  the  estate. 

He  wanted  the  compost  spread  as  soon  as  possible, 
so  as  to  have  this  work  done  before  the  first  mowing ; 
then  he  wanted  the  farthest  field  plowed,  so  that  it 
might  be  left  fallow.  All  the  fields  —  not  half  of  them 
—  should  be  attended  to  with  the  laborers. 

The  overseer  listened  attentively,  doing  his  best  evi- 
dently to  approve  of  his  master's  plans.  But  never- 
theless his  face  wore  that  vexatiously  hopeless  and 
melancholy  expression  which  Levin  knew  so  well. 
This  expression  seemed  to  say,  "This  is  all  very  well 
and  good,  but  as  God  shall  give." 

Nothing  exasperated  Levin  so  much  as  this  tone,  but 
it  was  common  to  all  the  overseers  that  had  ever  been 
in  his  service.  They  all  received  his  projects  with  the 
same  dejected  air ;  and  so  he  now  refrained  from  getting 
angry,  but  he  was  exasperated  and  felt  himself  still  more 
stimulated  for  the  struggle  against  this,  as  it  were  ele- 
mental, force  which  he  could  not  help  calling  "  As  God 


ANNA    KARENINA  203 

shall  give,''  and  which  constantly  opposed  him  every- 
where. 

"  If  we  have  time,  Konstantin  Dmitritch,"  said  the 
overseer. 

"  Why  shall  we  not  have  time  t " 

"  We  absolutely  ought  to  hire  fifteen  more  workmen, 
but  they  can't  be  had.  Some  came  to-day  who  asked 
seventy  rubles  for  the  summer." 

Levin  did  not  speak.  Again  the  opposing  force ! 
He  knew  that,  however  he  might  exert  himself,  he  never 
could  hire  more  than  forty,  thirty-seven,  or  thirty-eight, 
laborers  at  a  reasonable  price ;  he  had  succeeded  in  get- 
ting forty,  never  more ;  but  nevertheless  he  could  not 
give  up  vanquished. 

"  Send  to  Suri,  to  Chefirovka ;  if  they  don't  come,  we 
must  go  for  them." 

"  I  'm  going  to  go,"  said  Vasili  Feodorovitch,  gloomily. 
"But  then  the  horses  are  very  feeble." 

"Buy  some  more;  but  then  I  know,"  he  added,  with 
a  laugh,  "that  you  will  do  as  little  and  as  badly  as  you 
can.  However,  I  warn  you  that  I  will  not  let  you  do  as 
you  please  this  year.  I  shall  take  the  reins  in  my  own 
hands." 

"  Yes  !  but  even  as  it  is  you  get  too  little  sleep,  it 
seems  to  me.  We  are  very  happy  to  be  under  our  mas- 
ter's eyes....  " 

"  Now,  have  the  clover  put  in  on  the  Berezof  Bottom, 
and  I  shall  come  myself  to  inspect  it,"  said  he, 
mounting  his  little  horse,"  Kolpik,  which  the  coachman 
brought  up. 

"  Don't  go  across  the  brooks,  Konstantin  Dmitritch," 
cried  the  coachman. 

"  Well,  then,  by  the  woods." 

And  on  his  little,  lively,  easy-going  ambler,  which 
whinnied  as  it  came  to  the  pools,  and  which  pulled  on 
the  bridle,  having  been  too  long  in  the  stable.  Levin  rode 
out  of  the  muddy  courtyard,  and  across  the  open  fields. 

Happy  as  Levin  had  felt  in  his  cow-yard  and  cattle- 
pen,  he  felt  still  happier  out  in  the  field.  Rhythmically 
swaying  on  his  easy-going,  gentle  pony,  drinking  in  the 


204  ANNA    KARENINA 

warm  air,  freshened  by  the  snow  as  he  rode  through  the 
forest  where  the  snow  still  lay  here  and  there  rapidly 
melting  in  the  tracks,  he  took  keen  delight  in  every 
one  of  his  trees,  with  greening  moss  and  swelling  buds. 
As  he  came  out  from  the  forest,  before  him  lay  a  vast 
stretch  of  fields ;  they  seemed  like  an  immense  carpet  of 
velvet  where  there  was  not  a  bare  spot  or  a  marsh,  only 
here  and  there  in  the  hollows  marked  with  patches  of 
melting  snow.  The  sight  of  a  peasant's  mare  and  colt 
treading  down  his  fields  did  not  anger  him,  but  he 
ordered  a  passing  muzhik  to  drive  them  out.  With  the 
same  gentleness  he  received  the  sarcastic  and  impudent 
answer  of  the  muzhik  Ipat,  whom  he  met  and  asked, 
"  Ipat,  shall  we  put  in  the  seed  before  very  long  ? " 
And  Ipat  replied,  "  We  must  plow  first,  Konstantin 
Dmitritch." 

The  farther  he  went,  the  more  his  good-humor  in- 
creased, and  each  of  his  plans  for  improving  his  estate 
seemed  to  surpass  the  other :  to  protect  the  fields  on 
the  south  by  lines  of  trees  so  as  to  prevent  the  snow 
from  staying  too  long ;  to  divide  his  arable  fields  into 
nine  parts,  six  of  which  should  be  well  dressed,  and  the 
other  three  sown  down  to  grass ;  to  build  a  cow-yard  in 
the  farthest  corner  of  one  field,  and  have  a  pond  dug ; 
to  have  portable  inclosures  for  the  cattle,  so  as  to  util- 
ize the  manure;  and  thus  to  cultivate  three  hundred 
desyatins  of  wheat,  a  hundred  desyatins  of  potatoes,  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty  of  clover,  without  exhausting  the 
soil. 

Full  of  these  reflections,  he  picked  his  way  carefully 
along  so  as  not  to  tread  down  his  fields,  till  at  last  he 
reached  the  place  where  the  laborers  were  sowing  the 
clover.  The  cart,  loaded  with  seed,  instead  of  being  left 
on  the  edge  of  the  field,  had  been  driven  into  the 
plowed  land,  and  his  winter  wheat  was  crushed  by 
the  wheels  and  trampled  down  by  the  horse.  The  two 
laborers  were  sitting  by  the  edge  of  the  field,  evidently 
smoking  a  mutual  pipe.  The  earth  in  the  cart,  mixed 
together  with  the  seed,  had  not  been  worked  over,  but 
was  full  of  har4  or  frozen  lumps. 


ANNA    KARENINA  205 

When  he  saw  the  master,  the  laborer  Vasili  started 
toward  the  cart,  and  Mishka  began  to  sow.  This  was 
all  wrong,  but  Levin  rarely  got  angry  with  his  laborers. 
When  Vasili  came  up  to  him,  Levin  ordered  him  to  lead 
the  horse  to  the  side  of  the  field. 

"  It  won't  do  any  harm,  sir ;  it  will  spring  up 
again." 

"  Please  not  discuss  it,"  replied  Levin,  "  but  do  what 
I  say." 

"  I  will  obey,"  said  Vasili,  taking  the  horse  by  the 
head.  "What  splendid  seed,  Konstantin  Dmitritch," 
he  added,  to  regain  favor.  "  Best  kind !  But  it  is 
frightful  going  !     You  drag  2i  pud  on  each,  foot." 

"  But  why  was  n't  the  earth  sifted  ?  "  asked  Levin. 

"  Oh !  it  '11  come  out  all  right,"  replied  Vasili,  taking 
up  some  seed,  and  crushing  the  lump  in  his  palm. 

It  was  not  Vasili's  fault  that  they  were  scattering  the 
unsifted  soil ;  but  it  was  vexatious,  nevertheless.  Hav- 
ing more  than  once  to  his  advantage  made  use  of  a 
well-known  means  of  wreaking  his  vexation,  which 
always  seemed  to  him  foolish.  Levin  now  determined  to 
try  it  and  see  if  he  could  recover  his  good  temper.  He 
noticed  how  Mishka  strode  along  dragging  huge  clods 
of  clay  which  stuck  to  each  of  his  feet ;  so,  dismounting, 
he  took  the  seed-cod  from  Vasili  and  began  to  scatter 
the  seed. 

"  Where  did  you  stop  ?  " 

Vasili  touched  the  spot  with  his  foot,  and  Levin  went 
on  as  best  he  could,  scattering  the  earth  with  the  seed. 
But  it  was  as  hard  as  wading  through  a  marsh,  and  after 
he  had  gone  a  row  he  stopped  all  in  a  sweat,  and  returned 
the  seed-cod. 

"Well,  barin,  if  that  row  doesn't  come  out  well  next 
summer,  don't  blame  me  for  it !  "  said  Vasili. 

"Indeed  I  won't,"  replied  Levin,  gayly,  already  feel- 
ing the  efficacy  of  the  means  he  had  employed. 

"  But  just  look  at  the  summer  we  're  gomg  to  have ! 
'T  will  be  magnificent !  If  you  '11  notice,  that 's  where  I 
sowed  last  spring.  How  well  I  planted  it  I  Why,  Kon- 
stantin Dmitritch,  I  work  as  if  I  were  working  for  my 


2o6  ANNA    KARENINA 

own  father !  Well,  I  don't  like  to  do  slack  work.  What 
is  good  for  the  master  is  good  for  us.  And  look  yon- 
der at  that  field,"  continued  Vasili,  pointing  to  the  field, 
"it  delights  my  heart." 

"It  is  a  fine  spring,  Vasili." 

"  Yes !  it  is  such  a  spring  as  our  old  men  can't  re- 
member. I  was  at  home,  and  our  elder  has  already 
sowed  an  acre  ^  of  wheat ;  as  he  says  he  can  hardly  tell 
it  from  rye." 

"  But  how  long  have  you  been  sowing  wheat  ? " 

"Why,  you  yourself  taught  us  how  to  sow  it  year  be- 
fore last.  You  spared  me  two  measures.  It  gave  eight 
bushels  and  w.e  sowed  an  acre  with  it." 

"  Well !  look  here,  see  that  you  break  up  the  earth 
well!"  said  Levin,  as  he  started  for  his  ambler,  "look 
after  Mishka ;  and  if  the  seed  comes  up  well,  you  shall 
have  fifty  kopeks  a  desyatin." 

"  We  thank  you  humbly :  we  should  be  content  even 
without  that." 

Levin  mounted  his  horse,  and  rode  off  to  visit  his 
last  year's  clover-field,  and  then  to  the  field  which  was 
already  plowed  ready  for  the  summer  wheat. 

The  crop  of  clover  in  the  stubble-field  was  miraculous. 
It  had  all  survived,  and  was  covering  with  a  mantle  of 
green  all  the  ground  where  the  preceding  fall  the  roots 
of  the  wheat  had  been  left. 

The  horse  sank  up  to  the  fetlock,  and  each  foot  made 
a  sucking  noise  as  he  pulled  it  out  of  the  half-thawed 
soil.  It  was  entirely  impossible  to  cross  the  plowed 
land.  Only  where  there  was  ice  would  it  hold,  but  in 
the  thawed  furrows  the  horse's  leg  sank  above  the  fet- 
lock. The  plowed  field  was  excellent.  In  two  days 
the  harrowing  and  sowing  could  be  done.  Everything 
was  beautiful,  everything  was  gay ! 

Levin  rode  back  by  way  of  the  brooks,  hoping  to  find 
the  water  lower;   in  fact,  he  found  that  he  could  get 

*  Tri  ostninnika  ;  in  the  government  of  Tula  an  osminnik  iS  an  eighth  of 
a  desyatin.  One  chetvert  (about  eight  bushels)  plants  three  of  these  eighths, 
or  an  acre.  Levin  promises  an  equivalent  of  about  forty  cents  for  2.7 
acres. 


ANNA    KARENINA  207 

across  ;  and,  as  he  waded  through,  he  scared  up  a  couple 
of  wild  ducks. 

"There  ought  to  be  snipe,  also,"  he  thought;  and  a 
forest  guard  whom  he  met  on  his  way  to  the  house 
confirmed  his  supposition. 

He  immediately  spurred  up  his  horse,  so  as  to  get 
back  in  time  for  dinner,  and  to  prepare  his  gun  for 
the  evening. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

Just  as  Levin  reached  home,  in  the  best  humor  in 
the  world,  he  heard  the  jingling  of  bells  at  the  side 
entrance. 

"There,  now!  some  one  from  the  railroad  station," 
was  his  first  thought ;  "it 's  time  for  the  Moscow  train. 
—  Who  can  have  come.-'  brother  Nikolai'.''  Did  he  not 
say  that  instead  of  going  abroad  he  might  perhaps 
come  to  see  me  ?  " 

For  a  moment  it  occurred  to  him  disagreeably  that 
his  brother  Nikolai's  presence  might  spoil  his  pleasant 
plans  for  the  spring ;  but,  disgusted  at  the  selfishness 
of  this  thought,  his  mind,  so  to  speak,  instantly  received 
his  brother  with  open  arms,  and  he  began  to  hope,  with 
affectionate  joy,  that  it  was  really  he. 

He  hurried  his  horse,  and  as  he  came  out  from  behind 
the  acacia,  he  saw  a  hired  troika  from  the  railway  station 
and  a  traveler  dressed  in  a  shuba. 

It  was  not  his  brother. 

"  Akh  !  if  only  it  is  some  agreeable  man  to  talk  with," 
he  thought. 

"  Ah ! "  he  cried,  lifting  up  both  arms  as  he  recog- 
nized Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  "  here  is  the  most  delecta- 
ble of  guests  !  Akh !  how  glad  I  am  to  see  you !  — 
I  shall  certainly  learn  from  him  if  she  is  married  or 
when  she's  going  to  be,"  he  added  to  himself. 

This  splendid  spring  morning  he  felt  that  the  memory 
of  Kitty  was  not  at  all  painful. 

"  You  scarcely  expected  me,  I  suppose,"  said  Stepan 


2o8  ANNA    KARENINA 

Arkadyevitch,  leaping  out  of  the  sledge,  with  spots  ot 
mud  on  the  bridge  of  his  nose,  on  his  cheeks,  and  on 
his  forehead,  but  radiant  with  health  and  pleasure.  "  I 
am  come,  first,  to  see  you,"  he  cried,  throwing  his  arms 
around  Levin  and  kissing  him  ;  "  secondly,  to  shoot  a  few 
birds  ;  and  thirdly,  to  sell  the  forest  at  Yergushovo." 

"  Perfect,  is  n't  it  ?  What  do  you  think  of  this  spring? 
But  how  could  you  have  got  here  in  a  sledge  ? " 

"  Traveling  is  far  worse  with  a  telyega,  Konstantin 
Dmitritch,"  replied  the  postilion,  who  was  an  acquain- 
tance. 

"  Well !  Indeed,  I  am  delighted  to  see  you  again," 
said  Levin,  with  a  genuine  smile  of  boyish  joy. 

He  conducted  his  guest  to  the  room  kept  in  readi- 
ness for  visitors,  and  had  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's  things 
brought  up, — a  gripsack,  a  gun  in  its  case,  and  a  box 
of  cigars,  and  then,  leaving  him  to  wash  and  dress  him- 
self, he  went  down  to  his  office  to  speak  about  the  clover 
and  the  plowing. 

Agafya  Mikhaiiovna,  who  had  very  much  at  heart  the 
honor  of  the  mansion,  met  him  in  the  vestibule  with 
questions  about  dinner, 

"Do  just  as  you  please,"  replied  Levin,  as  he  went 
out ;  "only  make  haste  about  it,"  said  he,  and  went  to 
the  overseer. 

When  he  returned,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who  had 
washed,  and  combed  his  hair,  was  just  coming  out  of 
his  room  with  a  radiant  smile,  and  together  they  went 
up-stairs. 

"  Well,  I  am  very  happy  to  have  got  out  to  your 
house  at  last.  I  shall  now  learn  the  mystery  of  your 
existence  here.  Truly,  I  envy  you.  What  a  house ! 
How  convenient  everything  is  !  how  bright  and  delight- 
ful!  "  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  forgetting  that  bright 
days  and  the  springtime  were  not  always  there.  "And 
your  old  nurse,  — what  a  charming  old  soul !  All  that 's 
lacking  is  a  pretty  little  chambermaid  with  an  apron  on, 
—  but  that  does  not  suit  your  severe  and  monastic  style  ; 
but  this  is  very  good." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  much  interesting  news  to 


ANNA    KARENINA  209 

tell :  especially  interesting  to  Levin  was  the  tidings  that 
his  brother  Sergye'i  Ivanovitch  expected  to  come  into 
the  country  this  summer ;  but  not  one  word  did  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  say  about  Kitty  or  any  of  the  Shcherbat- 
skys,  he  simply  transmitted  his  wife's  greeting.  Levin 
was  grateful  to  him  for  this  delicacy.  As  usual,  he 
had  stored  up  during  his  hours  of  solitude  a  throng  of 
ideas  and  impressions  which  he  could  not  share  with 
any  of  his  domestics,  and  now  he  poured  into  Oblon- 
sky's  ears  his  poetical  spring  joys,  his  failures  and  plans 
and  farming  projects,  his  thoughts  and  his  observations 
on  the  books  which  he  had  read,  and  above  all  the  idea 
of  his  treatise,  the  scheme  of  which  consisted  —  though 
he  himself  had  not  noticed  it  —  of  a  critique  on  all  for- 
mer works  on  farming. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  amiable,  and  always  ready  to 
grasp  a  point,  showed  unusual  cordiality ;  and  Levin 
even  thought  that  he  noticed  a  certain  flattering  con- 
sideration and  an  undertone  of  tenderness  in  his  treat- 
ment of  him. 

The  efforts  of  Agafya  Mikhailovna  and  the  cook  to 
get  up  an  especially  good  dinner  resulted  in  the  two 
friends,  who  were  half  starved,  betaking  themselves  to 
the  zakuska,  or  lunch-table,  and  devouring  bread  and 
butter,  cold  chicken  and  salted  mushrooms,  and  finally 
in  Levin  calling  for  the  soup  without  the  little  pasties 
which  the  cook  had  made  in  the  hope  of  surprising  the 
guest. 

But  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  though  he  was  used  to  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  dinners,  found  everything  excellent,  the 
travnik,  or  herb-beer,  the  bread,  the  butter,  and  especially 
the  cold  chicken,  the  mushrooms,  the  sJicJii,  or  cabbage- 
soup,  the  fowl  with  white  sauce,  and  the  white  Krimean 
wine, — everything  was  admirable,  wonderful ! 

"Perfect !  perfect !  "  he  cried,  as  he  Jit  a  big  cigarette 
after  the  roast.  "  I  feel  as  if  I  had  escaped  the  shocks 
and  noise  of  a  ship,  and  had  landed  on  a  peaceful  shore. 
And  so  you  say  that  the  element  represented  by  the 
working-man  ought  to  be  studied  above  all  others,  and 
be  taken  as  a  guide  in  the    choice  of   economy  expe- 

VOL.  1. —  14 


2IO  ANNA   KARENINA 

dients.  You  see  I  am  a  profanus  in  these  questions, 
but  it  seems  to  me  that  this  theory  and  its  applications 
would  have  an  influence  on  the  working-man...." 

"Yes;  but  hold  on.  I  am  not  speaking  of  political 
economy,  but  of  rural  economy  considered  as  a  science. 
You  must  study  the  premises,  the  phenomena,  just  the 
same  as  in  the  natural  sciences ;  and  the  working-man, 
from  the  economical  and  ethnographical  point  of  view ...." 

But  here  Agafya  Mikhailovna  entered  with  the  des- 
sert of  preserves. 

"  Well,  now !  accept  my  compliments,  Agafya  Mi- 
khaVlovna,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  kissing  the  ends 
of  his  hairy  fingers.  "  What  nice  baked  chicken ! 
What  delicious  beer !  —  Well,  Kostia,  is  n't  it  time  to 
go  .■• "  he  added. 

Levin  looked  out  of  the  window  toward  the  sun, 
which  was  sinking  behind  the  tree-tops,  still  bare  and 
leafless. 

"  It  is  time.  Kuzma,  have  the  horses  hitched  up," 
he  cried,  as  he  went  down-stairs. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  followed  him,  and  carefully  re- 
moved the  canvas  covering  from  the  lacquered  case,  and, 
having  opened  it,  proceeded  to  take  out  his  costly  gun, 
which  was  of  the  newest  pattern. 

Kuzma,  already  scenting  a  generous  fee,  gave  him 
assiduous  attention,  and  helped  him  put  on  his  stock- 
ings and  his  hunting-boots  ;  and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
accepted  his  aid  complacently. 

"If  the  merchant  Rabinin  comes  while  we  are  gone, 
Kostia,  —  I  told  him  to  be  here  to-day,  —  do  me  the  favor 
to  have  him  kept  till  we  get  back."  .... 

"  Are  you  going  to  sell  your  wood  to  Rabinin .'' " 

"Yes.     Why,  do  you  know  him  .''  " 

"Oh!  certainly  I  know  him.  I  have  done  business 
with  him,  'positively  and  finally.'  " 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  burst  into  a  laugh.  "  Posi- 
tively and  finally  "  were  the  favorite  words  of  the  mer- 
chant. 

"Yes;  he  is  very  droll  in  his  speech!  —  She  knows 
where  her  master  is  going,"  he  added,  patting  Laska, 


ANNA    KARENINA  211 

who  was  jumping  and  barking  around  Levin,  licking 
now  his  hand,  now  his  boots  and  gun. 

A  dolgusha,  or  hunting-wagon,  was  waiting  at  the 
steps  as  they  came  out. 

"  I  had  the  horses  put  in,  although  we  have  but  a 
little  distance  to  go,"  said  Levin  ;  "  but  would  you  rather 
walk.?" 

"No,  I  prefer  to  ride,"  replied  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
as  he  mounted  the  wagon.  He  sat  down,  tucking  round 
his  legs  a  striped  plaid,  and  lighted  a  cigar.  "How 
can  you  get  along  without  smoking,  Kostia .-'  A  cigar 
....it  is  not  only  a  pleasure,  it  is  the  very  crown  and 
sign  of  delight.  This  is  life  indeed.  How  delightful ! 
I  should  like  to  live  like  this  !  " 

"  What 's  to  prevent  .-' "  asked  Levin,  with  a  smile. 

"Yes;  but  you  are  a  fortunate  man,  for  you  have 
everything  that  you  like.  You  like  horses,  you  have 
them  ;  dogs,  you  have  them ;  hunting,  here  it  is  ;  an 
estate,  here  it  is  !  " 

"Perhaps  it  is  because  I  enjoy  what  I  have,  and 
don't  covet  what  I  have  not,"  replied  Levin,  with  Kitty 
in  his  mind. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  understood,  and  looked  at  him 
without  speaking. 

Levin  was  grateful  to  Oblonsky  because  he  avoided 
speaking  about  the  Shcherbatskys,  with  his  usual  tact 
perceiving  that  Levin  dreaded  to  speak  about  them  ; 
but  now  he  felt  anxious  to  find  out  how  matters  stood, 
but  he  did  not  dare  to  inquire. 

"  Well,  how  go  your  affairs  }  "  asked  Levin,  realizing 
how  selfish  it  was  in  him  to  think  only  of  himself. 

Oblonsky's  eyes  glistened  with  gayety. 

"You  will  not  admit  that  one  can  want  hot  rolls  when 
he  has  his  monthly  rations  ;  in  your  eyes  it  is  a  crime : 
but  for  me,  I  cannot  admit  the  possibility  of  living  with- 
out love,"  he  replied,  construing  Levin's  question  in  his 
own  fashion.  "  What 's  to  be  done  about  it .-'  I  am  so 
constituted.  And  it  is  a  fact,  it  does  so  little. harm  to 
any  one  else,  and  gives  one  so  much  pleasure...." 

"What!  there  is  a  new  one,  is  there?"  asked  Levin. 


212  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  There  is,  brother !  You  know  the  type  of  the 
women  in  Ossian  ?....  these  women  that  you  see  in 
dreams  ?  ....  But  they  really  exist,  and  are  terrible. 
Woman,  you  see,  is  an  inexhaustible  theme ;  you  can 
never  cease  studying  her,  —  she  always  presents  some 
new  phase." 

"  So  much  the  better  not  to  study  her,  then." 

"  Not  at  all.  Some  mathematician  has  said  that  hap- 
piness consisted  in  searching  for  truth  and  never  find- 
ing it." 

Levin  listened,  and  said  no  more ;  and,  notwithstanding 
all  the  efforts  which  he  made,  he  could  not  in  the  least 
enter  into  his  friend's  soul,  and  understand  his  feelings 
and  the  charm  of  studying  such  women. 


CHAPTER   XV 

The  place  where  the  birds  collected  was  not  far 
away,  by  a  small  stream,  flowing  through  an  aspen 
grove.  Levin  got  out  and  took  Oblonsky  to  a  nook  in 
a  mossy,  somewhat  marshy  meadow,  where  the  snow 
had  already  melted.  He  himself  went  to  the  opposite 
side,  near  a  double  birch,  rested  his  gun  on  the  fork  of 
a  dead  branch,  took  off  his  kaftan,  clasped  a  belt  about 
his  waist,  and  insured  the  free  motion  of  his  arms. 

Old  gray  Laska,  following  him  step  by  step,  sat  down 
cautiously  in  front  of  him,  and  pricked  up  her  ears. 
The  sun  was  setting  behind  the  great  forest,  and  against 
the  bright  sky  the  young  birches  and  aspens  stood  out 
distinctly,  with  their  bending  branches  and  their  swell- 
ing buds. 

In  the  forest,  where  the  snow  still  lay,  the  low  rip- 
pling sound  of  waters  could  be  heard  running  in  their 
narrow  channels  ;  little  birds  were  chirping,  and  flying 
from  tree  to  tree.  In  the  intervals  of  perfect  silence 
one  could  hear  the  rustling  of  the  last  year's  leaves, 
moved  by  the  thawing  earth  or  the  pushing  herbs. 

"  Why,  one  really  can  hear  and  see  the  grass  grow  !  " 
said  Levin  to  himself,  as  he  saw  a  moist  and  slate-col- 


ANNA    KARENINA  213 

ored  aspen  leaf  raised  by  the  blade  of  a  young  herb  start- 
ing from  the  sod. 

He  stood,  listening  and  looking,  now  at  the  damp 
moss-covered  ground,  now  at  the  watchful  Laska,  now 
at  the  bare  tree-tops  of  the  forest,  which  swept  like  a  sea  to 
the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  now  at  the  darkening  sky,  where 
floated  Httle  white  bits  of  cloud.  A  hawk  flew  aloft, 
slowly  flapping  his  broad  wings  above  the  distant  forest ; 
another  took  the  same  direction  and  disappeared.  In 
the  thicket  the  birds  were  chirping  louder  and  more 
gayly  than  ever.  Not  far  away,  an  owl  lifted  his  voice, 
and  Laska  pricked  up  her  ears  again,  took  two  or  three 
cautious  steps,  and  bent  her  head  to  listen.  On  the 
other  side  of  the  stream  a  cuckoo  sang.  Twice  it  uttered 
its  customary  cry,  and  then  its  voice  grew  hoarse,  it 
flew  away,  and  was  heard  no  more. 

"  Why,  the  cuckoo  has  come  !  "  said  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch,  coming  out  from  behind  his  thicket. 

"  Yes,  I  hear,"  said  Levin,  disgusted  that  the  silence 
of  the  forest  was  broken,  by  the  sound  even  of  his  own 
voice.     "You  won't  have  to  wait  long  now." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  returned  to  his  place  behind  his 
thicket,  and  Levin  saw  only  the  flash  of  a  match  and 
the  red  glow  of  his  cigarette  and  a  light  bluish  smoke. 

Tchik !  tchik  !     Stepan  Arkadyevitch  cocked  his  gun. 

"  What  was  that  making  that  noise  } "  he  asked  of 
his  companion,  attracting  his  attention  to  a  protracted 
humming  as  if  a  colt  was  neighing  with  a  very  slender 
voice. 

"  Don't  you  know  what  that  is  .<*  That  is  the  buck 
rabbit.  Don't  speak  any  more.  Listen,  there  is  a 
bird  !  "  cried  Levin,  cocking  his  gun. 

A  slender  distant  whistle  was  heard,  with  that  rhyth- 
mic regularity  which  the  huntsman  knows  so  well ;  then 
a  moment  or  two  later  it  was  repeated  nearer,  and  sud- 
denly changed  into  a  hoarse  little  cry. 

Levin  turned  his  eyes  to  the  right,  to  the  left,  and 
finally  saw,  just  above  his  head,  against  the  fading  blue 
of  the  sky,  above  the  gently  waving  aspens,  a  bird  fly- 
ing.    It  flew  straight  toward  him  ;  its  cry,  like  the  noise 


ar4  ANNA    KARENINA 

made  by  tearing  stiff  cloth,  rang  in  his  ears  ;  then  he 
distinguished  the  long  bill  and  the  long  neck  of  the 
bird,  but  hardly  had  he  caught  sight  of  it  when  a  red 
flash  shone  out  from  behind  Oblonsky's  bush.  The 
bird  darted  off  like  an  arrow  and  rose  into  the  air  again  ; 
but  again  the  light  flashed  and  a  report  was  heard,  and 
the  bird,  vainly  striving  to  rise,  flapped  its  wings  for  a 
second,  and  fell  heavily  to  the  wet  earth. 

"  Did  I  miss  ? "  asked  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who 
could  see  nothing  through  the  smoke. 

"  Here  she  is,"  cried  Levin,  pointing  to  Laska,  who, 
with  one  ear  erect,  and  waving  the  tip  end  of  her  hairy 
tail,  slowly,  as  if  to  lengthen  out  the  pleasure,  came  back 
with  the  bird  in  her  mouth,  seeming  almost  to  smile  as 
she  laid  the  game  down  at  her  master's  feet. 

"  Well  now,  I  am  glad  you  succeeded,"  said  Levin, 
though  he  felt  a  slight  sensation  of  envy,  because  he 
himself  had  not  killed  this  snipe. 

"The  right  barrel  missed,  curse  it !  "  replied  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  reloading  his  gun.  '*  S/t  /....Here's  an- 
other...." 

In  fact,  the  whistles  came  thicker  and  thicker,  rapid 
and  sharp.  Two  snipe  flew  over  the  hunters,  playing, 
chasing  each  other,  and  only  whistling,  not  clucking. 
Four  shots  rang  out ;  and  the  snipe,  making  a  sudden 
turn  like  swallows,  disappeared  from  sight. 


The  sport  was  excellent.  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  killed 
two  others,  and  Levin  also  two,  one  of  which  was  lost. 
It  grew  darker  and  darker.  Venus,  with  silvery  light, 
shone  out  low  in  the  west  from  behind  the  birches ; 
and  high  in  the  east,  Arcturus  gleamed,  with  his  somber, 
reddish  fire.  Above  his  head.  Levin  found  and  lost  the 
stars  of  the  Great  Bear.  The  snipe  had  now  ceased  to 
fly,  but  Levin  resolved  to  wait  until  Venus,  which  was 
visible  above  the  birch  trees,  should  stand  clear  above 
the  lower  branches,  and  till  all  the  stars  of  the  Great 
Bear  should  be  entirely  visible.  The  star  had  passed 
beyond  the  birch  trees,  and  the  wain  of  the  Bear  with 


ANNA    KARENINA  215 

its  pole  was  shining  out  clear  in  the  dark  blue  sky,  and 
he  was  still  waiting. 

"  Is  n't  it  getting  late  ? "  asked  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

All  was  calm  in  the  forest ;  not  a  bird  moved. 

"  Let  us  wait  a  little  longer,"  replied  Levin. 

"Just  as  you  please." 

At  this  moment  they  were  not  fifteen  paces  apart. 

"  Stiva,"  cried  Levin,  suddenly,  "you  have  not  told 
me  whether  your  sister-in-law  is  married  yet,  or  whether 
she  is  to  be  married  soon." 

He  felt  so  calm,  his  mind  was  so  thoroughly  made 
up,  that  nothing,  he  thought,  could  move  him.  But 
what  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  answered  was  wholly  un- 
expected. 

"  She  is  not  married,  and  she  is  not  thinking  of 
marriage.  She  is  very  ill,  and  the  doctors  have  sent 
her  abroad.     They  even  fear  for  her  life." 

"What  did  you  say  .^ "  cried  Levin.  "Very  ill? 
What  is  the  matter .-'     How  did  she....  " 

While  they  were  talking  thus,  Laska,  with  ears  erect, 
was  gazing  at  the  sky  above  her  head,  and  looking  at 
them  reproachfully. 

"This  is  not  the  time  to  talk,"  thought  Laska.  "Ah  ! 
Here  comes  one  —  there  he  goes;  they  will  miss  him." 

At  the  same  instant  a  sharp  whistle  pierced  the  ears 
of  the  two  huntsmen,  and  both,  leveling  their  guns, 
shot  at  once ;  the  two  reports,  the  two  flashes,  were 
simultaneous.  The  snipe,  flying  high,  folded  his  wings, 
drew  up  his  delicate  legs,  and  fell  into  the  thicket. 

"Excellent!  both  together!"  cried  Levin,  running 
with  Laska  in  search  of  the  game.  "  Oh,  yes  !  What 
was  it  that  hurt  me  so  just  now.?  Ah,  yes  !  Kitty  is 
ill,"  he  remembered.  "  What  is  to  be  done  about  it  .-• 
It  is  too  bad.  —  Ah  !  she  has  found  it !  Good  dog,"  said 
he,  taking  the  bird,  still  warm,  from  Laska's  mouth,  and 
putting  it  into  his  overflowing  game-bag. 

"  Come  on,  Stiva  I  "  he  cried. 


2i6  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XVI 

On  their  way  home,  Levin  questioned  his  friend  about 
Kitty's  illness  and  the  plans  of  the  Shcherbatskys. 
Though  it  caused  some  conscientious  scruples,  what  he 
heard  was  pleasant  news  to  him.  It  was  pleasant  because 
it  left  him  with  some  grounds  for  hope,  and  it  was  still 
more  pleasant  to  think  that  she  who  had  caused  him  so 
much  suffering,  was  suffering  herself.  But  when  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  began  to  speak  of  the  reason  of  Kitty's 
illness,  and  pronounced  the  name  of  Vronsky,  he  inter- 
rupted him. 

"  I  have  no  right  to  know  these  family  matters,  since 
I  am  not  concerned." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  smiled  imperceptibly  as  he 
noticed  the  sudden  and  characteristic  change  in  Levin, 
who,  in  an  instant,  had  passed  from  gayety  to  sadness. 

"  Have  you  succeeded  in  your  transaction  with  Rabinin 
about  the  wood  ? "  he  asked. 

"Yes,  I  have  made  the  bargain.  He  gives  me  an 
excellent  price, — thirty-eight  thousand  rubles,  eight  in 
advance,  and  the  rest  in  six  years.  I  had  been  long 
about  it ;  no  one  offered  me  any  more." 

"That  means  you  are  selling  your  wood  for  a  song," 
said  Levin,  frowning. 

"Why  so.?"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  with  a  good- 
humored  smile,  knowing  that  now  Levin  would  totally 
disapprove  of  everything. 

"  Because  your  wood  is  worth  at  least  five  hundred 
rubles  a  desyatin." 

"Oh  !  You  rural  economists  ! "  replied  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch, banteringly.  "What  a  tone  of  scorn  to  us, 
your  city  brother ! ....  And  yet,  when  it  comes  to  busi- 
ness matters,  we  come  out  of  it  better  than  you  do. 
Believe  me,  I  have  made  a  careful  calculation.  The 
wood  is  sold  under  very  favorable  conditions  ;  and  I 
fear  only  one  thing,  and  that  is  lest  the  merchant  will 
back  out  of  it !  You  see,  it  is  wretched  wood,"  he  went 
on,  accenting   the  word  wretched,   so   as   to  convince 


ANNA    KARENINA  217 

Levin  of  the  unfairness  of  his  criticism,  "and  nothing 
but  fire-wood.  There  will  not  be  much  more  than  thirty 
cords  to  the  acre,^  and  he  pays  me  at  the  rate  of  two 
hundred  rubles." 

Levin  smiled  scornfully. 

'•  I  know  these  city  people,"  he  thought,  "  who,  com- 
ing twice  in  ten  years  into  the  country,  and  learning 
two  or  three  country  words,  which  they  use  appropri- 
ately or  inappropriately,  are  firmly  persuaded  that  they 
know  it  all.  '  Wretched  !  only  thirty  cords ! '  he  speaks 
words  without  knowing  what  he  is  talking  about." 

"  I  do  not  pretend  to  teach  you  what  you  write  in 
your  office,"  said  he,  "and,  if  I  needed,  I  would  even 
ask  your  advice.  But  you  are  so  sure  that  you  under- 
stand this  whole  document  about  the  wood.  It  is  hard. 
Have  you  counted  the  trees  .-*  " 

"  What }  Count  my  trees  .? "  asked  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch,  with  a  laugh,  and  still  trying  to  get  his  friend  out 
of  his  ill-humor.  "  Count  the  sands,  the  rays  of  the 
planets  —  though  a  lofty  genius  might ....  " 

"Well,  now!  I  tell  you  the  lofty  genius  of  Rabinin 
may  !  Never  does  a  merchant  purchase  without  count- 
ing,—  unless,  indeed,  the  wood  is  given  away  for  noth- 
ing as  you  have  done.  I  know  your  forest,  I  go  hunting 
there  every  year  ;  and  your  forest  is  worth  five  hundred 
rubles  a  desyatin  cash  down  ;  and  he  has  given  you  only 
two  hundred,  and  on  a  long  term.  That  means  you  make 
him  a  present  of  thirty  thousand." 

"  Well,  enough  of  imaginary  receipts,"  said  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  plaintively.  "  Why  did  n't  some  one  offer 
me  this  price  }  " 

"  Because  the  merchants  connive  together.  I  have 
had  to  do  with  all  of  them  ;  I  know  them.  They  are 
not  merchants,  but  speculators.  None  of  them  is  satis- 
fied with  a  profit  less  than  ten  or  fifteen  percent.  They 
wait  till  they  can  buy  for  twenty  kopeks  what  is  worth  a 
ruble." 

"Well,  enough  ;  you  are  out  of  sorts." 

'  Thirty  sazhens  to  the  desyatin.  A  desyatin  is  2.7  acre.  A  cubic 
tazhen  is  2.68  cords. 


2i8  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Levin,  sadly,  as  they  were  approach 
ing  the  house. 

A  small  cart,  tightly  bound  with  iron  and  leather,  drawn 
by  a  fat  horse,  tightly  harnessed  with  wide  straps,  was 
standing  at  the  entrance ;  in  the  cart  sat  a  red-faced 
overseer  tightly  belted,  who  served  Rabinin  as  a  coach- 
man. Rabinin  himself  was  already  in  the  house,  and 
met  the  two  friends  in  the  vestibule.  Rabinin  was  a 
man  of  middle  age,  tall  and  thin,  wearing  a  mustache, 
but  his  prominent  chin  was  well  shaven.  His  eyes  were 
protuberant  and  muddy.  He  was  clad  in  a  dark  blue 
coat  with  buttons  set  low  behind,  and  he  wore  high 
boots,  wrinkled  around  the  ankles  and  smooth  over  the 
calves,  and  over  his  boots  huge  galoshes.  Wiping  his 
face  with  his  handkerchief,  and  wrapping  his  over- 
coat closely  around  him,  though  without  that  it  fitted 
him  well  enough,  he  came  out  with  a  smile,  to  meet 
the  gentlemen  as  they  entered.  He  gave  one  hand 
to  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  as  if  he  wanted  to  grasp  some- 
thing. 

"Ah!  Here  you  are,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
shaking  hands.     "Very  good." 

"  I  should  not  have  ventured  to  disobey  your  excel- 
lency's orders,  though  the  roads  are  very  bad.  Posi- 
tively, I  came  all  the  way  on  foot,  but  I  got  here  on  time. 
A  greeting  to  you,  Konstantin  Dmitritch,"  said  he, 
turning  to  Levin,  intending  to  seize  his  hand  also ; 
but  Levin,  frowning,  affected  not  to  notice  the  motion, 
and  began  to  take  out  the  snipe. 

"You  have  been  enjoying  a  hunt  .^  What  kind  of  a 
bird  is  that  ?  "  asked  Rabinin,  looking  at  the  snipe  dis- 
dainfully. "I  suppose  it  has  a  peculiar  flavor."  And 
he  shook  his  head  disapprovingly,  as  if  he  felt  doubtful 
whether  the  game  were  worth  the  candle. 

"Would  you  like  to  go  into  the  library.^"  said  Levin, 
darkly  scowling,  addressing  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  in 
French.  "  Go  to  the  library,  and  discuss  your  business 
there." 

"Just  as  you  please,"  replied  the  merchant,  in  a  tone 
of  disdainful    superiority,  apparently  wishing   it   to  be 


ANNA    KARENINA  219 

understood  that  others  might  find  difficulties  in  trans- 
acting business,  but  that  he  never  could. 

As  he  entered  the  library,  Rabinin  glanced  about  as 
if  his  eyes  were  in  search  of  the  holy  image ;  but  when 
he  caught  sight  of  it,  he  did  not  cross  himself.  He 
glanced  at  the  bookcases  and  the  shelves  lined  with 
books,  and  with  the  same  air  of  doubt  that  the  snipe  had 
caused,  he  smiled  scornfully  and  shook  his  head  disap- 
provingly, as  if  this  kind  of  game  also  were  not  worth 
the  candle. 

"  Well,  did  you  bring  the  money  ? "  asked  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch.     "  Sit  down." 

"  The  money  will  come  all  in  good  time,  but  I  came 
to  see  you  and  have  a  talk." 

"  What  have  we  to  talk  about  ?  However,  sit 
down." 

"  May  as  well  sit  down,"  said  Rabinin,  taking  a  chair, 
and  leaning  back  in  it  in  the  most  uncomfortable  atti- 
tude. "You  must  give  in  a  trifle,  prince;  it  would  be 
sinful  not  to  do  it.  As  to  the  money,  it  is  all  ready, 
absolutely  and  finally  even  to  the  last  kopek ;  as  far  as 
the  money  goes,  there  will  be  no  delay." 

Levin,  who  had  been  putting  his  gun  away  in  the 
armory,  and  was  just  leaving  the  room,  stopped  as  he 
heard  the  last  words. 

"  You  bought  the  wood  for  a  song,"  said  he.  "  He 
came  to  visit  me  too  late ;  I  would  have  got  a  good  price 
for  it." 

Rabinin  arose  and  smilingly  contemplated  Levin  from 
head  to  foot,  but  said  nothing. 

"  Konstantin  Levin  is  very  sharp,"  said  he,  at  length, 
turning  to  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "  One  never  succeeds 
in  arranging  a  bargain  finally  with  him.  I  have  bought 
wheat,  and  paid  good  prices." 

"  Why  should  I  give  you  my  property  for  a  song  ?  I 
did  not  find  it  in  the  ground,  nor  did  I  steal  it." 

"  Excuse  me  ;  at  the  present  day  it  is  absolutely  im- 
possible to  be  a  thief,  everything  is  done,  in  the  present 
day,  honestly  and  openly.  Who  could  steal,  then .-'  We 
have  spoken  honestly  and  honorably.     The  wood  is  too 


220  ANNA   KARENINA 

dear ;  I  shall  not  make  the  two  ends  meet.  I  beg  him 
to  yield  a  little." 

"  But  is  your  bargain  made,  or  is  it  not  ?  If  it  is 
made,  there  is  no  need  of  haggling;  if  it  is  not,"  said 
Levin,  "  I  am  going  to  buy  the  wood." 

The  smile  suddenly  disappeared  from  Rabinin's  lips. 
A  rapacious  and  cruel  expression,  like  that  of  a  bird  of 
prey,  came  in  its  place.  With  his  bony  fingers  he  tore 
open  his  overcoat,  bringing  into  sight  his  shirt,  his  waist- 
coat with  its  copper  buttons,  and  his  watch-chain  ;  and 
from  his  breast-pocket  he  pulled  out  a  huge,  well-worn 
wallet. 

"  Excuse  me,  the  wood  is  mine,"  he  exclaimed,  making  a 
rapid  sign  of  the  cross,  and  he  extended  his  hand.  "  Take 
your  money,  the  wood  is  mine.  This  is  how  Rabinin 
ends  his  transactions.  He  does  not  reckon  his  kopeks," 
said  he,  knitting  his  brows  and  waving  his  wallet  eagerly. 

"  If  I  were  in  your  place,  I  should  not  be  in  haste," 
said  Levin. 

"  Mercy  on  me  !  "  said  Oblonsky,  astonished,  "  I  hav^e 
given  my  word." 

Levin  dashed  out  of  the  room,  slamming  the  door. 
Rabinin  glanced  at  the  door  and  shook  his  head. 

"  Merely  the  effect  of  youth  ;  definitely,  pure  child- 
ishness. Believe  me,  I  buy  this,  so  to  speak,  for  the 
sake  of  glory,  so  that  they  may  say,  *  It 's  Rabinin,  and 
not  some  one  else,  who  has  bought  Oblonsky's  forest.' 
And  God  knows  how  I  shall  come  out  of  it !  Have  faith 
in  God  !     Please  sign."  .... 

An  hour  later  the  merchant,  carefully  wrapping  his 
khalat  around  him  and  buttoning  up  his  overcoat,  took 
his  seat  in  his  cart  and  drove  home,  with  the  agreement 
in  his  pocket. 

"  Oh  !  these  gentlemen  ! "  he  said  to  his  overseer, 
"always  the  same  story." 

"  So  it  is,"  replied  the  prikashchik,  giving  up  the  reins, 
so  as  to  arrange  the  leather  boot.  "  And  your  little  pur- 
chase, Mikhail  Ignatyitch?" 

"Well!  well!" 


ANNA    KARENINA  221 


CHAPTER   XVII 


Stepan  Arkadyevitch  went  up-stairs,  his  pockets 
bulging  out  with  "  promises  to  pay,"  due  in  three  months, 
which  the  merchant  had  given  him.  The  sale  of  the 
forest  was  concluded ;  he  had  money  in  his  pocket ; 
sport  had  been  good  ;  and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  in 
the  happiest  frame  of  mind,  and  therefore  was  especially 
eager  to  dispel  the  sadness  which  had  taken  possession 
of  Levin.  He  wanted  a  good  ending  for  the  day  that 
since  dinner  had  shown  such  promise. 

In  point  of  fact,  Levin  was  not  in  good  spirits,  and 
in  spite  of  his  desire  to  seem  amiable  and  thoughtful 
toward  his  beloved  guest,  he  could  not  control  himself. 
The  intoxication  which  he  felt  in  learning  that  Kitty 
was  not  married  had  begun  little  by  little  to  affect  him. 

Kitty  not  married,  and  ill  —  ill  from  love  for  a  man 
who  had  jilted  her.  It  was  almost  like  a  personal  in- 
sult. Vronsky  had  slighted  her,  and  she  had  slighted 
him.  Levin,  consequently,  had  gained  the  right  to  de- 
spise him.  He  was  therefore  his  enemy.  Levin  did 
not  reason  this  all  out.  He  had  a  vague  sense  that 
there  was  something  in  this  humiliating  to  him,  and  he 
was  angry  now  because  it  had  upset  his  plans,  and  so 
everything  which  came  up  annoyed  him.  The  stupid 
sale  of  the  forest,  which  had  taken  place  under  his  roof, 
and  the  way  Oblonsky  had  been  cheated,  exasperated  him. 

"  Well,  is  it  finished  ? "  he  asked,  as  he  met  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  up-stairs.  "  Would  you  like  some  sup- 
per .?  " 

"Yes,  I  won't  refuse.  What  an  appetite  I  feel  in 
the  country  !  It 's  wonderful !  Why  did  n't  you  offer  a 
bite  to  Rabinin  .?  " 

"Ah!  the  devil  take  him!" 

"  Why  !  how  you  treated  him  !  "  exclaimed  Oblonsky. 
"You  didn't  even  offer  him  your  hand!  Why  didn't 
you  offer  him  your  hand  .-'  " 

"  Because  I  don't  shake  hands  with  my  lackey,  and 
my  lackey  is  worth  a  hundred  of  him." 


222  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  What  a  retrograde  you  are !  And  how  about  the 
fusion  of  classes  ?  "  said  Oblonsky. 

"  Let  those  who  like  it,  enjoy  it !  It  is  disgusting 
to  me." 

"  You,  I  see,  are  a  retrograde." 

"  To  tell  the  truth,  I  never  asked  myself  what  I  am. 
I  am  Konstantin  Levin  —  nothing  more." 

"And  Konstantin  Levin  in  a  very  bad  humor,"  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  smiling. 

"  Yes,  I  am  in  bad  humor,  and  do  you  know  why  .■* 
Because ....  excuse  me ....  because  of  your  stupid  barg....  " 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  frowned  good-naturedly,  like  a 
man  who  is  unreasonably  scolded  and  blamed. 

"There!  that'll  do!"  he  said.  "After  any  one  has 
sold  anything,  they  come  saying,  *You  might  have  sold 
this  at  a  higher  price ; '    but  no  one  thinks  of  offering 

this  fine  price  before  the  sale No;  I  see  you  have 

a  grudge  against  this  unfortunate  Rabinin." 

"  Maybe  I  have.  And  do  you  know  why  ?  You  will 
call  me  retrograde  or  some  worse  name,  but  it  is  so 
vexatious  and  disgusting  to  me  to  see  what  is  going 
on  everywhere — the  nobility  which  I  belong  to,  and 
in  spite  of  your  fusion  of  classes,  am  very  glad  to  be- 
long to,  always  getting  poorer  and  poorer And  this 

growing  poverty  is  not  in  consequence  of  luxurious 
living.  That  would  be  nothing.  To  live  like  lords  is 
proper  for  the  nobles  ;  the  nobles  only  can  do  this. 
Now  the  muzhiks  are  buying  up  our  lands  ;  that  does  not 
trouble  me  ;  the  proprietor  does  nothing,  the  muzhik 
is  industrious,  and  supplants  the  lazy  man.  So  it  ought 
to  be.  And  I  am  very  glad  for  the  muzhik.  But  what 
vexes  me,  and  stirs  my  soul,  is  to  see  the  proprietor 
robbed  by....  I  don't  know  how  to  express  it....  by  his 
own  innocence.  Here  is  a  Polish  leaseholder,  who  has 
bought,  at  half  price,  a  superb  estate  of  a  lady  who 
lives  at  Nice.  Yonder  is  a  merchant  who  has  hired  a 
farm  for  a  ruble  an  acre,  and  it  is  worth  ten  rubles  an 
acre.  And  this  very  day,  without  the  slightest  reason, 
you  have  given  this  rascal  a  present  of  thirty  thousand." 

"  But  what  can  I  do  ?     Count  my  trees  one  by  one  ? " 


ANNA    KARENINA  223 

"  Certainly  ;  if  you  have  not  counted  them,  Rabinin 
did,  and  his  children  will  have  the  means  whereby  to 
live  and  get  an  education,  whereas  yours,  perhaps,  will 
not." 

"  Well,  forgive  me,  but  there  is  something  pitiful  in 
such  minute  calculations.  We  have  our  ways  of  doing 
things,  and  they  have  theirs  ;  and  let  them  get  the 
profits.  There  now !  Moreover,  it  is  done,  and  that 's 
the  end  of  it And  here  is  my  favorite  omelette  com- 
ing in  ;  and  then  Agafya  Mikhailovna  will  certainly  give 
us  a  glass  of  her  marvelous  herb-beer." .... 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  sat  down  at  the  table  and  be- 
gan to  joke  with  Agafya  Mikhailovna,  assuring  her  that 
he  had  not  eaten  such  a  dinner  and  such  a  supper  for 
an  age. 

"  You  can  give  fine  speeches,  at  least,"  said  Agafya 
Mikhailovna.  "  But  Konstantin  Dmitritch,  whatever 
was  set  before  him,  if  only  a  crust  of  bread,  would  eat 
it  and  go  away." 

Levin,  in  spite  of  his  efforts  to  control  himself,  was 
melancholy  and  gloomy.  He  wanted  to  ask  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  one  question,  but  he  could  not  make  up 
his  mind,  nor  could  he  find  either  the  opportunity  in 
which  to  ask  it,  or  a  suitable  form  in  which  to  couch  it. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  gone  down  to  his  room, 
and,  after  another  bath,  had  put  on  a  ruffled  night-shirt 
and  gone  to  bed.  Levin  still  dallied  in  his  room,  talking 
about  various  trifles,  but  not  having  the  courage  to  ask 
what  he  had  at  heart. 

"How  wonderfully  well  this  is  made!"  said  he,  tak- 
ing from  its  wrapper  a  piece  of  perfumed  soap,  which 
Agafya  Mikhailovna  had  prepared  for  the  guest,  but 
which  Oblonsky  had  not  used.  "Just  look;  isn't  it 
truly  a  work  of  art  ?" 

"  Yes ;  all  sorts  of  improvements  nowadays,"  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  with  a  beatific  yawn.  "The 
theaters,  for  example,  and  — a  —  a — a" — yawning  again 
—  "these  amusing  a-a-a ....  and  electric  lights  every- 
where a-a-a-a-a....  " 

"  Yes,  the  electric  lights,"  repeated    Levin.     "  And 


224  ANNA   KARENINA 

that  Vronsky,  where  is  he  now  ? "  he  suddenly  asked, 
putting  down  the  soap. 

"Vronsky?"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  ceasing  to 
yawn,  "  He  is  at  Petersburg.  He  went  away  shortly 
after  you  did,  and  has  not  been  in  Moscow  since.  And 
do  you  know,  Kostia,"  he  continued,  leaning  his  elbow 
on  a  little  take  placed  near  the  head  of  the  bed,  and 
resting  his  handsome  ruddy  face  on  his  hand,  while  two 
oily,  good-natured,  and  sleepy  eyes  shone  out  like  twin 
stars,  "  I  am  going  to  tell  you  the  truth.  You  yourself 
were  to  blame.  You  were  afraid  of  a  rival.  And  I  will 
remind  you  of  what  I  said  :  I  don't  know  which  of  you 
had  the  best  chances.  Why  didn't  you  go  ahead,?  I 
told  you  then  that...." 

He  yawned  again,  with  his  jaws  only,  trying  not  to 
open  his  mouth. 

"Does  he,  or  does  n't  he,  know  that  I  offered  myself  .-• " 
thought  Levin,  looking  at  him.  "  Yes  !  there  is  some- 
thing subtle,  something  diplomatic,  in  his  face ; "  and, 
feeling  that  he  was  flushing,  he  said  nothing,  but  looked 
straight  into  Oblonsky's  eyes. 

"  If  on  her  part  there  was  any  feeling  for  him,  it  was 
merely  a  slight  drawing,"  continued  Oblonsky.  "  You 
know,  that  absolutely  high  breeding  of  his  and  the 
chances  of  position  in  the  world  had  an  effect  on  her 
mother,  but  not  on  her." 

Levin  frowned.  The  humiliation  of  his  rejection, 
with  which  he  was  suffering  as  from  a  recent  wound, 
smarted  in  his  heart.  Fortunately,  he  was  at  home ; 
and  the  very  walls  of  the  home  sustain  one. 

**  Wait !  wait !  "  he  interrupted  ;  "  you  said,  '  high 
breeding '  !  ^  But  let  me  ask  you,  what  means  this  high 
breeding  of  Vronsky,  or  any  one  else  —  a  high  breeding 
that  could  look  down  on  me.  You  consider  Vronsky  an 
aristocrat.  I  don't,  A  man  whose  father  sprang  from 
nothing,  by  means  of  intrigue,  whose  mother  has  had 
liaisons  with  God  knows  whom  ....  Oh,  no,  excuse  me  ! 
Aristocrats,  in  my  opinion,  are  men  like  myself,  who 
can  show  in  the  past  three  or  four  generations  of  excel- 

^  Aristokratism. 


ANNA    KARENINA  225 

lent  families,  belonging  to  the  most  cultivated  classes, 
—  talents  and  intellect  are  another  matter, — who  never 
abased  themselves  before  anybody,  and  vi'erc  never  de- 
pendent on  others, — like  my  father  and  grandfather. 
And  I  know  many  such.  It  seems  small  business  to 
you  that  I  count  my  trees,  while  you  give  thirty  thou- 
sand rubles  to  Rabinin :  but  you  receive  a  salary,  and 
other  things  ;  and  I  receive  nothing  of  the  sort,  and 
therefore  I  appreciate  what  my  father  left  me,  and  what 

my  labor  gives  me We  are  the  aristocrats,  and  not 

those  who  live  only  by  means  of  what  the  powers  of 
this  world  dole  out  to  them,  and  who  can  be  bought  for 
a  copper." 

"  There !  whom  are  you  so  angry  with  ?  I  agree  with 
you,"  replied  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  sincerely  and  gayly, 
though  he  knew  that  when  Levin  hurled  his  sarcasms 
at  those  who  could  be  bought  for  a  copper,  he  meant 
him.  But  Levin's  animation  really  pleased  him. 
"  Whom  are  you  angry  with  .-'  Though  much  of  what 
you  say  about  Vronsky  is  not  true,  still  I  won't  speak 
about  that.  I  will  tell  you  frankly  that  if  I  were  in 
your  place,  I  would  start  for  Moscow,  and  ....  " 

"  No  !  I  don't  know  whether  you  know  or  not,  — 
but  it  's  over  for  me.  I  will  tell  you.  I  proposed  and 
was  rejected ;  so  that  now  the  memory  of  Katerina 
Aleksandrovna  is  painful  and  humiliating." 

"  Why  so  ?     What  nonsense  !  " 

"  But  let  us  not  speak  of  it.  Forgive  me  if  I  have 
been  rude  to  you,"  said  Levin.  Now  that  he  had  made 
a  clean  breast  of  it,  he  began  once  more  to  feel  as  he 
had  felt  in  the  morning.  "  You  will  not  be  angry  with 
me,  Stiva  .•*  I  beg  of  you,  don't  be  angry  with  me," 
said  he,  and  with  a  smile  he  took  his  hand. 

"  Of  course  not.  I  will  not  think  anything  more 
about  it.  I  am  very  glad,  though,  that  we  have  spoken 
frankly  to  each  other.  And,  do  you  know,  sport  will 
be  capital  to-morrow.  We  can  try  it  again,  can't  we  .■' 
In  that  case  I  would  not  even  sleep,  but  go  straight 
from  the  grove  to  the  station." 

"  Capital !  " 

VOL.  I.  —  15 


226  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

Although  Vronsky's  inner  life  was  wholly  absorbed 
by  his  passion,  his  outward  life  unchangeably  and  inevi- 
tably ran  along  on  the  former  ordinary  rails  of  his  social 
and  regimental  ties  and  interests.  His  regiment  filled 
an  important  part  in  his  life,  in  the  first  place  because 
he  loved  his  regiment,  and,  still  more,  because  he  was 
extremely  popular  in  it.  In  his  regiment  he  was  not 
only  admired,  but  he  was  also  respected.  They  were 
proud  of  him,  proud  that  a  man  enormously  rich,  with 
a  fine  education  and  with  qualities,  with  a  path  open 
before  him  to  every  kind  of  success  and  ambition  and 
glorification,  scorned  all  that,  and  placed  the  interests  of 
his  regiment  and  his  comrades  above  all  the  interests  of 
life.  Vronksy  recognized  the  feeling  which  he  inspired, 
and,  besides  the  fact  that  he  loved  that  life,  he  felt  called 
on,  in  a  certain  degree,  to  sustain  his  character. 

Of  course  he  spoke  to  no  one  of  his  passion.  Never 
did  an  imprudent  word  escape  him,  even  when  he  joined 
his  comrades  in  the  liveliest  of  drinking-bouts,  —  how- 
ever, he  was  never  so  intoxicated  as  to  lose  control  over 
himself,  —  and  he  kept  his  mouth  shut  in  the  presence 
of  those  gossiping  meddlers  who  made  the  least  allusion 
to  the  affairs  of  his  heart.  Nevertheless,  his  passion 
was  a  matter  of  notoriety  throughout  the  city ;  all  had 
more  or  less  well-founded  suspicions  of  his  relationship 
to  Madame  Karenin,  and  most  of  the  young  men  envied 
him  on  account  of  the  very  thing  that  was  the  greatest 
drawback  to  his  love,  —  Karenin's  high  station,  which 
made  the  matter  more  conspicuous. 

The  majority  of  young  women,  jealous  of  Anna, 
whom  they  were  weary  of  hearing  always  called  the  just, 
were  not  sorry  to  have  their  predictions  verified,  and 
were  waiting  only  for  the  sanction  of  public  opinion,  to 
overwhelm  her  with  the  whole  weight  of  their  scorn  ; 
they  had  already  prepared  for  use  the  mud  which  should 
be  thrown  at  her  when  the  time  should  come.  Most 
people  of  experience,  and  those  of  high  rank,  were  dis- 


ANNA    KARENINA  227 

pleased  at  the  prospect  of  a  disgraceful  scandal  in 
society. 

Vronsky's  mother,  when  she  heard  of  the  liaison,  at 
first  was  glad ;  because,  in  her  opinion,  nothing  gave 
the  last  finish  to  a  brilliant  young  man  compared  to  an 
intrigue  in  high  life ;  and  because  she  was  not  sorry  to 
find  that  this  Madame  Karenin,  who  had  pleased  her  so 
much  and  who  seemed  so  entirely  devoted  to  her  boy, 
was,  after  all,  only  like  any  other  handsome  and  elegant 
woman.  But  later  she  learned  that  her  son  had  refused 
an  important  promotion,  for  no  other  reason  than  that 
he  might  stay  with  his  regiment  and  keep  on  visiting 
Madame  Karenin,  and  she  learned  that,  on  account  of 
this,  persons  very  high  in  authority  were  dissatisfied 
with  him,  and  she  changed  her  opinion  in  regard  to  it. 

There  was  another  reason  why  she  did  not  now  ap- 
prove of  it :  from  all  she  could  learn  of  this  liaison,  it 
was  not  the  brilliant  and  fashionable  flirtation,  such  as 
she  approved,  but  a  desperate  tragedy,  after  the  style  of 
Werther,  according  to  report,  and  she  was  afraid  lest 
her  son  should  be  drawn  into  some  folly.  Since  his  un- 
expected departure  from  Moscow  she  had  not  seen  him, 
but  she  sent  word  to  him,  through  his  elder  brother,  that 
she  desired  him  to  come  to  her.  His  elder  brother  was 
even  more  dissatisfied,  not  because  he  felt  anxious  to 
know  whether  this  love-affair  was  to  be  deep  or  epheme- 
ral, passionate  or  Platonic,  innocent  or  guilty,  —  he 
himself,  though  a  married  man  and  the  father  of  a 
family,  had  a  ballet  dancer  for  a  mistress,  and  therefore 
had  no  right  to  be  severe, — but  because  he  knew  that 
this  love-affair  was  displeasing  in  quarters  where  it  was 
better  to  be  on  good  terms  ;  and  therefore  he  blamed 
his  brother's  conduct. 

Vronsky,  besides  his  society  relations  and  his  military 
duties,  had  yet  another  absorbing  passion,  —  horses. 
The  officers'  handicap  races  were  to  take  place  this 
summer.  He  became  a  subscriber,  and  bought  a  pure- 
blood  English  trotter;  and  in  spite  of  his  love-affair,  he 
was  passionately  though  discreetly  interested  in  the 
results  of  the  races 


228  ANNA    KARENINA 

These  two  passions  did  not  interfere  with  each  other. 
On  the  contrary,  he  needed  something  independent  of 
his  love-affair,  some  occupation  and  interest  in  which 
he  could  find  refreshment  and  recreation  after  the  over- 
violent  emotions  which  stirred  him. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

On  the  day  of  the  Krasno-Sielo  races,  Vronsky  came 
earlier  than  usual  to  eat  a  beefsteak  in  the  officers'  com- 
mon dining-hall.  He  was  not  at  all  constrained  to  limit 
himself,  since  his  weight  satisfied  the  i6o  pounds  ^  re- 
quired ;  but  he  did  not  want  to  get  fat,  and  so  he 
refrained  from  sweet  and  farinaceous  foods.  He  sat 
down  with  his  coat  unbuttoned  over  his  white  waistcoat, 
and  with  both  elbows  resting  on  the  table;  while  he  was 
waiting  for  his  beefsteak  he  kept  his  eyes  on  the  pages 
of  a  French  novel  which  lay  on  the  plate.  He  looked 
at  his  book  only  so  as  not  to  talk  with  the  officers  as 
they  went  and  came,  but  he  was  thinking. 

He  was  thinking  how  Anna  had  promised  to  meet 
him  after  the  races.  But  he  had  not  seen  her  for  three 
days ;  and  he  was  wondering  if  she  would  be  able  to 
keep  her  appointment,  as  her  husband  had  just  returned 
to  Petersburg  from  a  journey  abroad,  and*  he  was  won- 
dering how  he  could  find  out.  They  had  met  for  the 
last  time  at  his  cousin  Betsy's  datcha,  or  country-house. 
For  he  went  to  the  Karenins'  datcha  as  little  as  possi- 
ble, and  now  he  wanted  to  go  there,  and  he  was  asking 
himself,  "  How  can  it  be  managed  }  " 

"  Of  course,  I  will  say  that  I  am  charged  by  Betsy  to 
find  whether  she  expects  to  attend  the  races,  —  yes, 
certainly,  I  will  go,"  he  said,  raising  his  head  from  his 
book.  And  his  face  shone  with  the  joy  caused  by  his 
imagination  of  the  forthcoming  interview. 

"  Send  word  that  I  wish  my  carriage  and  troika  har- 
nessed and  brought  round,"  said  he  to  the  waiter  who 

^  Four  and  a  half  pud  :  a /Wis  36. 1 1  pounds  avoirdupois. 


ANNA    KARENINA  229 

was  bringing  his  beefsteak  on  a  hot  silver  platter. 
Moving  the  platter  toward  him,  he  began  his  meal. 

In  the  adjoining  billiard-room  the  clicking  of  balls 
was  heard,  and  two  voices  talking  and  laughing.  Two 
officers  appeared  in  the  door :  one  of  them  was  a  young 
man  with  delicate,  refined  features,  who  had  just  gradu- 
ated from  the  Corps  of  Pages  and  joined  the  regiment ; 
the  other  was  old  and  fat,  with  little,  moist  eyes,  and 
wore  a  bracelet  on  his  wrist. 

Vronsky  glanced  at  them  and  frowned,  and  went  on 
eating  and  reading  at  the  same  time,  as  if  he  had  not 
seen  them. 

"  Getting  ready  for  work,  are  you  ? "  asked  the  fat 
ofificer,  sitting  down  near  him. 

"You  see  I  am,"  replied  Vronsky,  wiping  his  lips, 
and  frowning  again,  without  looking  up. 

"But  aren't  you  afraid  of  getting  fat.-*"  continued 
the  elderly  officer,  pulling  up  a  chair  for  his  junior. 

"  What !  "  cried  Vronsky,  making  a  grimace  to  express 
his  disgust  and  aversion,  and  showing  his  splendid  teeth. 

"  Are  n't  you  afraid  of  getting  fat .''  " 

"Waiter,  sherry!"  cried  Vronsky,  without  replying, 
and  he  changed  his  book  to  the  other  side  of  his  plate, 
and  continued  to  read. 

The  fat  officer  took  the  wine-list,  and  passed  it  over 
to  the  young  officer. 

"  You  select  what  we  '11  have  to  drink,"  said  he,  giv- 
ing him  the  list  and  looking  at  him. 

"  Rhine  wine,  if  you  please,"  replied  the  young  officer, 
looking  timidly  at  Vronsky  out  of  the  corner  of  his  eye 
and  trying  to  twist  his  imaginary  mustache. 

When  he  saw  that  Vronsky  did  not  turn,  the  young 
officer  got  up  and  said,  "  Let  us  go  into  the  billiard- 
room." 

The  fat  officer  humbly  arose,  and  the  two  went  out  of 
the  door. 

At  the  same  time  a  tall,  stately  cavalry  captain,  named 
Yashvin,  came  in.  He  condescendingly  and  disdain- 
fully nodded  to  the  two  officers,  and  went  toward 
Vronsky. 


230  ANNA    KARENINA 

"Ah  !  here  he  is,"  he  cried,  laying  his  heavy  hand  on 
Vronsky's  shoulder.  Vronsky  turned  round  angrily, 
but  in  an  instant  a  pleasant,  friendly  expression  came 
into  his  face. 

"  Well,  Alyosha ! "  said  the  cavalry  captain,  in  his  big 
baritone.  "  Have  something  more  to  eat,  and  drink 
one  more  glass  with  me." 

"  No  ;  I  don't  want  anything  more  to  eat." 

"Those  are  inseparables,"  said  Yashvin,  looking 
derisively  at  the  two  officers  as  they  disappeared. 
Then  he  sat  down,  doubling  up  under  the  chair,  which 
was  too  short  for  him,  his  long  legs  dressed  in  tight 
uniform  trousers.  "  Why  were  n't  you  at  the  Krasmen- 
sky  theater  last  evening  ?  Numerova  was  not  bad  at 
all.     Where  were  you  .-*  " 

"I  stayed  too  late  at  the  TverskoYs',"  said  Vronsky. 

"  Ah  !  "  exclaimed  Yashvin. 

Yashvin,  a  gambler,  a  debauchee,  was  Vronsky's  best 
friend  in  the  regiment.  It  could  not  be  said  of  him 
that  he  lacked  principles.  He  had  principles,  but  they 
were  immoral  ones.  Vronsky  liked  him,  both  for  his 
exceptional  physical  vigor,  which  allowed  him  to  drink 
like  a  hogshead  and  not  feel  it,  and  to  do  absolutely 
without  sleep  if  it  were  necessary,  and  also  for  his  great 
social  ability,  which  he  employed  in  his  relations  to  his 
superiors,  and  his  comrades,  attracting  to  himself  their 
love  and  respect ;  and  also  in  gambling,  at  which  he 
risked  tens  of  thousands,  and  always,  no  matter  how 
much  he  had  been  drinking,  played  so  cleverly  and 
daringly  that  he  was  regarded  as  the  leading  gambler 
at  the  English  Club. 

Vronsky  felt  friendship  and  consideration  for  him, 
because  he  felt  that  Yashvin  liked  him,  not  for  his  for- 
tune or  his  social  position,  but  chiefly  on  his  own  account. 
Moreover,  Yashvin  was  the  only  man  to  whom  Vronsky 
would  have  been  willing  to  speak  of  his  love.  He  felt 
that,  in  spite  of  his  affected  scorn  for  all  kinds  of  senti- 
ment, he  alone  could  appreciate  the  serious  passion 
which  now  absorbed  his  whole  life.  Besides,  he  was 
persuaded    that    he    found    absolutely    no   pleasure   in 


ANNA   KARENINA  231 

tittle-tattle  and  scandal,  but  considered  this  feeling  as 
essential,  in  other  words,  that  he  knew  and  believed 
that  love  was  no  joke,  no  mere  pastime,  but  something 
serious  and  important.  Thus,  taken  all  in  all,  his  pres- 
ence was  always  agreeable  to  him. 

Vronsky  had  not  yet  spoken  to  him  about  his  love, 
but  he  knew  that  Yashvin  knew  it  — looked  on  it  in  its 
true  light ;  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  read  this  in  his  eyes. 

"  Ah,  yes  ! "  said  the  cavalry  captain,  when  he  heard 
the  name  of  the  Tverskois  ;  and,  flashing  his  brilliant 
black  eyes  at  him,  he  seized  his  left  mustache  and  began 
to  cram  it  into  his  mouth,  for  this  was  a  bad  habit  of 
his. 

"  And  what  did  you  do  last  evening  .?  Did  you  gain  .■* " 
asked  Vronsky. 

"  Eight  thousand  rubles,  but  three  thousand  possibly 
are  no  good  —  I  may  not  get  them." 

"  Well !  Then  you  may  lose  on  me,"  said  Vronsky, 
laughing  ;  Yashvin  had  laid  a  large  wager  on  him. 

"But  I  shall  not  lose.  Makhotin  is  the  only  one  to 
be  afraid  of." 

And  the  conversation  went  off  in  regard  to  the  races, 
which  was  the  only  subject  of  which  Vronsky  could  now 
think. 

"  Come  on,  I  have  done,"  said  Vronsky,  getting  up 
and  going  to  the  door.  Yashvin  also  arose,  and  stretched 
his  huge  legs  and  long  back. 

"  I  can't  dine  so  early,  but  I  will  take  something  to 
drink.  I  will  follow  you  immediately.  Here,  wine!" 
he  cried,  in  his  heavy  voice,  which  was  the  wonder  of 
the  regiment ;  it  made  the  windows  rattle.'  "  No,  no 
matter!  "  he  cried  again  ;  "if  you  are  going  home,  I  '11 
join  you." 

And  he  went  off  with  Vronsky 


23a  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XX 

Vronsky  was  lodging  in  a  neat  and  spacious  Finnish 
izba,  divided  in  two  by  a  partition.  Petritsky  was  his 
chum,  not  only  in  Petersburg,  but  here  also  in  camp. 
He  was  asleep  when  Vronsky  and  Yashvin  entered. 

"Get  up!  you've  slept  long  enough,"  said  Yashvin, 
going  behind  the  partition,  and  shaking  the  sleeper's 
shoulder,  as  he  lay  with  his  nose  buried  in  the  pillow. 

Petritsky  suddenly  got  up  on  his  knees,  and  looked 
all  about  him. 

"Your  brother  has  been  here,"  said  he  to  Vronsky. 
"  He  woke  me  up,  the  devil  take  him  !  and  he  said  that 
he  would  come  again." 

Then  he  threw  himself  back  on  the  pillow  again,  and 
pulled  up  the  bedclothes. 

"Stop!  Yashvin,"  he  cried  angrily,  as  his  comrade 
twitched  off  his  quilt.  Then  he  turned  over,  opened  his 
eyes,  and  said,  "  You  would  do  much  better  to  tell  me 
what  I  ought  to  drink  to  take  this  bad  taste  out  of  my 
mouth." 

"Vodka  is  better  than  anything,"  said  Yashvin. 
"Tereshchenko !  Bring  the  barin  some  vodka  and 
cucumbers,"  he  cried,  delighting  in  the  thunder  of  his 
voict^.    • "    ■ 

"  You  advise  vodka  ?  ha  !  "  exclaimed  Petritsky,  scowl- 
ing, and  rubbing  his  eyes.  "Will  you  take  some,  too.? 
If  you  '11  join,  all  right !  Vronsky,  will  you  have  a 
drink  .■• "  said  Petritsky,  getting  up  and  wrapping  a 
striped  quilt  around  him  under  his  arms.  He  came  to 
the  door  of  the  partition,  raised  his  arms  in  the  air,  and 
began  to  sing  in  French,  "'There  was  a  king  in  Thu- 
u-le.'  —  Vronsky,  will  you  have  a  drink.?" 

"  Go  away,"  replied  the  latter,  who  was  putting  on 
an  overcoat  brought  him  by  his  valet. 

"  Where  are  you  going .? "  asked  Yashvin,  seeing  a 
carriage  drawn  by  three  horses.     "Here's  the  troika." 

"To  the  stables,  then  to  Briansky's  to  see  about 
some  horses,"  replied  Vronsky. 


ANNA    KARENINA  233 

Vronsky  had,  indeed,  promised  to  bring  some  money 
to  Briansky,  who  lived  about  ten  versts  from  Peterhof ; 
and  he  was  in  a  hurry  to  get  there  as  soon  as  possible 
so  as  to  pay  for  the  horses,  but  his  friends  immediately 
understood  that  he  was  also  going  somewhere  else. 

Petritsky,  who  kept  on  singing,  winked,  and  pursed 
his  lips  as  if  he  would  say,  "  We  know  who  this  Brian- 
sky  means." 

"  See  here,  don't  be  late,"  said  Yashvin  ;  and,  chang- 
ing the  subject,  "And  my  roan,  does  she  suit  you?" 
he  asked,  looking  out  of  the  window,  and  referring  to 
the  middle  horse  of  the  team  which  he  had  .sold. 

Just  as  Vronsky  left  the  room,  Petritsky  called  out 
to  him,  "  Hold  on  !  your  brother  left  a  note  and  a  letter. 
Hold  on  !  where  did  I  put  them .-' " 

Vronsky  waited  impatiently. 

"  Well,  where  are  they  ? " 

"  Where  are  they  indeed  ?  That 's  the  question," 
declaimed  Petritsky,  solemnly,  putting  his  forefinger 
above  his  nose. 

"  Speak  quick  !  no  nonsense !  "  said  Vronsky,  smiling. 

"  I  have  not  had  any  fire  in  the  fireplace  ;  where  can 
I  have  put  them  .-* " 

"Come  now,  that's  enough  talk!  where 's  the  letter?" 

"  I  swear  I  have  forgotten  ;  or  did  I  dream  about  it  ? 
Wait,  wait !  don't  get  angry.  If  you  had  drunk  four 
bottles,  as  I  did  yesterday,  you  would  n't  even  know 
where  you  went  to  bed.  Hold  on,  I  '11  think  in  a  min- 
ute." 

Petritsky  went  behind  his  screen  again,  and  got  into 
bed. 

"  Hold  on  !  I  was  lying  here.  He  stood  there.  Da- 
da-da-da  I ....  Here  it  is  !  " 

And  he  pulled  the  letter  out  from  under  the  mattress, 
where  he  had  put  it. 

Vronsky  took  the  letter  and  his  brother's  note.  It 
was  exactly  as  he  expected.  His  mother  reproached 
him  because  he  had  not  been  to  see  her,  and  his  brother 
said  he  had  something  to  speak  to  him  about.  "  What 
concern  is  it  of  theirs  ? "  he  muttered  ;  and,  crumpling 


^34  ANNA   KARENINA 

up  the  notes,  he  thrust  them  between  his  coat-buttons, 
intending  to  read  them  more  carefully  on  the  way. 

Just  as  he  left  the  izba,  he  met  two  officers,  one  of 
whom  belonged  to  a  different  regiment.  Vronsky's 
quarters  were  always  the  headquarters  of  all  the  offi- 
cers. 

"Whither  away.?" 

"Must  —  to  Peterhof." 

"  Has  your  horse  come  from  Tsarskoye  .-' " 

"  Yes,  but  I  have  not  seen  her  yet." 

"They  say  Makhotin's  'Gladiator'  is  lame." 

"  Rubbislj !  But  how  can  you  trot  in  such  mud  ? " 
said  the  other. 

"  Here  are  my  saviors,"  cried  Petritsky,  as  he  saw 
the  newcomers.  The  denshchik  was  standing  before 
him  with  vodka  and  salted  cucumbers  on  a  platter. 
"Yashvin,  here,  ordered  me  to  drink,  so  as  to  clear  my 
head." 

"  Well,  you  were  too  much  for  us  last  night,"  said 
one  of  the  officers.     "You  did  not  let  us  sleep  all  night." 

"I  must  tell  you  how  we  ended  it,"  began  Petritsky. 
"  Volkof  climbed  up  on  the  roof,  and  told  us  that  he 
was  blue.  I  sung  out,  'Give  us  some  music, — a  fu- 
neral march.'  And  he  went  to  sleep  on  the  roof  to  the 
music  of  the  funeral  march." 

"  Drink,  drink  your  vodka  by  all  means,  and  then 
take  seltzer  and  a  lot  of  lemon,"  said  Yashvin,  encour- 
aging Petritsky  as  a  mother  encourages  her  child  to 
swallow  some  medicine.     "It  is  only  a  little  bottle." 

"  Now,  this  is  sense.  Hold  on,  Vronsky,  and  have  a 
drink  with  us  !  " 

"  No.  Good-by,  gentlemen.  I  am  not  drinking  to- 
day." 

.     "Vronsky,"  cried  some  one,  after  he  had  gone  into 
the  vestibule. 

"What?" 

"You'd  better  cut  off  your  hair;  it's  getting  very 
long,  especially  on  the  bald  spot." 

Vronsky,  in  fact,  was  beginning  to  get  a  little  bald. 
He  laughed  gayly,  showing  his  splendid  teeth,  and,  pull- 


ANNA    KARENINA  235 

ing  his  cap  over  the  bald  spot,  he  went  out  and  got 
into  his  carriage. 

"To  the  stables,"  he  said. 

He  started  to  take  his  letters  for  a  second  reading, 
but  on  second  thought  deferred  them  so  that  he  might 
think  of  nothing  else  but  his  horse. 

"I'll  wait." 


CHAPTER   XXI 

A  TEMPORARY  Stable,  —  a  balagan,  or  hut,  —  made  out 
of  planks,  had  been  built  near  the  race-course ;  and  here 
Vronsky's  horse  should  have  been  brought  the  evening 
before.  He  had  not  as  yet  seen  her.  During  the  last 
few  days  he  himself  had  not  been  out  to  drive,  but  he  had 
intrusted  her  to  the  trainer;  and  Vronsky  did  not  know 
in  what  condition  he  should  find  her.  He  was  just  get- 
ting out  of  his  carriage  when  his  konyukh,  or  groom,  a 
young  fellow,  saw  him  from  a  distance,  and  immediately 
called  the  trainer.  This  was  an  Englishman  with  with- 
ered face  and  tufted  chin,  and  dressed  in  short  jacket 
and  top-boots.  He  came  out  toward  Vronsky  in  the 
mincing  step  peculiar  to  jockeys,  and  with  elbows  stick- 
ing out. 

"Well,  how  is  Frou  Frou  } "  said  Vronsky,  in  English. 

*'  A//  right,  sir"  said  the  Englishman,  in  a  voice  that 
came  out  of  the  bottom  of  his  throat.  "  Better  not  go 
in,  sir,"  he  added,  taking  off  his  hat.  "  I  have  put  a 
muzzle  on  her,  and  that  excites  her.  Better  not  go  in, 
it  excites  a  horse." 

"  No,  I  am  going  in,  I  want  to  see  her." 

"  Come  on,  then,"  replied  the  Englishman,  testily ; 
and,  without  ever  opening  his  mouth,  and  with  his  dandi- 
fied step,  he  led  the  way. 

They  went  into  a  small  yard  in  front  of  the  stable. 
An  active  and  alert  stable-boy  in  a  clean  jacket,  with 
whip  in  hand,  met  them  as  they  entered,  and  followed 
them.  Five  horses  were  in  the  stable,  each  in  its  own 
stall.     Vronsky  knew  that  his  most  redoubtable  rival, — 


236  ANNA    KARENINA 

Makhotin's  Gladiator,  a  chestnut  horse  five  vershoks 
high,  —  was  there,  and  he  was  more  curious  to  see  Gladia- 
tor than  to  see  his  own  racer ;  but  he  knew  that,  accord- 
ing to  the  etiquette  of  the  races,  he  could  not  have  him 
brought  out,  or  even  ask  questions  about  him.  As  he 
passed  along  the  corridor  the  groom  opened  the  door  of 
the  second  stall  at  the  left,  and  Vronsky  saw  a  powerful 
chestnut  with  white  feet.  He  knew  it  was  Gladiator ; 
but  with  the  delicacy  of  a  man  who  turns  away  from  an 
open  letter  which  is  not  addressed  to  him,  he  instantly 
turned  away  and  walked  toward  Frou  Frou's  stall. 
tii«5«That  horse  belongs  to  Ma,...  k....  mak, ....  I  never 
can  pronounce  his  name,"  said  the  Englishman,  over 
his  shoulder,  and  pointing  to  Gladiator's  stall  with  a 
huge  finger,  the  nail  of  which  was  black  with  dirt. 

"  Makhotin's  ?     Yes  ;  he  is  my  only  dangerous  rival." 

"  If  you  would  mount  him,  I  would  bet  on  you,"  said 
the  Englishman. 

"  Frou  Frou  has  more  nerve,  this  one  stronger," 
said  Vronsky,  smiling  at  the  jockey's  praise. 

"  In  hurdle-races,  all  depends  on  the  mount,  and  on 
pluck." 

Pluck  —  that  is,  audacity  and  coolness  —  Vronsky 
knew  that  he  had  in  abundance ;  and,  what  was  far 
more  important,  he  was  firmly  convinced  that  no  one 
could  have  more  of  this  pluck  than  he  had. 

"  You  are  sure  that  a  good  sweating  was  not  neces- 
sary } " 

"  Not  at  all,"  replied  the  Englishman.  "  Please  not 
speak  so  loud,  the  horse  is  restive,"  he  added,  jerking 
his  head  toward  the  closed  stall  in  front  of  which  they 
were  standing.  They  could  hear  the  horse  stamping  on 
the  straw. 

He  opened  the  door,  and  Vronsky  entered  a  box-stall 
feebly  lighted  by  a  little  window.  A  dark  bay  horse, 
muzzled,  was  nervously  prancing  up  and  down  on  the 
fresh  straw.  As  he  gazed  into  the  semi-obscurity  of 
the  stall,  Vronsky  in  spite  of  himself  took  in  at  one  gen- 
eral observation  all  the  points  of  his  favorite  horse. 
Frou  Frou  was  a  horse  of  medium  size,  and  not  faultless 


ANNA    KARENINA  237 

in  form.  Her  bones  were  slender,  although  her  brisket 
showed  powerfully  ;  her  breast  was  narrow,  the  crupper 
was  rather  tapering ;  and  the  legs,  particularly  the  hind 
legs,  considerably  bowed.  The  muscles  of  the  legs  were 
not  big  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  where  the  saddle  rested 
the  horse  was  extraordinarily  wide,  and  this  was  particu- 
larly striking  by  reason  of  the  firmness  and  the  small- 
ness  of  her  belly.  The  bones  of  the  legs  below  the 
knee  seemed  not  thicker  than  a  finger,  seen  from  the 
front ;  they  were  extraordinarily  large  when  seen  side- 
wise.  The  whole  steed,  with  the  exception  of  the  ribs, 
seemed  squeezed  in  and  lengthened  out.  But  she  had 
one  merit  that  outweighed  all  her  faults :  she  was  a 
thoroughbred,  had  good  blood,  —  whifh  tells,  as  the 
English  say.  Her  muscles,  standing  out  under  a  net- 
work of  veins,  covered  with  a  skin  as  smooth  and  soft 
as  satin,  seemed  as  solid  as  bone  ;  her  slender  head,  with 
prominent  eyes,  bright  and  animated,  widened  out  at 
the  septum  into  projecting  nostrils  with  membrane 
which  seemed  suffused  with  blood.  In  her  whole  form 
and  especially  in  her  head  there  was  an  expression  of 
something  energetic  and  decided,  and  at  the  same  time 
good-tempered.  It  was  one  of  those  creatures  which 
do  not  speak  for  the  single  reason  that  the  mechanical 
construction  of  their  mouths  does  not  permit  of  it. 

Vronsky,  at  any  rate,  was  convinced  that  she  under- 
stood all  of  his  thoughts  while  he  was  looking  at  her. 
As  soon  as  he  went  to  her  she  began  to  take  long 
breaths,  and,  turning  her  prominent  eyes  so  that  the 
whites  became  suffused  with  blood,  she  gazed  from  the 
opposite  side  at  the  visitors,  trying  to  shake  off  her 
muzzle,  and  dancing  on  her  feet  with  elastic  motion. 

"  You  see  how  excited  she  is,"  said  the  English- 
man. 

"  Whoa,  my  loveliest,  whoa  !  "  said  Vronsky,  approach- 
ing to  soothe  her  ;  but  the  nearer  he  came  the  more  ner- 
vous she  grew,  and  only  when  he  had  caressed  her  head 
did  she  become  tranquil.  He  could  feel  her  muscles 
strain  and  tremble  under  her  delicate,  smooth  skin. 
Vronsky   smoothed   her   powerful   neck,  and  put  into 


238  ANNA   KARENINA 

place  a  tuft  of  her  mane  that  she  had  tossed  on  the 
other  side  ;  and  then  he  put  his  face  close  to  her  nos- 
trils, which  swelled  and  dilated  like  the  wings  of  a  bat. 
She  drew  in  the  air,  and  loudly  expelled  it  from  her 
quivering  nostrils,  pricked  up  her  sharp  ears,  and 
stretched  out  her  long  black  lips  to  seize  his  sleeve  ; 
but,  when  she  found  herself  prevented  by  her  muzzle, 
she  shook  it,  and  began  to  caper  again  on  her  slender 
legs. 

"Quiet,  my  beauty,  quiet,"  said  Vronsky,  calming 
her ;  and  he  left  the  stable  with  the  reassuring  convic- 
tion that  his  horse  was  in  perfect  condition. 

But  the  nervousness  of  the  steed  had  taken  posses- 
sion of  Vronsky ;  he  felt  the  blood  rush  to  his  heart, 
and,  like  the  horse,  he  wanted  violent  action  ;  he  felt 
like  prancing  and  biting.  It  was  a  sensation  at  once 
strange  and  joyful. 

"Well,  I  count  on  you,"  said  he  to  the  Englishman. 
"  Be  on  the  grounds  at  half-past  six." 

"  All  shall  be  ready.  But  where  are  you  going,  my 
lord.!*"  asked  the  Englishman,  using  the  title  of  "my 
lord,"  which  he  almost  never  permitted  himself  to  use. 

Astonished  at  this,  Vronsky  raised  his  head,  and 
looked  at  him  as  he  well  understood  how  to  do,  not 
into  the  Englishman's  eyes,  but  at  his  forehead.  He 
instantly  saw  that  the  Englishman  had  spoken  to  him, 
not  as  to  his  master,  but  as  to  a  jockey ;  and  he  replied :  — 

"  I  have  got  to  see  Briansky,  and  I  shall  be  at  home 
in  an  hour." 

"  How  many  times  have  I  been  asked  that  question 
to-day ! "  he  said  to  himself ;  and  he  grew  red,  which 
was  a  rare  occurrence  with  him.  The  Englishman 
looked  at  him  closely.  And,  as  if  he  also  knew  where 
Vronsky  was  going,  he  said  :  — 

"The  main  thing  is  to  keep  calm  before  the  race. 
Don't  get  out  of  sorts ;  don't  get  bothered." 

''All  right,"  replied  Vronsky,  with  a  smile  ;  and,  jump- 
ing into  his  carriage,  he  ordered  the  coachman  to  drive 
to  Peterhof. 

He  had  gone  but  a  short  distance  before  the  clouds, 


ANNA    KARENINA  239 

which  since  morning  had  been  threatening  rain,  grew 
thicker,  and  a  heavy  shower  fell. 

"Too  bad!"  thought  Vronsky,  raising  the  hood  of 
his  carriage.  "  It  has  been  muddy ;  now  it  will  be  a 
swamp." 

Now  that  he  was  sitting  alone  in  his  covered  calash, 
he  took  out  his  mother's  letter  and  his  brother's  note, 
and  read  them  over. 

Yes,  it  was  always  the  old  story ;  both  his  mother 
and  his  brother  found  it  necessary  to  meddle  with  his 
love-affairs.  This  interference  aroused  his  anger, —  a 
feeling  which  he  rarely  experienced. 

"  How  does  this  concern  them .-'  Why  does  every 
one  feel  called  on  to  meddle  with  me,  and  why  do  they 
bother  me  .-*  Because  they  see  that  there  is  something 
about  this  that  they  can't  understand.  If  it  were  an 
ordinary  vulgar  society  intrigue,  they  would  leave  me 
in  peace  ;  but  they  imagine  that  it  is  something  else, 
that  it  is  not  mere  trifling,  that  this  woman  is  dearer 
to  me  than  life  ;  that  is  incredible  and  vexatious  to 
them.  Whatever  be  our  fate,  we  ourselves  have  made 
it,  and  we  shall  not  regret  it,"  he  said  to  himself,  in- 
cluding Anna  in  the  word  "we."  "But  no,  they  want 
to  teach  us  how  to  live.  They  have  no  idea  of  what 
happiness  is.  They  don't  know  that,  were  it  not  for 
this  love,  there  would  be  for  us  neither  joy  nor  grief  in 
this  world  ;  life  itself  would  not  exist." 

In  reality,  what  exasperated  him  most  against  every 
one  was  the  fact  that  his  conscience  told  him  that  they 
—  all  of  them  —  were  right.  He  felt  that  his  love  for 
Anna  was  not  a  superficial  impulse,  destined,  like  so 
many  social  attachments,  to  disappear,  and  leave  no  trace 
beyond  sweet  or  painful  memories.  He  felt  keenly  all 
the  torture  of  her  situation  and  his,  and  how  difficult 
it  was  in  the  prominent  position  which  they  held  in  the 
eyes  of  society  to  hide  their  love,  to  lie,  to  deceive, 
to  dissemble,  and  constantly  to  think  about  others,  when 
the  passion  uniting  them  was  so  violent  that  they  both 
forgot  about  everything  else  except  their  love. 

He  vividly  pictured  to  himself  all  the  constantly  re- 


240  ANNA   KARENINA 

curring  circumstances  when  it  was  essential  to  employ 
falsehood  and  deceit,  which  were  so  contrary  to  his 
nature.  He  recalled  with  especial  vividness  the  feel- 
ing of  shame  which  he  had  often  surprised  in  Anna, 
when  she  also  was  driven  to  tell  a  lie. 

Since  this  affair  with  her,  he  sometimes  experienced 
a  strange  sensation.  This  was  a  feeling  of  disgust  and 
repulsion  for  some  one,  he  could  not  tell  for  whom  he 
felt  it — for  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  or  himself,  or  for 
all  society.  As  far  as  possible  he  banished  this  strange 
feeling. 

"  Yes,  heretofore  she  has  been  unhappy,  but  proud 
and  calm  ;  now  she  cannot  be  proud  and  content  any 
longer,  though  she  may  not  betray  the  fact.  Yes,  this 
must  end,"  he  would  conclude  in  his  own  mind. 

And  for  the  first  time  the  thought  of  cutting  short 
this  life  of  dissimulation  appeared  to  him  clear  and  tan- 
gible ;  the  sooner,  the  better. 

"  She  and  I  must  leave  everything,  and  together  we 
must  go  and  hide  ourselves  somewhere  with  our  love," 
he  said  to  himself. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

The  shower  was  of  short  duration  ;  and  when  Vronsky 
reached  Peterhof,  his  shaft-horse  at  full  trot,  and  the 
other  two  galloping  along  in  the  mud,  the  sun  was 
already  out  again,  and  the  wet  roofs  of  the  villas  and 
the  old  lindens  in  the  gardens  on  both  sides  of  the  prin- 
cipal avenue  were  dazzlingly  shining.  The  water  was 
running  from  the  roofs,  and  the  raindrops  were  drip- 
ping from  the  tree-tops.  He  no  longer  thought  of  the 
harm  that  the  shower  might  do  the  race-course,  but  he 
was  full  of  joy  as  he  remembered  that,  thanks  to  the 
rain,  she  would  be  alone ;  for  he  knew  that  Alekseif 
Aleksandrovitch,  who  had  just  got  back  from  a  visit  to 
the  baths,  would  not  have  driven  out  from  Petersburg. 

Hoping  to  find  her  alone,  Vronsky  stopped  his  horses, 
as  he  always  did,  at  some  little  distance  from  the  house, 


ANNA    KARENINA  241 

.n  order  to  attract  as  little  attention  as  possible,  and,  not 
driving  across  the  little  bridge,  got  out  and  went  to  the 
house  on  foot.  He  did  not  go  to  the  front  entrance, 
but  went  through  the  court. 

"  Has  the  barin  come.''"  he  asked  of  a  gardener. 

"Not  yet;  but  the  baruinya  is  at  home.  Go  to  the 
front  door ;  there  are  servants  there ;  if  you  ring,  they 
will  open  the  door." 

"  No  ;  I  will  go  in  through  the  garden." 

Having  satisfied  himself  that  she  was  alone,  and  wish- 
ing to  surprise  her,  as  he  had  not  promised  that  he  was 
coming  that  day,  and  on  account  of  the  races  she  would 
not  be  looking  for  him,  he  walked  cautiously  along  the 
sandy  paths,  bordered  with  flowers,  lifting  up  his  saber 
so  that  it  should  make  no  noise.  In  this  way  he  reached 
the  terrace  which  led  down  to  the  garden.  Vronsky  had 
by  this  time  forgotten  all  the  thoughts  which  had  op- 
pressed him  on  the  way  about  the  difficulties  of  his  situ- 
ation ;  he  thought  only  of  the  pleasure  of  shortly  seeing 
her,  not  in  imagination  only,  but  alive,  in  person,  as  she 
was  in  reality. 

He  was  mounting-  the  steep  steps  as  gently  as  possi- 
ble, when  he  suddenly  remembered  what  he  was  always 
forgetting,  and  what  constituted  the  most  painful  fea- 
ture of  his  relations  with  her,  —  her  son,  with  his  inquisi- 
tive and,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  repulsive  face. 

This  child  was  the  principal  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
their  interviews.  When  he  was  present  neither  Vron- 
sky nor  Anna  allowed  themselves  to  speak  of  anything 
which  the  whole  world  might  not  hear,  nor,  what  was 
more,  did  they  even  hint  at  anything  which  the  child 
himself  could  not  comprehend.  There  was  no  need  of  an 
agreement  on  that  score,  it  was  instinctive  with  them. 
Both  of  them  considered  it  degrading  to  themselves  to  de- 
ceive the  little  lad  ;  before  him  they  talked  as  if  they  were 
mere  acquaintances.  But  in  spite  of  this  circumspection 
Vronsky  often  noticed  the  lad's  scrutinizing  and  rather 
suspicious  eyes  fixed  on  him,  and  a  strange  timidity  and 
variability  in  his  behavior  toward  him.  Sometimes  he 
seemed  affectionate,  and  then  again  cold  and  shy.     The 

VOL.  I. — 16 


242  ANNA    KARENINA 

child  seemed  instinctively  to  feel  that  between  this  man 
and  his  mother  there  was  some  strange  bond  of  union, 
which  was  beyond  his  comprehension. 

In  fact,  the  boy  felt  that  he  could  not  understand  this 
relationship,  and  he  tried  in  vain  to  account  to  himself 
for  the  feeling  which  he  ought  to  have  for  this  man. 
He  saw,  with  that  quick  intuition  peculiar  to  childhood, 
that  his  father,  his  governess,  and  his  nurse  —  all  of 
them  — not  only  did  not  like  Vronsky,  but  looked  with  the 
utmost  disfavor  on  him,  although  they  never  spoke  about 
him,  while  his  mother  treated  him  as  her  best  friend. 

"  What  does  this  mean  .-*  Who  is  he  .■'  Must  I  love 
him  ?  and  is  it  my  fault,  and  am  I  a  naughty  or  stupid 
child,  if  I  don't  understand  it  at  all  ? "  thought  the  little 
fellow.  Hence  came  his  timidity,  his  questioning  and 
distrustful  manner,  and  this  changeableness,  which  were 
so  unpleasant  to  Vronsky,  The  presence  of  this  child 
always  caused  in  Vronsky  that  strange  feeling  of  unrea- 
sonable repulsion  which  for  some  time  had  pursued  him. 

The  presence  of  the  child  aroused  in  Vronsky  and 
Anna  a  feeling  like  that  experienced  by  a  mariner  who 
sees  by  the  compass  that  the  course  in  which  he  is 
swiftly  moving  is  widely  different  from  what  it  should 
be,  but  that  to  stop  this  course  is  not  in  his  power ;  that 
every  instant  carries  him  farther  and  farther  in  the  wrong 
direction,  and  the  recognition  of  the  movement  that 
carries  him  from  the  right  course  is  the  recognition  of 
the  ruin  that  impends. 

This  child  with  his  innocent  views  of  life  was  the 
compass  which  pointed  out  to  them  the  degree  of  their 
deviation  from  what  they  knew  but  wished  not  to  know. 

This  day  Serozha  was  not  at  home  and  Anna  was  en- 
tirely alone,  and  sitting  on  the  terrace  waiting  for  the 
return  of  her  son,  who  had  gone  out  to  walk  and  got 
caught  in  the  rain.  She  had  sent  a  man  and  a  maid  to 
find  him,  and  was  sitting  there  till  he  should  return. 
Dressed  in  a  white  gown  with  wide  embroidery,  she 
was  sitting  at  one  corner  of  the  terrace,  concealed  "by 
plants  and  flowers,  and  she  did  not  hear  Vronsky's  step. 
With  her  dark  curly  head  bent,  she  was  pressing  her 


ANNA   KARENINA  243 

heated  brow  against  a  cool  watering-pot,  standing  on 
the  balustrade,  and  with  both  her  beautiful  hands  laden 
with  rings,  which  he  knew  so  well,  she  was  holding  the 
watering-pot.  The  beauty  of  her  figure,  her  head,  her 
neck,  her  hands,  always  caused  in  Vronsky  a  new  feeling 
of  surprise.  He  stopped  and  looked  at  her  in  ecstasy. 
But  as  soon  as  he  proceeded  to  take  another  step  and 
come  nearer  to  her,  she  felt  his  approach,  pushed  away 
the  watering-pot,  and  turned  to  him  her  glowing  face. 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?  Are  you  ill  ? "  said  he,  in 
French,  as  he  approached  her.  He  felt  a  desire  to  run 
to  her,  but,  remembering  that  there  might  be  witnesses, 
he  looked  toward  the  balcony  door  and  turned  red,  as 
he  always  turned  red  when  he  felt  that  he  ought  to  be 
ashamed  of  himself  and  dread  to  be  seen. 

"No;  I  am  well,"  said  Anna,  rising,  and  warmly 
pressing  the  hand  that  he  offered  her.  "  I  did  not  ex- 
pect ....  you." 

"  Bozhe  mof !  how  cold  your  hands  are  ! " 

"  You  startled  me,"  said  she.  "  I  was  alone,  waiting 
for  Serozha.  He  went  out  for  a  walk ;  they  will  come 
back  this  way." 

But  though  she  tried  to  be  calm,  her  lips  trembled. 

"  Forgive  me  for  coming,  but  I  could  not  let  the  day 
go  by  without  seeing  you,"  he  continued,  in  French,  as 
he  always  spoke,  thus  avoiding  the  impossible  vtn,  you, 
and  the  dangerous  tid,  thou,  of  the  Russian. 

"  What  have  I  to  forgive  ?     I  am  so  glad  !  " 

"  But  you  are  ill,  or  sad  .-*  "  said  he,  bending  over  her 
and  still  holding  her  hand.  "  What  were  you  thinking 
about  ? " 

"  Always  about  one  thing,"  she  replied,  with  a  smile. 

She  told  the  truth.  If  at  any  moment  she  had  been 
asked  what  she  was  thinking  about,  she  could  have 
made  the  infallible  reply,  that  she  was  thinking  about 
one  thing :  her  happiness  and  her  unhappiness.  Just 
as  he  had  surprised  her,  she  was  thinking  about  this : 
she  was  thinking  how  it  was  that  for  some,  for  Betsy, 
for  example,  —  for  she  knew  about  her  love-affair  with 
Tushkievitch,  though   it  was  a  secret  from  society  in 


244 


ANNA    KARENINA 


general,  —  all  this  was  such  a  trifle,  while  for  her  it  was 
so  painful.  To-day  this  thought,  for  various  reasons, 
had  been  particularly  tormenting  her. 

She  asked  him  about  the  races.  He  answered  her, 
and,  seeing  that  she  was  in  a  very  excited  state,  in  order 
to  divert  her  mind,  told  her,  in  the  tone  most  natural, 
about  the  preparation  that  had  been  made. 

"  Shall  I,  or  shall  I  not,  tell  him  ?  "  she  thought,  as 
she  looked  at  his  calm,  affectionate  eyes.  "  He  seems 
so  happy,  he  is  so  interested  in  these  races,  that  he  will 
not  comprehend,  probably,  the  importance  of  what  I 
must  tell  him." 

"  But  you  have  not  told  me  of  what  you  were  think- 
ing when  I  came,"  said  he,  suddenly,  interrupting  the 
course  of  his  narration.      "  Tell  me,  I  beg  of  you  !  " 

She  did  not  reply  ;  but  she  lifted  her  head  a  little, 
and  looked  at  him  questioningly  f rom  her  beautiful  eyes, 
shaded  by  her  long  lashes ;  her  fingers,  playing  with  a 
fallen  leaf,  trembled. 

He  saw  this,  and  his  face  immediately  showed  the 
expression  of  humble  adoration,  of  absolute  devotion, 
which  had  so  won  her, 

"  I  see  that  something  has  happened.  Can  I  be  easy 
for  an  instant  when  I  know  that  you  feel  a  grief  that  I 
do  not  share  .-*  In  the  name  of  Heaven,  speak  !  "  he  in- 
sisted, in  a  caressing  tone. 

"I  shall  never  forgive  him  if  he  does  not  appreciate 
the  importance  of  what  I  have  to  tell  him  ;  better  be 
silent  than  put  him  to  the  proof,"  she  thought,  continu- 
ing to  look  at  him  in  the  same  way,  and  conscious  that 
her  hand,  holding  the  leaf,  trembled  more  and  more 
violently. 

"  In  the  name  of  Heaven  !  "  said  he,  taking  her  hand 
again. 

"  Shall  I  tell  you  ? " 

"Yes,  yes,  yes  .... " 

"J^e  suis  enceinte  !  "  she  said,  in  a  low  and  deliberate 
voice. 

The  leaf  that  she  held  in  her  fingers  trembled  still 
more,  but  she  did  not  take  her  eyes  from  his  face,  for 


ANNA    KARENINA  245 

she  wished  to  see  how  he  would  receive  what  she 
said. 

He  grew  pale,  tried  to  speak,  then  stopped  short, 
dropped  her  hand,  and  hung  his  head. 

"Yes,  he  understands  the  significance  of  this,"  she 
said  to  herself,  and  gratefully  pressed  his  hand. 

But  she  was  mistaken  in  thinking  that  he  appreciated 
the  significance  of  what  she  had  told  him,  as  she,  a 
woman,  did.  On  learning  this,  he  felt  that  he  was 
attacked  with  tenfold  force  by  that  strange  feeling  of 
repulsion  and  horror  which  he  had  already  experienced. 
But  at  the  same  time,  he  realized  that  the  crisis  which 
he  had  expected  was  now  at  hand,  that  it  was  impossible 
longer  to  keep  the  secret  from  the  husband  ;  and  it  was 
important  to  extricate  themselves  as  soon  as  possible 
from  the  unnatural  situation  in  which  they  were  placed. 
Moreover,  her  anguish  communicated  itself  to  him 
physically.  He  looked  at  her  with  humbly  submissive 
eyes,  kissed  her  hand,  arose,  and  began  to  walk  up  and 
down  the  terrace  without  speaking. 

At  last  he  approached  her,  and  said  in  a  tone  of 
decision :  — 

"Well,"  said  he,  "neither  you  nor  I  have  looked  on 
our  relations  as  a  pastime,  and  now  our  fate  is  decided  ; 
at  last  we  must  put  an  end  to  the  false  situation  in 
which  we  live,"  — and  he  looked  around  him. 

"  Put  an  end  ?  How  put  an  end,  Aleksel  ? "  she  asked 
gently. 

She  was  calm  now,  and  her  face  beamed  with  a  tender 
smile. 

"You  must  leave  your  husband  and  unite  your  life 
with  mine." 

"But  aren't  they  already  united.-'"  she  asked,  in 
an  almost  inaudible  voice. 

"  Yes,  but  not  completely,  not  absolutely !  " 

"But  how,  Aleksei'.''  tell  me  how,"  said  she,  with 
a  melancholy  irony  at  the  hopelessness  of  her  situation. 
"  How  is  there  any  escape  from  such  a  position  ?  Am 
I  not  the  wife  of  my  husband }  " 

"  From  any  situation,  however  difficult,  there  is  always 


246  ANNA    KARENINA 

some  way  of  escape ;  here  we  must  simply  decide.  — 
Anything  is  better  than  the  Hfe  you  are  leading.  How 
well  I  see  how  you  are  tormenting  yourself  about  your 
husband,  your  son,  society,  all !  " 

"Akh  !  only  not  my  husband,"  said  she,  with  a  simple 
smile.  "  I  don't  know  him,  I  don't  think  about  him  ! 
He  is  not." 

"You  speak  insincerely!  I  know  you  ;  you  torment 
yourself  on  his  account  also." 

"Not  even  he  knows ...."  said  she,  and  suddenly  a 
bright  crimson  spread  over  her  face ;  it  colored  her 
cheeks,  brow,  her  neck,  and  tears  of  shame  came  into 
her  eyes. 

*'  Let  us  not  speak  more  of  him." 


CHAPTER    XXni 

Vronsky  had  many  times  tried,  though  not  so  de- 
cidedly as  now,  to  bring  clearly  before  her  mind  their 
position;  and  always  he  had  met  the  same  superficial 
and  frivolous  way  of  looking  at  it,  as  she  now  treated 
his  demand.  Apparently,  there  was  something  in  this 
which  she  was  unwilling  or  unable  to  fathom;  appar- 
ently, as  soon  as  she  began  to  speak  about  it,  she,  the 
real  Anna,  disappeared,  to  give  place  to  a  strange  and 
incomprehensible  woman,  whom  he  did  not  love,  but 
feared,  and  who  was  repulsive  to  him.  To-day  he  was 
bound  to  have  an  absolute  explanation. 

"Whether  he  knows  or  not,"  he  said,  in  a  calm  but 
authoritative  voice,  "  whether  he  knows  or  not,  it  does 
not  concern  us.  We  cannot....  we  cannot  now  continue 
as  we  are." 

"What,  in  your  opinion,  must  we  do  about  it.?"  she 
demanded,  in  the  same  bantering  tone  of  irony.  Though 
she  had  been  so  keenly  apprehensive  that  he  would  not 
receive  her  confidence  with  due  appreciation,  she  was 
now  vexed  that  he  deduced  from  it  the  absolute  neces- 
sity of  energetic  action. 

"Tell  him  all,  and  leave  him." 


ANNA    KARENINA  247 

"Very  good !  let  us  suppose  I  do  it,"  said  she.  "Do 
you  know  what  the  result  would  be  ?  I  will  tell  you  ;  " 
and  a  wicked  fire  flashed  from  her  eyes,  which  were 
just  now  so  gentle.  "'Oh!  you  love  another,  and 
your  course  with  him  has  been  criviijial,'  "  said  she, 
imitating  her  husband,  and  accenting  the  word  criminal 
in  exactly  his  manner.  " '  I  warned  you  of  the  con- 
sequences which  would  follow  from  the  point  of  view 
of  religion,  of  society,  and  of  the  family.  You  did  not 
listen  to  me ;  now  I  cannot  allow  my  name  to  be  dis- 
honored, and  my  '  "  —  she  was  going  to  say  my  son,  but 
stopped,  for  she  could  not  jest  about  him  —  "  'my  name 
dishonored,'  and  so  on  in  the  same  style,"  she  added. 
"  In  a  word,  he  will  tell  me  with  his  official  manner 
and  with  precision  and  clearness  that  he  cannot  set  me 
free,  but  that  he  will  take  measures  to  avoid  a  scandal. 
And  he  will  do  exactly  as  he  says.  That  is  what  will 
take  place ;  for  he  is  not  a  man,  he  is  a  machine,  and, 
when  he  is  stirred  up,  an  ugly  machine,"  said  she,  call- 
ing to  mind  the  most  trifling  details  in  her  husband's 
face  and  manner  of  speaking,  and  charging  to  him  as  a 
crime  all  the  ill  that  she  could  find  in  him,  and  not 
pardoning  him  at  all  on  account  of  the  terrible  sin  of 
which  she  had  been  guilty  before  him. 

"But,  Anna,"  said  Vronsky,  in  a  persuasive,  tender 
voice,  trying  to  calm  her,  "you  must  tell  him  every- 
thing, and  act  accordingly  as  he  proceeds." 

"What!  elope.?" 

"  Why  not  elope }  I  see  no  possibility  of  living  as 
we  are  any  longer ;  it  is  not  on  my  account,  but  I  see 
you  will  suffer." 

"  What !  elope,  and  become  your  mistress  } "  said  she, 
bitterly. 

"  Anna  !  "  he  cried,  deeply  wounded. 

"  Yes,  your  mistress,  and  lose  everything  !  "  .... 

Again  she  was  going  to  say  mj  sou,  but  she  could 
not  pronounce  the  word. 

Vronsky  could  not  understand  how  she,  with  her 
strong,  loyal  nature,  could  accept  the  false  position  in 
which  she  was  placed,  and  not  endeavor  to  escape  from 


248  ANNA    KARENINA 

it.  But  he  could  not  doubt  that  the  principal  cause 
of  this  was  represented  by  that  word  son,  which  she 
could  not  pronounce. 

When  she  thought  of  her  son  and  his  future  relations 
to  a  mother  who  had  deserted  his  father,  the  horror  of 
what  she  had  done  appeared  so  great,  that,  like  a  real 
woman,  she  was  not  able  to  reason,  but  only  endeavored 
to  reassure  herself  by  fallacious  arguments,  and  persuade 
herself  that  all  would  go  on  as  before ;  above  all  things, 
she  must  shut  her  eyes,  and  forget  this  terrible  ques- 
tion, what  would  become  of  her  son. 

"  I  beg  of  you,  I  entreat  you,"  she  said  suddenly, 
speaking  in  a  very  different  tone,  a  tone  of  tenderness 
and  sincerity,  and  seizing  his  hand,  "don't  ever  speak 
to  me  of  that  again." 

"But,  Anna...." 

"  Never,  never !  Leave  it  to  me.  I  know  all  the 
depth,  all  the  horror,  of  my  situation,  but  it  is  not  so 
easy  as  you  imagine  to  decide.  Let  me  decide,  and 
listen  to  me.  Never  speak  to  me  again  of  that.  Will 
you  promise  me  "i ....  never,  never }  promise  !  "  .... 

"  I  promise  all  ;  but  I  cannot  be  calm,  especially 
after  what  you  have  told  me.  I  cannot  be  calm  when 
you  cannot  be  calm."  .... 

"I.?"  she  repeated.  "Yes,  I  suffer  torments  some- 
times, but  that  will  pass  if  you  will  not  say  anything 
more  about  it.  When  you  speak  with  me  about  this, 
then,  and  then  only,  it  tortures  me." 

"  I  don't  understand  ....  " 

"  I  know,"  she  interrupted,  "  how  your  honest  nature 
abhors  lying ;  I  am  sorry  for  you  ;  and  very  often  I 
think  that  you  have  sacrificed  your  life  for  me  !  " 

"That  is  exactly  what  I  say  about  you.  I  was  just 
this  moment  thinking  how  you  could  sacrifice  yourself 
for  me !  I  cannot  forgive  myself  for  having  made  you 
unhappy." 

"I  unhappy.?"  said  she,  coming  up  close  to  him, 
and  looking  at  him  with  a  smile  of  enthusiastic  love. 
"  I  .!*  I  am  like  a  man  dying  of  hunger,  to  whom  food 
has  been  given.     Maybe  he  is  cold,  and  his  raiment  is 


ANNA    KARENINA  249 

rags,  and  he  is  ashamed,  but  he  is  not  unhappy.  I  un- 
happy ?     No  ;  here  comes  my  joy."  .... 

She  had  heard  the  voice  of  her  Httle  boy  coming 
near,  and  giving  a  hurried  glance  around  her,  swiftly 
arose.  Her  face  glowed  with  the  fire  which  Vronsky 
knew  so  well,  and  with  a  hasty  motion  putting  out  her 
lovely  hands,  covered  with  rings,  she  took  Vronsky's 
face  between  them,  looked  at  him  a  long  moment, 
reached  her  face  up  to  his,  with  her  smiling  lips  parted, 
kissed  his  mouth  and  both  eyes,  and  pushed  him  away. 
She  started  to  go,  but  he  kept  her  back  a  moment. 

"  When  ? "  he  whispered,  looking  at  her  with  ecstasy. 

"  To-day  at  one  o'clock,"  she  replied  in  a  low  voice, 
and  with  a  deep  sigh  she  ran,  in  her  light,  graceful 
gait,  to  meet  her  son. 

Serozha  had  been  caught  by  the  rain  in  the  park, 
and  had  taken  refuge  with  his  nurse  in  a  pavilion. 

"Well,  good-by  —  da  svidanya  !''  said  she  to  Vron- 
sky. "  I  must  get  ready  for  the  races.  Betsy  has 
promised  to  come  and  get  me." 

Vronsky  looked  at  his  watch,  and  hurried  away. 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

When  Vronsky  looked  at  his  watch  on  the  Karenins' 
terrace,  he  was  so  stirred  and  preoccupied,  that,  though 
he  saw  the  figures  on  the  face,  he  did  not  know  what 
time  it  was.  He  hurried  along  the  driveway,  and,  pick- 
ing his  way  carefully  through  the  mud,  he  reached  his 
carriage.  He  had  been  so  absorbed  by  his  conversation 
with  Anna  that  he  did  not  notice  the  hour,  or  ask  if  he 
still  had  time  to  go  to  Briansky's.  As  it  often  happens, 
he  had  only  the  external  faculty  of  memory,  and  it  re- 
called to  him  only  that  he  had  decided  to  do  something. 
He  found  his  coachman  dozing  on  his  box  under  the 
already  slanting  shade  of  the  linden  ;  he  noticed  the 
swarms  of  midgets  buzzing  around  his  sweaty  horses  ; 
then,  waking  the  coachman,  he  jumped  into  his  carriage, 
and  ordered  him  to  drive  to  Briansky's  ;  only  after  he 


250  ANNA    KARENINA 

had  gone  six  or  seven  versts  did  he  remember  that  he 
had  looked  at  his  watch  and  reahzed  that  it  was  half- 
past  five,  and  that  he  was  late. 

On  that  day  there  were  *to  be  several  races  :  first  the 
draught-horses,  then  the  officers'  two-verst  dash,  then  a 
second  of  four,  and  last  that  in  which  he  was  to  take 
part.  He  could  be  in  time  for  his  race,  but,  if  he  went 
to  Briansky's,  he  ran  the  risk  of  getting  to  the  grounds 
after  the  court  had  arrived.  That  was  not  in  good 
form.  But  he  had  promised  Briansky  to  be  there,  there- 
fore he  kept  on,  commanding  the  coachman  not  to  spare 
the  trofka.  He  reached  Briansky's,  spent  five  minutes 
with  him,  and  was  off  again  at  full  speed.  The  rapid 
motion  calmed  him.  All  the  difficulties  that  confronted 
him  in  his  relations  with  Anna,  all  the  uncertainty  that 
remained  after  their  conversation,  vanished  from  his 
mind ;  he  thought  with  delight  and  excitement  of  the 
race,  and  how  he  might  after  all  get  there  in  time,  and 
then  again  he  vividly  imagined  the  brilliant  society 
which  would  gather  to-day  at  the  course. 

And  he  got  more  and  more  into  the  atmosphere  of 
the  races  as  he  overtook  people  coming  in  their  car- 
riages from  various  villas,  and  even  from  Petersburg,  on 
their  way  to  the  hippodrome. 

When  he  reached  his  quarters,  no  one  was  at  home ; 
all  had  gone  to  the  races,  except  his  valet,  who  was  wait- 
ing for  him  at  the  entrance.  While  he  was  changing 
his  clothes,  his  valet  told  him  that  the  second  race  had 
already  begun^  that  a  number  of  gentlemen  had  been  to 
inquire  for  him. 

Vronsky  dressed  without  haste,  —  for  he  never  was 
hurried  and  he  never  lost  his  self-command, — and  di- 
rected the  coachman  to  take  him  to  the  stables.  P>om 
there  he  saw  a  sea  of  carriages  of  all  sorts,  of  pedes- 
trians, soldiers,  and  of  spectators,  surrounding  the  hip- 
podrome, and  the  seats  boiling  with  people. 

Evidently  the  second  course  had  been  run,  for  just 
as  he  reached  the  stables  he  heard  the  sound  of  a  bell. 
As  he  reached  the  stable,  he  noticed  Makhotin's  white- 
footed   chestnut    Gladiator,    covered   with   a   blue   and 


ANNA    KARENINA  251 

orange  caparison,  and  with  huge  ear-protectors  trimmed 
with  blue.  They  were  leading  him  out  to  the  hippo- 
drome. 

"  Where  is  Cord  ? "  he  asked  of  the  groom. 

"  In  the  stable  ;  he  is  putting  on  the  saddle." 

Frou  Frou  was  all  saddled  in  her  open  box-stall.  They 
started  to  lead  her  out. 

"  I  am  not  late,  am  I .-' " 

''  All  right,  all  right,''  said  the  Englishman.  "Don't 
get  excited." 

Vronsky  once  more  gave  a  quick  glance  at  the  excel- 
lent, favorable  shape  of  his  horse,  as  she  stood  trem- 
bling in  every  limb  ;  and,  finding  it  hard  to  tear  himself 
away  from  such  a  beautiful  sight,  he  left  her  at  the 
stable.  He  approached  the  benches  at  a  most  favorable 
moment  for  doing  this  without  attracting  observation. 
The  two-verst  dash  was  just  at  an  end,  and  all  eyes  were 
fixed  on  a  cavalry-guardsman  who  was  in  the  lead,  and  a 
hussar  just  at  his  heels,  whipping  their  horses  furiously, 
and  approaching  the  goal.  From  the  center  and  both 
ends  all  crowded  in  toward  the  goal,  and  a  group  of 
officers  and  guardsmen  were  hailing  with  shouts  the 
triumph  of  their  fellow-officer  and  friend. 

Vronsky,  without  being  noticed,  joined  the  throng 
just  as  the  bell  announced  the  end  of  the  race ;  the 
victor,  a  tall  cavalry -guardsman,  covered  with  mud, 
dropped  the  reins,  slipped  off  from  the  saddle,  and  stood 
by  his  roan  stallion,  which  was  black  with  sweat,  and 
heavily  breathing. 

The  stallion,  with  a  violent  effort  thrusting  out  his 
legs,  had  stopped  the  swift  course  of  his  big  body ;  and 
the  officer,  like  a  man  awakening  from  a  deep  sleep,  was 
looking  about  him,  trying  hard  to  smile.  A  throng  of 
friends  and  strangers  pressed  about  him. 

Vronsky,  with  intention,  avoided  the  elegant  people 
who  were  circulating  about,  engaged  in  gay  and  ani- 
mated conversation  in  front  of  the  seats.  He  had  al- 
ready caught  sight  of  Anna,  Betsy,  and  his  brother's 
wife,  but  he  did  not  join  them,  so  that  he  might  not  be 
disconcerted  ;  but  he  kept  meeting  acquaintances  who 


252  ANNA    KARENINA 

stopped  him,  and  told  him  various  items  about  the  last 
race,  or  asked  him  why  he  was  late. 

While  they  were  distributing  the  prizes  at  the  pavilion, 
and  every  one  had  gone  in  this  direction,  Vronsky  was 
joined  by  fiis  elder  brother.  Aleksandr  Vronsky  was  a 
colonel  and  wore  epaulets,  and,  like  AlekseY,  was  a 
man  of  medium  stature,  and  rather  thick-set ;  but  he 
was  handsomer  and  ruddier.  His  nose  was  red,  and 
his  frank,  open  face  was  flushed  with  wine. 

"  Did  you  get  my  note  ? "  he  asked  of  his  brother. 
"You  are  never  to  be  found." 

Aleksandr  Vronsky,  in  spite  of  his  life  of  dissipation 
and  his  love  for  drink,  which  was  notorious,  was  a  thor- 
oughly courtly  man.  Knowing  that  many  eyes  might 
be  fixed  on  them,  he  preserved,  while  he  talked  on  a 
very  painful  subject,  a  smiling  face,  as  if  he  were  jesting 
with  his  brother  about  some  trifling  matter. 

"I  got  it,"  said  he,  "but  I  really  don't  understand 
why  you  interfere." 

"  I  interfere  because  I  noticed  you  were  not  to  be 
found  this  morning,  and  because  you  were  seen  at 
Peterhof  Monday." 

"There  are  matters  which  cannot  be  judged  except 
by  those  who  are  directly  interested,  and  the  matter  in 
which  you  concern  yourself  is  such."  .... 

"Yes  ;  but  when  one  is  not  in  the  service,  he...," 

"  I  beg  you  to  mind  your  own  business,  and  that  is  all." 

Aleksef  Vronsky's  frowning  face  grew  pale,  and  his 
rather  prominent  lower  jaw  shook.  This  happened 
rarely  with  him.  He  was  a  man  of  kindly  heart,  and 
rarely  got  angry ;  but  when  he  grew  angry,  and  when 
his  chin  trembled,  he  became  dangerous.  Aleksandr 
Vronsky  knew  it,  and  with  a  gay  laugh  replied  :  — 

"  I  only  wanted  to  give  you  matushka's  letter.  An- 
swer it,  and  don't  get  angry  before  the  race.  Bonne 
chance,''  he  added,  with  a  smile,  and  left  him. 

The  next  moment  another  friendly  greeting  surprised 
Vronsky. 

"  Won't  you  recognize  your  friends  .'*  How  are  you, 
mon  cher?"    said  Stepan  Arkady evitch,  with  his  rosy 


ANNA    KARENINA  253 

face  and  carefully  combed  and  pomaded  whiskers  ;  in 
the  midst  of  the  brilliant  society  of  Petersburg,  he  was 
no  less  brilliant  than  at  Moscow.  "  I  came  down  yes- 
terday, and  am  very  glad  to  be  present  at  your  triumph. 
When  can  we  meet  .■*  " 

"  Come  to  the  mess,  after  the  race  is  over,"  said 
Vronsky ;  and  with  an  apology  for  leaving  him,  he 
squeezed  the  sleeve  of  his  paletot,  and  went  to  the 
middle  of  the  hippodrome,  where  they  were  bringing  the 
horses  for  the  handicap-race. 

The  grooms  were  leading  back  the  sweaty  horses, 
wearied  by  the  race  which  they  had  run  ;  and  one  by 
one  the  fresh  horses  entered  for  the  next  course  appeared 
on  the  ground.  They  were,  for  the  most  part,  English 
horses,  in  hoods,  and  well  caparisoned,  and  looked  like 
enormous  strange  birds.  At  the  right-hand  side  they 
were  leading  in  the  lean  beauty,  Frou  Frou,  which  came 
out,  stepping  high  as  if  on  springs,  with  her  elastic  and 
slender  pasterns.  And  not  far  from  her  they  were 
removing  the  trappings  from  the  lop-eared  Gladiator. 
The  stallion's  solid,  superb,  and  perfectly  symmetrical 
form,  with  his  splendid  crupper  and  his  extraordinarily 
short  pasterns  placed  directly  over  the  hoofs,  attracted 
Vronsky's  admiration.  He  was  just  going  up  to  Frou 
Frou  when  another  acquaintance  stopped  him  again. 

"  Ah  !  there  is  Karenin,"  said  the  friend  with  whom 
he  was  talking ;  "  he  is  hunting  for  his  wife.  She  is  in 
the  very  center  of  the  pavilion.     Have  you  seen  her.?" 

"  No,  I  have  not,"  replied  Vronsky ;  and,  without 
turning  his  head  in  the  direction  where  his  acquain- 
tance told  him  that  Madame  Karenin  was,  he  went  to 
his  horse. 

He  had  scarcely  time  to  make  some  adjustment  of 
the  saddle,  when  those  who  were  to  compete  in  the 
hurdle-race  were  called  to  receive  their  numbers  and 
directions.  With  serious,  stern,  and  some  with  pale 
faces,  seventeen  men  in  all  approached  the  stand  and 
received  their  numbers.     Vronsky's  number  was  seven. 

"  Mount !  "  was  the  cry. 

Vronsky,  feeling  that  he,  with  his  companions,  was 


254  ANNA    KARENINA 

the  focus  toward  which  all  eyes  were  turned,  went  up 
to  his  horse  with  the  slow  and  deliberate  motions  which 
were  usual  to  him  when  he  was  under  the  strain  of 
excitement. 

Cord,  in  honor  of  the  races,  had  put  on  his  gala-day 
costume :  he  wore  a  black  coat,  buttoned  to  the  chin, 
and  a  stiffly  starched  shirt-collar,  which  made  a  support 
for  his  cheeks;  he  had  on  Hessian  boots  and  a  round 
black  cap.  He  was,  as  always,  calm  and  full  of  impor- 
tance, as  he  stood  by  the  mare's  head,  holding  both 
reins  in  his  hand.  Frou  Frou  was  still  shivering  as  if 
she  had  an  attack  of  fever  ;  her  fiery  eyes  gazed  askance 
at  Vronsky  as  he  approached.  He  passed  his  finger 
under  the  girth  of  the  saddle.  The  mare  looked  at  him 
still  more  askance,  showed  her  teeth,  and  pricked  up 
her  ears.  The  Englishman  puckered  up  his  lips  with  a 
grin  at  the  idea  that  there  could  be  any  doubt  as  to  his 
skill  in  putting  on  a  saddle.  "  Mount,  and  you  won't 
be  so  nervous,"  said  he. 

Vronsky  cast  a  final  glance  on  his  rivals  ;  he  knew 
that  he  should  not  see  them  again  until  the  race  was 
over.  Two  of  them  had  already  gone  to  the  starting- 
point.  Galtsin,  a  friend  of  his,  and  one  of  his  dangerous 
rivals,  was  turning  around  and  around  his  bay  stallion, 
which  was  trying  to  keep  him  from  mounting.  A  little 
Leib-hussar  in  tight  cavalry  trousers  was  off  on  a  gal- 
lop, bent  double  over  his  horse,  like  a  cat  on  the  crupper, 
in  imitation  of  the  English  fashion.  Prince  Kuzovlef, 
white  as  a  sheet,  was  mounted  on  a  thoroughbred  mare 
from  the  Grabovsky  stud  ;  an  Englishman  held  it  by 
the  bridle.  Vronsky  and  all  his  comrades  knew  Kuzo- 
vlef's  terrible  self-conceit,  and  his  peculiarity  of  "weak 
nerves."  They  knew  that  he  was  timid  at  everything, 
especially  timid  of  riding  horseback ;  but  now,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  all  this  was  horrible  to  him, 
because  he  knew  that  people  broke  their  necks,  and 
that  at  every  hurdle  stood  a  surgeon,  an  ambulance  with 
its  cross  and  sister  of  charity,  still  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  to  ride. 

They  exchanged  glances,  and  Vronsky  gave  him  an 


ANNA   KARENINA  255 

encouraging  and  approving  nod.  One  only  he  now 
failed  to  see  :  his  most  redoubtable  rival,  Makhotin,  on 
Gladiator,  was  not  there. 

"Don't  be  in  haste,"  said  Cord  to  Vronsky,  "and 
remember  one  thing :  when  you  come  to  a  hurdle,  don't 
pull  back  or  spur  on  your  horse ;  let  her  take  it  her  own 
way." 

"Very  good,"  replied  Vronsky,  taking  the  reins. 

"  If  possible,  take  the  lead,  but  don't  be  discouraged 
even  to  the  last  if  you  are  behind." 

The  horse  did  not  have  time  to  stir  before  Vronsky, 
with  supple  and  powerful  movement,  put  his  foot  on  the 
notched  steel  stirrup,  and  gracefully,  firmly,  took  his 
seat  in  the  squeaking  leather  saddle.  Having  put  his 
right  foot  in  the  stirrup,  with  his  customary  care  he  then 
arranged  the  double  reins  between  his  fingers,  and 
Cord  let  go  the  animal's  head.  Frou  Frou,  as  if  not 
knowing  which  foot  to  put  down  first,  stretched  out  her 
neck,  and  pulled  on  the  reins,  and  she  started  off  as  if 
on  springs,  balancing  her  rider  on  her  supple  back. 
Cord,  quickening  his  pace,  followed  them.  The  mare, 
excited,  jumped  to  right  and  left,  trying  to  take  her 
master  off  his  guard,  and  pulled  at  the  reins,  and  Vron- 
sky vainly  endeavored  to  calm  her  with  his  voice  and 
with  his  hand. 

They  were  approaching  the  diked  bank  of  the  river, 
where  the  starting-post  was  placed.  Some  of  the  riders 
had  gone  on  ahead,  others  were  riding  behind,  when 
Vronsky  suddenly  heard  on  the  muddy  track  the  gallop 
of  a  horse  ;  and  Makhotin  dashed  by  on  his  white-footed, 
lop-eared  Gladiator.  Makhotin  smiled,  showing  his  long 
teeth,  but  Vronsky  looked  at  him  angrily.  He  did  not 
like  Makhotin  any  too  well,  and  now  he  regarded  him 
as  his  most  dangerous  rival  ;  and  he  was  exasperated  at 
the  way  he  galloped  up  behind  him,  exciting  his  mare.     ' 

Frou  Frou  kicked  up  her  heels  and  started  off  at  a 
gallop,  made  two  bounds,  and  then,  angry  at  the  re- 
straint of  the  curb,  changed  her  gait  into  a  trot  which 
shook  up  her  rider.  Cord  was  also  disgusted,  and  ran 
almost  as  fast  as  Vronsky. 


256  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XXV 

The  number  of  the  officers  who  were  to  take  part 
was  seventeen.  The  race-course  was  a  great  ellipse  of 
four  versts,  extending  before  the  judges'  stand,  and  nine 
obstacles  were  placed  upon  it :  the  "river"  ;  a  great  bar- 
rier two  arshins  —  four  feet,  eight  inches  —  high,  in  front 
of  the  pavilion ;  a  dry  ditch ;  a  ditch  filled  with  water  ; 
a  steep  ascent ;  an  Irish  banketka,  which  is  the  most 
difficult  of  all,  composed  of  an  embankment  set  with 
dry  branches,  behind  which  is  concealed  a  ditch,  oblig- 
ing the  horseman  to  leap  two  obstacles  at  once,  at  the 
risk  of  his  life ;  then  three  more  ditches,  two  filled  with 
water  and  one  dry  ;  and  finally  the  goal  opposite  the 
pavilion  again.  The  track  did  not  begin  in  the  circle 
itself,  but  about  a  hundred  saahcns,  or  seven  hundred 
feet,  to  one  side  ;  and  in  this  space  was  the  first  obstacle, 
the  diked  "river,"  about  three  arshins,  or  seven  feet, 
wide,  which  the  racers  were  free  to  leap  or  to  ford. 

Three  times  the  riders  got  into  line,  but  each  time 
some  horse  or  other  started  before  the  signal,  and  the 
men  had  to  be  called  back.  Colonel  Sestrin,  the  starter, 
was  beginning  to  get  impatient ;  but  at  last,  for  the 
fourth  time,  the  signal  was  given,  '^ Pashol !  —  Go  !  "  and 
the  riders  put  spurs  to  their  horses. 

All  eyes,  all  lorgnettes,  were  directed  toward  the 
variegated  group  of  racers  as  they  started  off. 

"  There  they  go  !  "  "  There  they  come  !  "  was  the 
cry  on  all  sides  after  the  silence  of  expectation. 

And  in  order  to  follow  them,  the  spectators  rushed, 
singly  or  in  groups,  toward  the  places  where  they  could 
get  a  better  view.  At  the  first  moment  the  collected 
group  of  horsemen  scattered  a  little,  and  it  could  be 
seen  how  they,  in  twos  and  threes,  and  singly,  one  after 
the  other,  approached  the  "river."  To  the  spectators  it 
seemed  as  if  they  were  all  moving  together,  but  to  the 
racers  themselves  there  were  seconds  of  separation 
which  had  great  value. 

Frou  Frou,  excited  and  too  nervous  at  first,  lost  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  257 

first  moment,  and  several  of  the  horses  were  ahead  of 
her;  but  Vronsky,  not  having  yet  reached  the  "river," 
and  trying  with  all  his  might  to  calm  her  as  she  pulled 
on  the  bridle,  soon  easily  outstripped  three,  and  now 
had  as  competitors  only  Makhotin's  chestnut  Gladiator, 
which  was  easily  and  smoothly  running  a  whole  length 
ahead,  and  still  more  to  the  fore  the  pretty  Diana,  car- 
rying Prince  Kuzovlef,  not  knowing  whether  he  was 
dead  or  alive. 

During  these  first  few  seconds  Vronsky  had  control 
neither  of  himself  nor  of  his  horse.  Up  to  the  first  ob- 
stacle, the  "  river,"  he  could  not  control  the  movements 
of  his  horse. 

Gladiator  and  Diana  reached  it  at  almost  one  and  the 
same  moment.  Both  at  once  rose  above  the  reka,  or 
"river,"  and  flew  across  to  the  other  side.  Frou  Frou 
lightly  leaped  behind  them,  as  if  she  had  wings.  The 
instant  that  Vronsky  perceived  that  he  was  in  the  air, 
he  caught  a  gUmpse  of  Kuzovlef  almost  under  the  feet 
of  his  horse,  wrestling  with  Diana  on  the  other  side 
of  the  "river."  Kuzovlef  had  loosened  the  reins  after 
Diana  jumped,  and  the  horse  had  stumbled,  throwing 
him  over  her  head.  These  details  Vronsky  learned 
afterwards,  but  at  this  time  he  only  saw  that  Frou  Frou 
might  land  on  Diana's  head  or  legs.  But  Frou  Frou, 
like  a  falling  cat,  making  a  desperate  effort  with  back 
and  legs  as  she  leaped,  landed  beyond  the  fallen  racer. 

"  O  you  dear  !  "  thought  Vronsky. 

After  the  reka  he  got  full  control  of  his  horse,  and 
even  held  her  back  a  little,  meaning  to  leap  the  great 
hurdle  behind  Makhotin,  and  to  do  his  best  to  outstrip 
him  when  they  reached  the  long  stretch  of  about  two 
hundred  sashcns,  or  fourteen  hundred  feet,  which  was 
free  of  obstacles. 

This  great  hurdle  was  built  exactly  in  front  of  the 
imperial  pavilion  ;  the  emperor,  the  court,  and  an  im- 
mense throng  were  watching  them,  watching  him  and 
Makhotin  on  the  horse  a  length  ahead  of  him,  as  they 
approached  the  choi't,  or  devil,  as  the  barrier  was  called. 
Vronsky  felt  all  these  eyes  fixed  on  him  from  every  side; 
VOL.  I.  — 17 


258  ANNA    KARENINA 

but  he  saw  only  his  horse's  ears  and  neck,  the  ground 
flying  under  him,  and  Gladiator's  flanks,  and  white  feet 
beating  the  ground  in  cadence,  and  always  maintaining 
the  same  distance  between  them.  Gladiator  flew  at  the 
hurdle,  gave  a  whisk  of  his  well-cropped  tail,  and,  with- 
out having  touched  the  hurdle,  vanished  from  Vronsky's 
eyes. 

"  Bravo  !  "  cried  a  voice. 

At  the  same  instant  the  planks  of  the  hurdle  flashed 
before  his  eyes.  Without  the  least  change  in  her  motion, 
the  horse  rose  under  him.  The  planks  creaked  and  just 
behind  him  there  was  the  sound  of  a  thump.  Frou  Frou, 
excited  by  the  sight  of  Gladiator,  had  leaped  too  soon, 
and  had  struck  the  hurdle  with  one  of  her  hind  feet,  but 
her  gait  was  unchanged  ;  and  Vronsky,  his  face  splashed 
with  mud,  saw  that  he  was  still  at  the  same  distance 
from  Gladiator,  he  saw  once  more  Gladiator's  crupper, 
his  short  tail,  and  his  swiftly  moving  white  feet. 

At  the  very  instant  that  Vronsky  decided  that  he 
ought  now  to  get  ahead  of  Makhotin,  Frou  Frou  herself 
comprehending  his  thought,  and  needing  no  stimulus, 
sensibly  increased  her  speed,  and  gained  on  Makhotin 
by  trying  to  take  the  inside  track  next  the  rope.  But 
Makhotin  did  not  yield  this  advantage.  Vronsky  was 
wondering  if  they  could  not  pass  on  the  outside,  when 
Frou  Frou,  as  if  divining  his  thought,  changed  of  her 
own  accord  and  took  this  direction.  Her  shoulder, 
darkened  with  sweat,  came  up  even  with  Gladiator's 
flank,  and  for  several  seconds  they  flew  almost  side  by 
side  ;  but  Vronsky,  before  the  obstacle  to  which  they 
were  now  coming,  in  order  not  to  take  the  outside  of 
the  great  circle,  began  to  ply  his  reins,  and,  just  on  the 
declivity,  he  managed  to  get  the  lead.  As  he  drew  by 
Makhotin  he  saw  his  mud-stained  face  ;  it  even  seemed 
to  him  that  he  smiled.  Vronsky  had  passed  Makhotin, 
but  he  was  conscious  that  he  was  just  behind,  he  was 
still  there,  within  a  step  ;  and  Vronsky  could  hear  the 
regular  rhythm  of  Gladiator's  feet,  and  his  hurried,  but 
far  from  winded,  breathing. 

The  next  two  obstacles,  the  ditch  and  the  hurdle,  were 


ANNA    KARENINA  2^9 

easily  passed,  but  Gladiator's  gallop  and  puffing  came 
nearer,  Vronsky  gave  Frou  Frou  the  spur,  and  perceived 
with  a  thrill  of  joy  that  she  easily  accelerated  her  speed  ; 
the  sound  of  Gladiator's  hoofs  was  heard  once  more  in 
the  same  relative  distance  behind. 

He  now  had  the  lead,  as  he  had  desired,  and  as  Cord 
had  recommended,  and  he  felt  sure  of  success.  His 
emotion,  his  joy,  his  affection  for  Frou  Frou,  were  all 
growing  more  pronounced.  He  wanted  to  look  back, 
but  he  did  not  dare  to  turn  around,  and  he  strove  to  calm 
himself,  and  not  to  push  his  horse  too  far,  so  that  she 
might  keep  a  reserve  equal  to  that  which  he  felt  Gladi- 
ator still  maintained. 

One  obstacle,  the  most  serious,  now  remained ;  if  he 
cleared  that  before  the  others,  then  he  would  be  first  in. 
He  was  now  approaching  the  Irish  banketka.  He  and 
Frou  Frou  at  the  same  instant  caught  sight  of  the  ob- 
stacle from  afar,  and  both,  horse  and  man  felt  a  moment 
of  hesitation.  Vronsky  noticed  the  hesitation  in  his 
horse's  ears,  and  he  was  just  lifting  his  whip ;  but  in- 
stantly he  was  conscious  that  his  fears  were  ungrounded, 
the  horse  knew  what  she  had  to  do.  She  got  her  start, 
and,  exactly  as  he  had  foreseen,  spurning  the  ground,  she 
gave  herself  up  to  the  force  of  inertia  which  carried  her 
far  beyond  the  ditch  ;  then  fell  again  into  the  measure 
of  her  pace  without  effort  and  without  change. 

"  Bravo,  Vronsky  !  " 

He  heard  the  acclamations  of  the  throng.  He  knew 
it  was  his  friends  and  his  regiment,  who  were  standing 
near  this  obstacle;  and  he  could  not  fail  to  distinguish 
Yashvin's  voice,  though  he  did  not  see  him. 

"  O  my  beauty  !  "  said  he  to  himself,  thinking  of  Frou 
Frou,  and  yet  listening  to  what  was  going  on  behind 
him.  "  He  has  cleared  it,"  he  said,  as  he  heard  Gladia- 
tor's hoof-beats  behind  him. 

The  last  ditch,  full  of  water,  five  feet  ^  wide,  now  was 
left.  Vronsky  scarcely  heeded  it ;  but,  anxious  to  come 
in  far  ahead  of  the  others,  he  began  to  saw  on  the  reins, 
lifting  her  head  and  letting  it  fall  again  in  time  with  the 

^  Two  arshins,  four  feet,  eight  inches.     Three  arshins  make  a  sazhen. 


26o  ANNA    KARENINA 

rhythm  of  her  gait.  He  felt  that  the  horse  was  begin- 
ning to  draw  on  her  last  reserves  ;  not  only  were  her 
neck  and  her  sides  wet,  but  the  sweat  stood  in  drops 
on  her  throat,  her  head,  and  her  ears ;  her  breath  was 
short  and  gasping.  Still,  he  was  sure  that  she  had 
force  enough  to  cover  the  fourteen  hundred  feet  that 
lay  between  him  and  the  goal.  Only  because  he  felt 
himself  nearer  the  ground,  and  by  the  extraordinary 
smoothness  of  her  motion,  did  Vronsky  realize  how 
much  she  had  increased  her  speed.  The  ditch  was 
cleared,  how,  he  did  not  know. 

She  cleared  the  ditch  scarcely  heeding  it ;  she  cleared 
it  Hke  a  bird.  But  at  this  moment  Vronsky  felt,  to  his 
horror,  that,  instead  of  taking  the  swing  of  his  horse,  he 
had  made,  through  some  inexplicable  reason,  a  wretch- 
edly and  unpardonably  wrong  motion  in  falling  back 
into  the  saddle.  His  position  suddenly  changed,  and 
he  felt  that  something  horrible  had  happened.  He 
could  not  give  himself  any  clear  idea  of  it ;  but  there 
flashed  by  him  a  chestnut  steed  with  white  feet,  and 
Makhotin  by  a  swift  leap  passed  him. 

One  of  Vronsky's  feet  touched  the  ground,  and  his 
horse  stumbled.  He  had  scarcely  time  to  clear  himself 
when  the  horse  fell  on  her  side,  panting  painfully,  and 
making  vain  efforts  with  her  delicate  foam-covered  neck 
to  rise  again.  But  she  lay  on  the  ground,  and  strug- 
gled like  a  wounded  bird  ;  the  awkward  movement 
that  he  had  made  in  the  saddle  had  broken  her  back. 
But  he  did  not  learn  this  till  afterwards.  Now  he 
saw  only  one  thing,  that  Makhotin  was  far  ahead,  and 
that  he  was  tottering  there  alone,  standing  on  the 
muddy  immovable  ground,  and  before  him,  heavily  pant- 
ing, lay  Frou  Frou,  who  stretched  her  head  toward 
him,  and  looked  at  him  with  her  beautiful  eyes.  Still 
not  realizing  what  had  happened,  Vronsky  pulled  on  the 
reins.  The  poor  animal  struggled  like  a  fish,  splitting 
the  flaps  of  the  saddle,  and  tried  to  get  up  on  her  fore 
legs ;  but,  unable  to  move  her  hind  quarters,  she  fell 
back  on  the  ground  all  of  a  tremble,  Vronsky,  his  face 
pale  and   distorted  with   passion,  and  with   trembling 


ANNA    KARENINA  261 

lower  jaw,  kicked  her  in  the  belly  and  again  pulled  at 
the  reins.  But  she  did  not  move,  but  gazed  at  her 
master  with  one  of  her  speaking  looks,  and  buried  her 
nose  in  the  sand. 

"  Aaah  !  what  have  I  done  .•' "  cried  Vronsky,  taking 
her  head  in  his  hands.  "  Aaah  !  what  have  I  done  .-* " 
And  the  lost  race !  and  his  humiliating,  unpardonable 
blunder!  and  the  poor  ruined  horse!  "Aaah!  what 
have  I  done  ?  " 

The  people's  doctor  and  his  assistant,  the  officers  of 
his  regiment,  ran  to  his  aid  ;  but  to  his  great  mortifica- 
tion he  found  that  he  was  safe  and  sound.  The  horse's 
back  was  broken  and  she  had  to  be  killed, 

Vronsky  could  not  answer  the  questions  which  were 
put  to  him,  could  not  speak  a  word  to  any  one  ;  he  turned 
away  and,  without  picking  up  his  cap,  left  the  hippo- 
drome, not  knowing  whither  he  was  going.  He  was  in 
despair.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life  he  was  the  victim 
of  a  misfortune  for  which  there  was  no  remedy,  and  for 
which  he  felt  that  he  himself  was  the  only  one  to  blame. 

Yashvin,  with  his  cap,  overtook  him  and  brought  him 
back  to  his  quarters,  and  in  half  an  hour  Vronsky  was  calm 
and  self-possessed  again  ;  but  this  race  was  for  a  long 
time  the  most  bitter  and  cruel  remembrance  of  his  life. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

The  external  relations  of  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch 
and  his  wife  were  the  same  as  they  had  been.  The 
only  difference  was  that  he  was  more  absorbed  in  his 
work  than  he  had  been.  Early  in  the  spring  he  went 
abroad,  as  was  his  custom  each  year,  to  recuperate  at 
the  water-cure  after  the  fatigues  of  the  winter.  He  re- 
turned in  July,  as  he  usually  did,  and  resumed  his  duties 
with  new  energy.  His  wife  had  taken  up  her  summer 
quarters  as  usual  in  a  datc/ta,  or  summer  villa,  not  far 
from  Petersburg ;  he  remained  in  the  city. 

Since  their  conversation  after  the  reception  at  the 
Princess  Tverskaya's,  he  had  said  nothing  more  about 


262  ANNA   KARENINA 

his  jealousies  or  suspicions ;  and  the  tone  of  raillery 
habitual  with  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  was  to  the  high- 
est degree  useful  to  him  in  his  present  relations  with 
his  wife.  He  was  somewhat  cooler  in  his  treatment  of 
her,  although  he  seemed  to  have  felt  only  a  slight  ill- 
will  toward  her  after  that  night's  conversation  which 
she  had  refused  to  listen  to.  In  his  relations  to  her 
there  was  a  shade  of  spite,  but  nothing  more.  He 
seemed  to  say,  "  You  have  not  been  willing  to  have  an 
understanding  with  me ;  so  much  the  worse  for  you. 
Now  you  must  make  the  first  advances,  and  I,  in  my 
turn,  will  not  listen  to  you." 

"  So  much  the  worse  for  you,"  said  he  in  his  thought, 
like  a  man  who  should  try  in  vain  to  put  out  a  fire  and 
should  be  angry  at  his  vain  efforts,  and  should  say,  "  I 
have  done  my  best  for  you  ;  burn  then  !  " 

This  man,  so  keen  and  shrewd  in  matters  of  public 
concern,  could  not  see  the  absurdity  of  such  behavior  to 
his  wife.  He  did  not  understand  it  because  it  was  too 
terrible  to  understand  his  actual  position.  He  preferred 
to  bury  the  affection  which  he  felt  for  his  wife  and  child 
deep  in  his  heart,  as  in  a  box  locked  and  sealed.  He, 
a  watchful  father,  had  begun  toward  the  end  of  that 
winter  to  be  singularly  cold  toward  the  child,  speaking 
to  him  in  the  same  bantering  tone  that  he  used  toward 
his  wife.  When  he  addressed  him  he  would  say,  "  Ah, 
young  man  ! " 

Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  thought  and  declared  that 
he  had  never  had  so  many  important  affairs  as  this  year  ; 
but  he  did  not  confess  that  he  had  himself  under- 
taken them  in  order  to  keep  from  opening  his  secret 
coffer  which  contained  his  sentiments  toward  his  wife 
and  his  family,  and  his  thoughts  concerning  them,  — 
thoughts  which  grew  more  and  more  terrible  to  him 
the  longer  he  kept  them  out  of  sight. 

If  any  one  had  assumed  the  right  to  ask  him  what  he 
thought  about  his  wife's  conduct,  this  calm  and  pacific 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  would  have  made  no  reply,  but 
would  have  been  very  indignant  with  the  man  who 
should  dare  to  ask  him  such  a  question.     And  so  his 


ANNA    KARENINA  263 

face  always  looked  stern  and  haughty  whenever  any  one 
asked  how  his  wife  was.  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  did 
not  wish  to  think  about  his  wife's  conduct  and  feelings, 
and  therefore  he  did  not  think  about  them. 

The  Karenins'  summer  datcha  was  at  Peterhof ;  and  the 
Countess  Lidya  Ivanovna  generally  spent  her  summers 
in  the  same  neighborhood,  keeping  up  friendly  relations 
with  Anna.  This  year  the  countess  had  not  cared  to  go  to 
Peterhof,  nor  had  she  once  called  on  Anna  Arkadyevna  ; 
and  as  she  was  talking  with  Karenin  one  day,  she  made 
some  allusion  to  the  impropriety  of  Anna's  intimacy 
with  Betsy  and  Vronsky.  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch 
stopped  her  harshly,  and  declared  that  for  him  his  wife 
was  above  suspicion,  and  from  that  day  he  avoided  the 
countess.  He  did  not  wish  to  see  and  he  did  not  see 
that  many  people  in  society  were  beginning  to  give 
his  wife  the  cold  shoulder ;  he  did  not  wish  to  com- 
prehend and  he  did  not  comprehend  why  his  wife  es- 
pecially insisted  on  going  to  Tsarskoye,  where  Betsy 
lived  and  from  which  it  was  not  far  to  Vronsky's 
camp. 

He  did  not  allow  himself  to  think  about  this,  and  he 
did  not  think ;  but  at  the  same  time,  without  any  proof 
to  support  him,  without  actually  acknowledging  it  to 
himself,  in  the  depths  of  his  soul  he  felt  that  he  was  a 
deceived  husband ;  he  had  no  doubt  about  it,  and  he 
suffered  deeply. 

How  many  times  in  the  course  of  his  eight  years  of 
happy  married  life,  as  he  had  seen  other  men's  wives 
playing  them  false  and  other  husbands  deceived,  had  he 
not  asked  himself,  "How  did  it  come  to  this.-*  Why 
don't  they  free  themselves  at  any  cost  from  such  an 
absurd  situation  .-* "  But  now,  when  the  evil  had  fallen 
on  his  own  head,  he  not  only  did  not  dream  of  extricat- 
ing himself  from  his  own  trouble,  but  he  would  not 
even  admit  it,  would  not  admit  it  for  the  very  reason 
that  it  was  too  horrible  and  too  unnatural. 

Since  his  return  from  abroad,  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch 
had  gone  twice  to  his  wife's  datcha,  —  once  to  dine 
with  her,  the  other  time  to  pass  the  evening  with  some 


264  ANNA   KARENINA 

guests,  but  not  once  had  he  spent  the  night,  as  had 
been  his  custom  in  previous  years. 

The  day  of  the  races  was  extremely  engrossing  for 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  ;  but  when  in  the  morning  he 
made  out  the  program  of  the  day,  he  decided  to  go  to 
his  wife's  datcha  after  an  early  dinner,  and  thence  to 
the  hippodrome,  where  he  expected  to  find  the  court, 
and  where  it  was  proper  that  he  should  be  seen.  He 
went  to  see  his  wife  because  he  had  resolved,  for  the 
sake  of  propriety  also,  to  visit  his  wife  every  week. 
Moreover,  it  was  the  fifteenth  of  the  month,  and  it  was 
his  custom  at  this  time  to  place  in  her  hands  the  money 
for  the  household  expenses. 

With  his  ordinary  power  over  his  thoughts  he  gave 
this  much  consideration  to  his  wife's  affairs,  but  beyond 
this  point  he  would  not  permit  them  to  pass. 

His  morning  had  been  extremely  full  of  business. 
The  evening  before  he  had  received  a  pamphlet,  written 
by  a  famous  traveler,  who  had  recently  returned  from 
China  and  was  now  in  Petersburg  ;  a  note  from  the 
Countess  Lidya,  accompanying  it,  begged  him  to  receive 
this  traveler,  who  seemed  likely  to  be,  on  many  ac- 
counts, a  useful  and  interesting  man.  Aleksel  Alek- 
sandrovitch had  not  been  able  to  get  through  the 
pamphlet  in  the  evening,  and  he  finished  it  after  break- 
fast. Then  came  petitions,  reports,  visits,  nominations, 
removals,  the  distribution  of  rewards,  pensions,  salaries, 
correspondence,  all  that  "  workaday  labor,"  as  Aleksef 
Aleksandrovitch  called  it,  which  consumes  so  much 
time. 

Then  came  his  private  business,  a  visit  from  his  phy- 
sician and  a  call  from  his  steward.  The  steward  did  not 
stay  very  long.  He  only  brought  the  money  which 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  needed,  and  a  brief  report  on 
the  condition  of  his  affairs,  which  this  year  were  not 
very  satisfactory,  since  it  happened  that  in  consequence 
of  various  outlays  there  had  been  a  heavy  drain  upon 
him  and  there  was  a  deficit. 

But  the  doctor,  who  was  a  famous  physician  of 
Petersburg,  and  had  come  into  very  friendly  relations 


ANNA    KARENINA  265 

with  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch,  took  considerable  time. 
Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  had  not  expected  him  that  day 
and  was  astonished  at  his  visit,  and  still  more  so  at  the 
scrupulous  care  with  which  he  plied  him  with  questions, 
and  sounded  his  lungs  and  punched  and  thumped  his 
liver ;  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  was  not  aware  that  his 
friend,  the  Countess  Lidya,  troubled  by  his  abnormal 
condition,  had  begged  the  doctor  to  visit  him  and  give 
him  a  thorough  examination. 

"  Do  it  for  my  sake,"  said  the  Countess  Lidya  Iva- 
novna. 

"  I  will  do  it  for  the  sake  of  Russia,  countess,"  replied 
the  doctor. 

"  Admirable  man  !  "  cried  the  countess. 

The  doctor  was  very  much  disturbed  at  Aleksei 
Aleksandrovitch's  state.  His  liver  was  congested,  his 
digestion  was  bad ;  the  waters  had  done  him  no  good. 
He  ordered  more  physical  exercise,  as  little  mental 
strain  as  possible,  and,  above  all,  freedom  from  vexation 
of  spirit ;  in  other  words,  he  ordered  Aleksei'  Aleksan- 
drovitch to  do  what  was  as  impossible  for  him  as  not  to 
breathe. 

The  doctor  departed,  leaving  Alekse'f  Aleksandrovitch 
with  the  disagreeable  impression  that  something  was 
very  wrong  with  him,  and  that  there  was  no  help  for  it. 

On  the  way  out,  the  doctor  met  on  Karenin's  steps 
his  old  acquaintance  Sliudin,  who  was  Alekse'f  Alek- 
sandrovitch's chief  secretary.  They  had  been  in  t'he 
university  together ;  but,  though  they  rarely  met,  they 
were  still  excellent  friends,  and  therefore  to  no  one  else 
than  Sliudin  would  the  doctor  have  expressed  his  opinion 
concerning  the  sick  man  so  frankly. 

"  How  glad  I  am  that  you  have  been  to  see  him ! " 
said  Sliudin.  "  He  is  not  well,  and  it  seems  to  me ..... 
Well,  what  is  it  ?  " 

"  I  will  tell  you,"  said  the  doctor,  nodding  to  his 
coachman  to  drive  up  to  the  door.  "This  is  what  I 
say;"  and,  taking  with  his  white  hand  the  fingers  of 
his  dogskin  glove,  he  stretched  it  out ;  "  try  to  break 
a  tough  cord  which  is  not  stretched  and  it 's  hard  work ; 


266  ANNA    KARENINA 

but  keep  it  stretched  out  to  its  utmost  tension,  and 
put  the  weight  of  your  finger  on  it,  it  breaks.  Now, 
with  his  too  sedentary  life,  and  his  too  conscientious 
labor,  he  is  strained  to  the  utmost  limit ;  and  besides, 
there  is  a  violent  pressure  in  another  direction,"  con- 
cluded the  doctor,  raising  his  eyebrows  significantly. 
"  Shall  you  be  at  the  races  ? "  he  added,  as  he  got  into 
his  carriage. 

"  Yes,  yes,  certainly ;  it  takes  a  good  deal  of  time," 
he  said  in  reply  to  something  that  Sliudin  said,  and 
which  he  did  not  catch. 

Immediately  after  the  departure  of  the  doctor,  who 
had  taken  so  much  time,  the  celebrated  traveler  ap- 
peared ;  and  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  aided  by  the 
pamphlet  which  he  had  just  read,  and  by  some  pre- 
vious information  which  he  had  on  the  subject,  aston- 
ished his  visitor  by  the  extent  of  his  knowledge  and 
the  breadth  of  his  views. 

At  the  same  time  the  marshal  ^  of  nobility  of  his 
government  was  announced,  who  had  come  to  Peters- 
burg and  wanted  to  talk  with  him.  After  his  departure 
he  was  obliged  to  settle  the  routine  business  with  his 
chief  secretary,  and  finally  to  go  out  and  make  a  serious 
and  necessary  call  on  an  important  personage. 

Alekself  Aleksandrovitch  had  only  time  to  get  back 
to  his  five  o'clock  dinner  with  Sliudin,  whom  he  in- 
vited to  join  him  on  his  visit  to  the  country  and  to  the 
races. 

Without  exactly  accounting  for  it,  Aleksef  Aleksan- 
drovitch always  endeavored  lately  to  have  a  third  per- 
son present  when  he  had  an  interview  with  his  wife. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

Anna  was  in  her  room  standing  before  a  mirror  and 
fastening  a  final  bow  to  her  dress,  with  Annushka's  aid, 
when  the  noise  of  wheels  on  the  gravel  driveway  was 
heard. 

^  Gubernsky  Predvodityel. 


ANNA    KARENINA  267 

"  It  is  too  early  for  Betsy,"  she  thought ;  and,  looking 
out  of  the  window,  she  saw  a  carriage  and  in  the  car- 
riage AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch's  black  hat  and  well- 
known  ears. 

"How  provoking!  Can  he  have  come  for  the  night  ?" 
she  thought ;  and  all  the  consequences  of  his  visit 
seemed  to  her  so  terrible,  so  horrible,  that  without 
taking  time  for  a  moment  of  reflection,  she  went  down- 
stairs, radiant  with  gayety,  to  receive  her  husband;  and, 
feeling  in  her  the  presence  of  the  spirit  of  falsehood  and 
deception  which  now  ruled  her,  she  gave  herself  up  to  it 
and  spoke  with  her  husband,  not  knowing  what  she  said. 

"  Ah  !  how  good  of  you !  "  said  she,  extending  her 
hand  to  Karenin,  while  she  smiled  on  Sliudin  as  a 
household  friend. 

"  You  've  come  for  the  night,  I  hope  .-' "  were  her  first 
words,  inspired  by  the  demon  of  untruth  ;  "and  now  we 
will  go  to  the  races  together.  But  how  sorry  I  am  that 
I  engaged  to  go  with  Betsy.     She  is  coming  for  me." 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  frowned  slightly  at  the  name 
of  Betsy. 

"Oh!  I  will  not  separate  the  inseparables,"  said  he, 
in  his  light  jesting  tone.  "I  will  walk  with  Mikhad 
Vasilyevitch.  The  doctor  advised  me  to  take  exercise ; 
I  will  join  the  pedestrians,  and  imagine  I  am  still  at 
the  Spa." 

"There  is  no  hurry,"  said  Anna.  "Will  you  have 
some  tea  ? " 

She  rang. 

"  Serve  the  tea,  and  tell  Serozha  that  Aleksei"  Alek- 
sandrovitch  has  come.  —  Well !  how  is  your  health  }  — 
Mikhail  Vasilyevitch,  you  have  not  been  out  to  see  us 
before  ;  look  !  how  pleasant  it  is  on  the  balcony  ! "  said 
she,  looking  now  at  her  husband,  now  at  her  guest. 

She  spoke  very  simply  and  naturally,  but  too  fast  and 
too  fluently.  She  herself  felt  that  it  was  so,  especially 
when  she  caught  Mikhail  Vasilyevitch  looking  at  her  with 
curiosity  and  perceived  that  he  was  studying  her. 

Mikhail  Vasilyevitch  got  up  and  went  out  on  the 
terrace,  and  she  sat  down  beside  her  husband. 


268  ANNA   KARENINA 

"You  do  not  look  at  all  well,"  said  she. 

"  Oh,  yes !  The  doctor  came  this  morning,  and  wasted 
an  hour  of  my  time.  I  am  convinced  that  some  one  of 
my  friends  sent  him.    .  My  health  is  so  precious ...." 

'♦  No,  what  did  he  say  ?  " 

And  she  questioned  him  about  his  health  and  his 
labors,  advising  him  to  take  rest,  and  to  come  out  into 
the  country,  where  she  was. 

It  was  all  said  with  gayety  and  animation,  and  with 
brilliant  light  in  her  eyes,  but  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch 
attached  no  special  importance  to  her  manner  ;  he  heard 
only  her  words,  and  took  them  in  their  literal  significa- 
tion. And  he  replied  simply,  though  jestingly.  The 
conversation  had  no  special  weight,  yet  Anna  never  after- 
ward could  remember  the  whole  short  scene  without  the 
keen  agony  of  shame. 

Serozha  came  in,  accompanied  by  his  governess.  If 
Alekself  Aleksandrovitch  had  allowed  himself  to  notice, 
he  would  have  been  struck  by  the  timid  manner  in 
which  the  lad  looked  at  his  parents, — at  his  father 
first,  and  then  at  his  mother.  But  he  was  unwilling  to 
see  anything,  and  he  saw  nothing. 

"Ah,  young  man!  He  has  grown.  Indeed,  he  is 
getting  to  be  a  great  fellow !  Good-morning,  young 
man!" 

And  he  stretched  out  his  hand  to  the  puzzled  child. 
Serozha  had  always  been  a  little  afraid  of  his  father ; 
but  now,  since  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  had  begun  to 
call  him  "young  man,"  and  since  he  had  begun  to  rack 
his  brains  to  discover  whether  Vronsky  were  a  friend  or 
an  enemy,  he  was  becoming  more  timid  than  ever.  He 
turned  to  his  mother,  as  if  for  protection  ;  he  felt  at 
ease  only  when  with  her.  Meantime  AlekseK  Aleksan- 
drovitch laid  his  hand  on  the  boy's  shoulder,  and  asked 
his  governess  about  him  ;  but  the  child  was  so  painfully 
shy  of  him  that  Anna  saw  he  was  going  to  cry. 

Anna,  who  had  flushed  at  the  moment  her  son  came 
in,  now  noticing  that  it  was  awkward  for  him,  quickly 
jumped  up,  raised  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch's  hand  to 
let  the  boy  go,  kissed  the  little  fellow,  and  took  hira 


ANNA    KARENINA  269 

out  on  the  terrace.  Then  she  came  back  to  her  husband 
again. 

"  It  is  getting  late,"  she  said,  consulting  her  watch. 
"  Why  does  n't  Betsy  come  ?  "  .... 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch,  and  as  he 
got  up  he  joined  his  fingers  and  made  them  crack.  "  I 
came  also  to  bring  you  some  money,  for  nightingales 
don't  live  on  songs,"  said  he.  "  You  need  it,  I  sup- 
pose .-' " 

"  No,  I  don't  need  it ....  yes  ....  I  do,"  said  she,  not  look- 
ing at  him  and  blushing  to  the  roots  of  her  hair.  "  Well, 
I  suppose  you  will  come  back  after  the  races  ?  " 

"Oh,  yes!"  replied  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch.  "But 
here  is  the  glory  of  Peterhof,  the  Princess  Tverskaya," 
he  added,  looking  out  of  the  window  at  a  magnificent 
carriage  with  a  short  body  set  very  high  and  with  horses 
harnessed  in  the  English  fashion,  drawing  up  to  the 
entrance;  "what  elegance!  splendid  I  well,  let  us  go 
too ! " 

The  Princess  Tverskaya  did  not  leave  her  carriage; 
her  lackey,  in  top-boots  and  pelerinka,  or  short  cloak, 
and  wearing  a  tall  hat,  leaped  to  the  steps. 

"  I  am  going,  good-by,"  said  Anna,  and  after  she  had 
kissed  her  son,  she  went  to  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch 
and  gave  him  her  hand.  "  It  was  very  kind  of  you  to 
come." 

AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  kissed  her  hand. 

"  Well  then,  da  svidanya  I  You  will  come  back  to 
tea .''  Excellent !  "  she  said,  as  she  went  down  the  steps, 
seeming  radiant  and  happy. 

But  hardly  had  she  passed  from  his  sight  before  she 
felt  on  her  hand  the  place  where  his  lips  had  kissed  it, 
and  she  shivered  with  repugnance. 


270  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

When  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  reached  the  race- 
course, Anna  was  already  in  her  place  beside  Betsy,  in 
the  grand  pavilion,  where  all  the  highest  society  was 
gathered  in  a  brilliant  throng.  She  saw  her  husband 
from  a  distance.  Two  men,  her  husband  and  her  lover, 
were  for  her  the  two  centers  of  life,  and  without  the  help 
of  her  external  senses  she  felt  their  presence.  Even 
when  her  husband  was  at  a  distance  she  was  conscious 
of  his  presence,  and  she  involuntarily  followed  him  in 
that  billowing  throng  in  the  midst  of  which  he  was 
coming  along.  She  saw  him  approach  the  pavilion,  now 
replying  with  condescension  to  ingratiating  salutations, 
then  cordially  or  carelessly  exchanging  greetings  with  his 
equals  ;  then  again  assiduously  watching  to  catch  the 
glances  of  the  great  ones  of  the  earth,  and  taking  off 
his  large,  round  hat,  which  came  down  to  the  top  of  his 
ears.  Anna  knew  all  these  mannerisms  of  salutation, 
and  they  were  all  equally  distasteful  to  her. 

"  Nothing  but  ambition  ;  craze  for  success  ;  it  is  all 
that  his  heart  contains,"  she  thought ;  "  but  his  lofty 
views,  his  love  for  civilization,  his  religion,  they  are 
only  means  whereby  to  win  success." 

From  the  glances  that  Karenin  cast  on  the  pavilion, 
he  was  looking  straight  at  his  wife,  but  could  not  see 
her  in  the  sea  of  muslin,  ribbons,  feathers,  flowers,  and 
sunshades  —  Anna  knew  he  was  looking  for  her,  but 
she  pretended  not  to  see  him. 

"  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,"  cried  the  Princess  Betsy, 
**  don't  you  see  your  wife  ?  here  she  is !  " 

He  looked  up  with  his  icy  smile. 

"  Everything  is  so  brilliant  here,  that  it  blinds  the 
eyes,"  he  replied,  as  he  came  up  the  pavilion. 

He  smiled  at  Anna,  as  it  is  a  husband's  duty  to  do 
when  he  has  only  just  left  his  wife,  greeted  Betsy  and 
his  other  acquaintances,  conducting  himself  in  due  form, 
in  other  words,  jesting  with  the  ladies,  and  exchanging 
compliments  with  the  men. 


ANNA    KARENINA  271 

A  general-adjutant,  well  known  for  his  wit  and  culture, 
and  highly  esteemed  by  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch,  was 
standing  below  near  the  pavilion.  Aleksel  Aleksan- 
drovitch joined  him,  and  engaged  in  conversation.  It 
was  the  interval  between  two  of  the  races ;  the  general- 
adjutant  condemned  racing.  Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch 
replied  and  defended  them. 

Anna  heard  his  shrill,  monotonous  voice,  and  lost  not 
a  single  word  ;  and  every  word  that  he  spoke  seemed  to 
her  hypocritical  and  rang  unpleasantly  in  her  ear. 

When  the  four-verst  handicap-race  began,  she  leaned 
forward,  not  letting  Vronsky  out  of  her  sight  for  an 
instant.  She  saw  him  approach  his  horse,  then  mount 
it  ;  and  at  the  same  time  she  heard  her  husband's  odious, 
incessant  voice.  She  was  tormented  with  fear  for  Vron- 
sky ;  but  she  was  tormented  still  more  by  the  sound  of 
her  husband's  sharp  voice,  every  intonation  of  which 
she  knew ;  it  seemed  to  her  that  he  would  never  cease 
speaking, 

"  I  am  a  wicked  woman,  a  lost  woman,"  she  thought ; 
"  but  I  hate  falsehood,  I  cannot  endure  lies ;  but  to 
him  "  —  meaning  her  husband  —  *'  lies  are  his  daily  food  ! 
He  knows  all,  he  sees  everything  ;  how  much  feeling 
has  he,  if  he  can  go  on  speaking  with  such  calmness .-' 
I  should  have  some  respect  for  him  if  he  killed  me,  if 
he  killed  Vronsky.  But  no !  what  he  prefers  above 
everything  is  falsehood  and  conventionality,"  said  Anna 
to  herself,  not  exactly  knowing  what  she  wanted  of  her 
husband,  whatever  she  might  want  him  to  see.  She 
did  not  understand  that  the  very  volubility  of  Alekse'f 
Aleksandrovitch,  which  irritated  her  so,  was  only  the 
expression  of  his  interior  agitation  and  anxiety. 

As  a  child,  hurt  when  jumping,  puts  its  muscles  into 
motion  to  assuage  the  pain,  so  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch 
absolutely  required  some  intellectual  movement,  so  as  to 
become  oblivious  to  the  thoughts  about  his  wife  that 
arose  in  his  mind  at  the  sight  of  Anna  and  at  the  sight 
of  Vronsky,  whose  name  he  heard  on  all  sides.  And 
as  it  is  natural  for  a  child  to  jump,  so  for  him  was  it 
natural  to  talk  tersely  and  well. 


272  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Danger,"  he  was  saying,  "  is  an  indispensable  con 
clition  in  these  military  and  cavalry  races.  If  England 
can  show  in  her  history  the  most  glorious  deeds  of  arms 
performed  by  her  cavalry,  she  owes  it  solely  to  the  his- 
toric development  of  vigor  in  her  people  and  her  horses. 
Sport,  in  my  opinion,  has  a  deep  significance ;  and,  as 
usual,  we  take  it  only  in  its  superficial  aspect." 

"  Not  superficial,"  said  the  Princess  Tverskaya  ;  "  they 
say  that  one  of  the  officers  has  broken  two  ribs." 

Alekself  Aleksandrovitch  smiled  with  his  smile  which 
only  uncovered  his  teeth  and  was  perfectly  expression- 
less. 

"  Let  us  admit,  princess,"  said  he,  "that  in  this  case  it 
is  not  superficial,  but  serious.^  But  that  is  not  the 
point ;  "  and  he  turned  again  to  the  general,  and  resumed 
his  dignified  discourse  :  — 

"  You  must  not  forget  that  those  who  take  part  are 
military  men  who  have  chosen  this  career,  and  you  must 
agree  that  every  vocation  has  its  reverse  side  of  the 
medal.  This  belongs  to  the  calling  of  war.  Such 
brutal  sport  as  boxing-matches  and  Spanish  bull-fights 
are  indications  of  barbarism,  but  specialized  sport  is  a 
sign  of  development." 

"  No,  I  won't  come  another  time,"  the  Princess 
Betsy  was  saying ;  "  it  is  too  exciting  for  me ;  don't 
you  think  so,  Anna  } " 

"  It  is  exciting,  but  it  is  fascinating,"  said  another 
lady ;  "  if  I  had  been  a  Roman,  I  should  never  have 
missed  a  single  gladiatorial  show." 

Anna  did  not  speak,  but,  with  her  opera-glass,  was 
gazing  intently  at  a  single  spot. 

At  this  moment  a  tall  general  came  across  the 
pavilion.  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch,  breaking  off  his 
discourse  abruptly,  arose  with  dignity,  and  made  a 
low  bow. 

"  Are  n't  you  racing .-'  "  asked  the  general,  jestingly. 

"  My  race  is  a  far  more  difficult  one,"  replied  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch,  respectfully ;  and  though  this  answer 
was   not   remarkable   for   its   sense,  the   military   man 

1  Vnutrenneye,  internal. 


ANNA    KARENINA  273 

seemed  to  think  that  he  had  received  a  witty  repartee 
from  a  witty  man,  and  appreciated  la  pointe  de  la 
sauce. 

"There  are  two  sides  to  the  question,"  AlekseY  Alek- 
sandrovitch  said,  resuming,  —  "that  of  the  participants, 
and  that  of  the  spectators ;  and  I  confess  that  a  love 
for  such  spectacles  is  a  genuine  sign  of  inferiority  in 
those  that  look  on,  but ....  " 

"Princess,  a  wager,"  cried  the  voice  of  Stepan  Ar- 
kadyevitch  from  below,  addressing  Betsy.  "Which 
side  will  you  take  .'*  " 

"  Anna  and  I  bet  on  Prince  Kuzovlef,"  replied  Betsy. 

"  I  am  for  Vronsky.     A  pair  of  gloves." 

"Good!" 

"How  jolly!  isn't  it?" 

Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  stopped  speaking  while  this 
conversation  was  going  on  around  him,  and  then  he 
began  anew :  — 

"  I  confess,  unmanly  games ....  " 

But  at  this  instant  the  signal  of  departure  was  heard, 
and  all  conversation  ceased.  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch 
also  ceased  speaking ;  and  every  one  stood  up  so  as 
to  look  at  the  "river."  But  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch 
was  not  interested  in  the  race,  and  so,  instead  of 
watching  the  riders,  looked  around  the  assembly  with 
weary  eyes.     His  gaze  fell  on  his  wife. 

Her  face  was  pale  and  stern.  She  evidently  saw 
nothing  and  no  one  —  except  one  person.  Her  hands 
convulsively  clutched  her  fan ;  she  held  her  breath. 
Karenin  looked  at  her,  then  hastily  turned  away,  gaz- 
ing at  the  faces  of  other  women. 

"  There  is  another  lady  very  much  moved,  and  still 
another  just  the  same  ;  it  is  very  natural,"  said  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch  to  himself.  He  did  not  wish  to  look 
at  her ;  but  his  gaze  was  irresistibly  drawn  to  her  face. 
He  once  more  gazed  into  her  face,  trying  not  to  read 
in  it  what  was  so  plainly  pictured  on  it,  and  against 
his  will  he  read,  with  feelings  of  horror,  all  that  he 
had  tried  to  ignore. 

When  Kuzovlef   fell  at  the  "  river,"  the  excitement 

VOL.  I. — 18 


274  ANNA    KARENINA 

was  general ;  but  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  saw  clearly 
by  Anna's  pale,  triumphant  face  that  he  that  fell  was 
not  the  one  on  whom  her  gaze  was  riveted. 

When,  after  Makhotin  and  Vronsky  crossed  the  great 
hurdle,  another  officer  was  thrown  head  first,  and  was 
picked  up  for  dead,  a  shudder  of  horror  ran  through 
the  assembly ;  but  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  perceived 
that  Anna  did  not  even  notice  it,  and  scarcely  knew 
what  the  people  around  her  were  talking  about. 

But  he  kept  studying  her  face,  with  deeper  and 
deeper  attention.  Anna,  all  absorbed  as  she  was  in 
the  spectacle  of  Vronsky's  course,  was  conscious  that 
her  husband's  cold  eyes  were  on  her.  She  turned 
around  for  an  instant  and  looked  at  him  questioningly. 
Then  with  a  slight  frown  she  turned  away. 

"  Akh !  it  is  all  the  same  to  me,"  she  seemed  to  say, 
as  she  turned  her  glass  to  the  race.  She  did  not  look 
at  him  again. 

The  race  was  disastrous  ;  out  of  the  seventeen  riders, 
more  than  half  were  thrown  and  hurt.  Toward  the  end 
the  excitement  became  intense,  the  more  because  the 
emperor  was  displeased. 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

All  were  loudly  expressing  their  dissatisfaction,  and 
the  phrase  was  going  the  rounds,  "  Now  only  the  lions 
are  left  in  the  arena  ; "  and  when  Vronsky  fell,  horror 
was  felt  by  all,  and  Anna  groaned  in  dismay.  In  this 
there  was  nothing  extraordinary.  But,  from  thence  on, 
a  change  which  was  positively  improper  had  come  over 
her  face,  and  she  entirely  lost  her  presence  of  mind. 
She  tried  to  escape,  like  a  bird  caught  in  a  snare. 
Thus  she  struggled  to  arise,  and  to  get  away ;  and 
then  she  cried  to  Betsy:  — 

"  Come,  let  us  go,  let  us  go !  " 

But  Betsy  did  not  hear  her.  She  was  leaning  over, 
engaged  in  lively  conversation  with  a  general  who  had 
just  entered  the  pavilion. 


ANNA   KARENINA  275 

AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch  hastened  to  his  wife,  and 
courteously  offered  her  his  arm. 

"  Come,  if  it  is  your  wish  to  go,"  said  he,  in  French ; 
but  Anna  was  listening  eagerly  to  what  the  general 
said,  and  paid  no  attention  to  her  husband. 

**  He  has  broken  his  leg,  they  say ;  but  this  is  not 
at  all  likely,"  said  the  general. 

Anna  did  not  look  at  her  husband  ;  but,  taking  her 
glass,  she  gazed  at  the  place  where  Vronsky  had 
fallen.  It  was  so  distant,  and  the  crowd  was  so  dense, 
that  she  could  not  make  anything  out  of  it.  She 
dropped  her  binocle,  and  started  to  go ;  but  at  that 
instant  an  officer  came  galloping  up  to  make  some 
report  to  the  emperor.  Anna  leaned  forward,  and 
listened. 

"  Stiva !  Stiva !  "  she  cried  to  her  brother. 

He  did  not  hear  her. 

She  again  made  an  effort  to  leave  the  pavilion. 

"  I  again  offer  you  my  arm,  if  you  wish  to  go,"  re- 
peated Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  touching  her  hand. 

Anna  drew  back  from  him  with  aversion,  and  replied 
without  looking  at  him  :  — 

**  No,  no  ;  leave  me  ;  I  am  going  to  stay." 

She  now  saw  an  officer  riding  at  full  speed  across  the 
race-course  from  the  place  of  the  accident  to  the  pavilion. 
Betsy  beckoned  to  him  with  her  handkerchief ;  the  offi- 
cer brought  the  news  that  the  rider  was  uninjured  but 
the  horse  had  broken  her  back. 

When  she  heard  this,  Anna  quickly  sat  down,  and  hid 
her  face  behind  her  fan.  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch 
noticed,  not  only  that  she  was  weeping,  but  that  she 
could  not  keep  back  the  tears  or  even  control  the  sobs 
that  heaved  her  bosom.  He  stepped  in  front  of  her  to 
shield  her  from  the  public  gaze  and  give  her  a  chance 
to  regain  her  self-command. 

"  For  the  third  time  I  offer  you  my  arm,"  said  he, 
turning  to  her  at  the  end  of  a  few  moments. 

Anna  looked  at  him,  not  knowing  what  to  say.  The 
Princess  Betsy  came  to  her  aid. 

"  No,  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch.     I  brought  Anna,  and 


276  ANNA    KARENINA 

I  will  be  responsible  for  bringing  her  home,"  said  Betsy, 
interfering. 

"  Excuse  me,  princess,"  he  replied,  politely  smiling, 
and  looking  her  full  in  the  face ;  "  but  I  see  that  she  is 
not  well,  and  I  wish  her  to  go  with  me." 

Anna  looked  round  in  terror,  and,  rising  hastily,  took 
her  husband's  arm. 

"I  will  send  to  inquire  for  him,  and  let  you  know," 
whispered  Betsy. 

As  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  left  the  pavilion  with  his 
wife,  he  spoke  in  his  ordinary  manner  to  all  whom  he 
met,  and  Anna  was  forced  to  listen  and  to  reply  as 
usual ;  but  she  was  not  herself,  and  as  in  a  dream  she 
passed  along  on  her  husband's  arm. 

"  Is  he  killed,  or  not  ?  Can  it  be  true  .-*  Will  he 
come  .''     Shall  I  see  him  to-day  .-*  "  she  asked  herself. 

In  silence  she  got  into  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch's 
carriage,  and  she  sat  in  silence  as  they  left  the  throng 
of  vehicles.  In  spite  of  all  he  had  seen,  Alekseif  Alek- 
sandrovitch did  not  allow  himself  to  think  of  his  wife's 
present  attitude.  He  saw  only  the  external  signs.  He 
saw  that  her  deportment  had  been  improper,  and  he  felt 
obliged  to  speak  to  her  about  it.  But  it  was  very  diffi- 
cult not  to  say  more,  —  to  say  only  that.  He  opened 
his  mouth  to  tell  her  how  improperly  she  had  behaved  ; 
but,  in  spite  of  himself,  he  said  something  absolutely 
different. 

"How  strange  that  we  all  like  to  see  these  cruel 
spectacles!     I  notice...." 

"  What  ?  I  did  not  understand  you,"  said  Anna, 
scornfully. 

He  was  wounded,  and  instantly  began  to  say  what 
was  on  his  mind.    . 

"  I  am  obliged  to  tell  you ...."  he  began. 

"Now,"  thought  Anna,  "comes  the  explanation  ;"  and 
a  terrible  feeling  came  over  her. 

"  I  am  obliged  to  tell  you  that  your  conduct  to-day 
has  been  extremely  improper,"  said  he,  in  French. 

"Wherein  has  my  conduct  been  improper .!*"  she 
demanded  angrily,  raising  her  head  quickly,  and  look- 


ANNA   KARENINA  277 

ing  him  straight  in  the  eyes,  no  longer  hiding  her  feel- 
ings under  a  mask  of  gayety,  but  putting  on  a  bold 
front,  under  which,  with  difficulty,  she  hid  her  fears. 

"  Be  careful,"  said  he,  pointing  to  the  open  window 
behind  the  coachman's  back. 

He  leaned  forward  and  raised  the  pane. 

"What  impropriety  did  you  remark?"  she  asked 
again. 

"  The  despair  which  you  took  no  pains  to  conceal 
when  one  of  the  riders  was  thrown." 

He  awaited  her  answer ;  but  she  said  nothing,  and 
looked  straight  ahead. 

**  I  have  already  requested  you  so  to  behave  when  in 
society  that  evil  tongues  cannot  find  anything  to  say 
against  you.  There  was  a  time  when  I  spoke  of  your 
inner  feelings  ;  I  now  say  nothing  about  them.  Now  I 
speak  only  of  outward  appearances.  You  have  behaved 
improperly,  and  I  would  ask  you  not  to  let  this  happen 
again." 

She  did  not  hear  half  of  his  words ;  she  felt  over- 
whelmed with  fear ;  and  she  thought  only  of  Vronsky, 
and  whether  he  was  killed.  Was  it  he  who  was  meant 
when  they  said  the  rider  was  safe  but  the  horse  had 
broken  her  back .-' 

When  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  ceased  speaking,  she 
looked  at  him  with  an  ironical  smile,  and  answered  not 
a  word,  because  she  had  not  noticed  what  he  said.  At 
first  he  had  spoken  boldly  ;  but  as  he  saw  clearly  what 
he  was  speaking  about,  the  terror  which  possessed  her 
seized  him  also.  He  noticed  that  smile  of  hers,  and  it 
led  him  into  a  strange  mistake. 

"  She  is  amused  at  my  suspicions !  She  is  going  to 
tell  me  now  what  she  once  before  said,  that  there  is  no 
foundation  for  them,  that  this  is  absurd." 

Now  when  the  discovery  of  the  whole  thing  hung 
over  him,  he  desired  nothing  so  much  as  that  she  should 
answer  derisively  as  she  had  done  before,  that  his  sus- 
picions were  ridiculous  and  had  no  foundation.  What 
he  now  knew  was  so  terrible  to  him  that  he  was  ready 
to  believe  anything  that  she  might  say.     But  the  ex' 


278  ANNA   KARENINA 

pression  of  her  gloomy  and  frightened  face  now  allowed 
him  no  further  chance  of  falsehood. 

"Possibly  I  am  mistaken,"  said  he;  "in  that  case,  I 
beg  you  to  forgive  me." 

"No,  you  are  not  mistaken,"  she  replied,  with  meas- 
ured words,  casting  a  look  of  despair  on  her  husband's 
icy  face.  "  You  are  not  mistaken ;  I  was  in  despair, 
and  I  could  not  help  being.  I  hear  you,  but  I  am  think- 
ing only  of  him.  I  love  him,  I  am  his  mistress.  I  can- 
not endure  you,  I  fear  you,  I  hate  you!....  Do  with  me 
what  you  please  !  " 

And,  throwing  herself  into  a  corner  of  the  carriage, 
she  covered  her  face  with  her  hands,  and  burst  into  tears. 

AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  did  not  move,  or  change  the 
direction  of  his  eyes  ;  but  his  whole  face  suddenly  as- 
sumed the  solemn  rigidity  of  a  corpse,  and  this  expres- 
sion remained  unchanged  throughout  the  drive  to  the 
datcha.  As  they  reached  the  house,  he  turned  his  head 
to  her  still  with  the  same  expression. 

"  So  !  but  I  insist  on  the  preservation  of  appearances 
until"  —  and  here  his  voice  trembled  —  "I  decide  on 
the  measures  which  I  shall  take  to  save  my  honor  and 
communicate  them  to  you." 

He  stepped  out  of  the  carriage,  and  assisted  Anna 
out.  Then,  in  presence  of  the  domestics,  he  shook 
hands  with  her,  reentered  the  carriage,  and  drove  back 
to  Petersburg. 

He  had  just  gone,  when  a  lackey  from  Betsy  brought 
a  note  to  Anna  :  — 

"  I  sent  to  Alekser  Vronsky  to  learn  how  he  was. 
He  writes  me  that  he  is  safe  and  sound,  but  in  despair." 

"Then  he  will  come,"  she  thought.  "How  well  I 
did  to  tell  him  all !  " 

She  looked  at  her  watch ;  scarcely  three  hours  had 
passed  since  she  saw  him,  but  the  memory  of  their 
interview  made  her  heart  hot  within  her. 

"Bozhe  molf!    how  light  it  is!     It  is  terrible!  but  I 

love  to  see  his  face,  and  I  love  this  fantastic  light 

My  husband  !  oh  !  yes  !  ....well!  thank  God  it  is  all  over 
with  him  1 " 


ANNA    KARENINA  279 


CHAPTER  XXX 

As  in  all  places  where  human  beings  congregate,  so 
in  the  little  German  village  where  the  Shcherbatskys 
went  to  take  the  waters,  there  is  formed  a  sort  of  social 
crystallization  which  puts  every  one  in  his  exact  and  un- 
changeable place.  Just  as  a  drop  of  water  exposed  to 
the  cold  always  and  invariably  takes  a  certain  crystalline 
form,  so  each  new  individual  coming  to  the  Spa  immedi- 
ately finds  himself  fixed  in  the  place  peculiar  to  him. 

"  Fiirst  Schtscherbatzsky  sammt  Gemahlin  und  Toch- 
ter,"  —  Prince  Shcherbatsky,  wife,  and  daughter,  —  both 
by  the  apartments  that  they  occupied,  and  by  their  name 
and  the  acquaintances  that  they  found,  immediately 
crystallized  into  the  exact  place  that  was  predestined  to 
receive  them. 

This  year  a  genuine  German  Furstin,  or  princess,  was 
at  the  Spa,  and  in  consequence  the  crystallization  of 
society  took  place  even  more  energetically  than  usual. 
The  Russian  princess  felt  called  on  to  present  her 
daughter  to  the  German  princess,  and  the  ceremony 
took  place  two  days  after  their  arrival.  Kitty,  dressed 
in  a  very  simple  toilet,  that  is  to  say,  a  very  elegant 
summer  costume  imported  from  Paris,  made  a  low  and 
graceful  courtesy.     The  Furstin  said  :  — 

"  I  hope  that  the  roses  will  soon  bloom  again  in  this 
pretty  little  face." 

And  immediately  the  Shcherbatsky  family  found  them- 
selves in  the  fixed  and  definite  walk  in  life  from  which 
it  was  impossible  to  descend.  They  made  the  acquain- 
tance of  the  family  of  an  English  Lady,  of  a  German 
Grdfin,  and  her  son  who  had  been  wounded  in  the  late 
war,  of  a  scientific  man  from  Sweden,  and  of  a  M.  Canut 
and  his  sister. 

But,  for  the  most  part,  the  Shcherbatskys  spontane- 
ously formed  social  relations  among  the  people  from 
Moscow,  among  them  Marya  Yevgenyevna  Rtishchevaya 
and  her  daughter,  whom  Kitty  did  not  like  because  she 
likewise  was  ill  on  account  of  a  love-affair,  and  a  Mos 


28o  ANNA   KARENINA 

cow  colonel  whom  she  had  seen  in  society  since  child- 
hood, and  known  by  his  uniform  and  his  epaulets,  and 
who  now,  with  his  little  eyes,  and  his  bare  neck  and 
flowery  cravats,  seemed  to  Kitty  supremely  ridiculous, 
and  the  more  unendurable  because  she  could  not  get  rid 
of  him.  When  they  were  all  established,  it  became  very 
tiresome  to  Kitty,  the  more  as  her  father  had  gone  to 
Carlsbad,  and  she  and  her  mother  were  left  alone.  She 
could  not  interest  herself  in  her  old  acquaintances,  be- 
cause she  knew  that  she  should  not  find  anything  novel 
in  them  ;  and  so  her  principal  arnusement  was  in  study- 
ing the  people  whom  she  had  never  seen  before.  It  was 
in  accordance  with  Kitty's  nature  to  see  the  best  side 
of  people,  especially  of  strangers  ;  and  now,  in  making 
her  surmises  about  the  persons  whom  she  saw,  —  who 
they  were  and  what  they  were  like  and  what  relation- 
ship they  bore  to  one  another,  —  she  amused  herself  in 
imagining  the  most  wonderful  and  beautiful  characters, 
and  found  justification  for  her  observations. 

Of  all  these  people,  there  was  one  in  whom  she  took 
a  most  lively  interest :  this  was  a  young  Russian  girl 
who  had  come  to  the  baths  with  a  sick  Russian  lady 
named  Madame  Stahl.  Madame  Stahl  belonged  to  the 
high  nobility  ;  but  she  was  so  ill  that  she  could  not 
walk,  and  only  occasionally,  on  very  fine  days,  appeared 
at  the  baths  in  a  wheeled-chair.  But  it  was  rather  from 
pride  than  illness,  as  the  princess  judged,  that  she 
failed  to  make  any  acquaintances  among  the  Russians. 
The  girl  was  her  nurse ;  and,  as  Kitty  remarked,  she 
frequently  went  to  those  who  were  seriously  ill, — and 
there  were  many  at  the  baths, — and  with  the  most 
natural,  unaffected  zeal,  took  care  of  them. 

This  young  Russian  girl,  Kitty  discovered  to  her  sur- 
prise, was  no  relation  to  Madame  Stahl,  nor  even  a  hired 
companion.  Madame  Stahl  called  her  simply  Varenka, 
but  her  friends  called  her  "  Mademoiselle  Varenka." 
Kitty  not  only  found  it  extremely  interesting  to  study 
the  relations  between  this  young  girl  and  Madame 
Stahl,  and  other  persons  whom  she  did  not  know,  but, 
as  often  happens,  she  also  felt  an  unaccountable  sym- 


ANNA   KARENINA  281 

pathy  drawing  her  toward  Mademoiselle  Varenka  ;  and, 
when  their  eyes  met,  she  imagined  that  it  pleased  her  also. 

This  Mademoiselle  Varenka  was  not  only  no  longer  in 
her  first  youth,  but  she  seemed  like  a  creature  without 
any  youth  ;  her  age  might  be  guessed  as  either  nineteen 
or  thirty.  If  one  analyzed  her  features,  she  was  rather 
good-looking  in  spite  of  the  sickly  pallor  of  her  face. 
If  her  head  had  not  been  rather  large,  and  her  figure 
too  slight,  she  would  have  been  considered  handsome  ; 
but  she  was  not  one  to  please  men  ;  she  made  one  think 
of  a  beautiful  flower,  which,  though  still  preserving  its 
petals,  was  faded  and  without  perfume.  There  was  one 
other  reason  why  she  could  not  be  attractive  to  men, 
and  that  was  the  fact  that  she  lacked  exactly  what  Kitty 
had  in  excess  —  the  repressed  fire  of  life  and  a  con- 
sciousness of  her  fascination. 

Varenka  seemed  always  absorbed  in  some  important 
work ;  and  therefore  it  seemed  she  could  not  take  any 
interest  in  anything  irrelevant.  It  was  this  very  con- 
trast to  herself  that  especially  attracted  Kitty  to  her. 
Kitty  felt  that  in  her  and  in  her  mode  of  life  she  might 
find  what  she  was  seeking  with  so  much  trouble,  —  an 
interest  in  life,  the  dignity  of  life  outside  of  the  social 
relationships  of  young  women  to  young  men,  which 
now  seemed  to  Kitty  like  an  ignominious  exposure  of 
merchandise  waiting  for  a  purchaser.  The  more  she 
studied  her  unknown  friend,  the  more  convinced  she 
became  that  this  girl  was  the  most  perfect  creature 
which  she  could  imagine  and  the  more  she  longed  to 
become  acquainted  with  her. 

The  two  girls  passed  each  other  many  times  every 
day ;  and  every  time  they  met  Kitty's  eyes  seemed 
always  to  ask  :  "  Who  are  you  ?  What  are  you  ?  Are 
you  not,  in  truth,  the  charming  person  that  I  imagine 
you  to  be  ?  But  for  Heaven's  sake,"  the  look  seemed 
to  add,  "don't  think  that  I  would  permit  myself  to 
demand  your  acquaintance !  I  simply  admire  you,  and 
love  you." 

"  I  also  love  you,  and  you  are  very,  very  charming  ; 
and  I  would  love  you  still  better,  if  I  had  time,"  replied 


282  ANNA   KARENINA 

the  unknown  maiden's  look  ;  and  indeed  Kitty  saw  that 
she  was  always  busy.  Either  she  was  taking  the  chil- 
dren of  a  Russian  family  home  from  the  baths,  or  carry- 
ing a  plaid  for  an  invalid  and  wrapping  her  up  in  it, 
or  she  was  trying  to  divert  some  irritable  sick  man,  or 
selecting  and  buying  confections  for  some  other  sick 
persons. 

One  morning,  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  Shcher- 
batskys,  two  new  persons  appeared  who  immediately 
became  the  object  of  rather  unfriendly  criticism.  The 
one  was  a  very  tall,  stooping  man,  with  enormous  hands, 
black  eyes,  at  once  innocent  and  terrifying,  and  wearing 
an  old,  ill-fitting,  short  coat.  The  other  was  a  pock- 
marked woman,  with  a  kindly  face,  and  dressed  very 
badly  and  inartistically. 

Kitty  instantly  recognized  that  they  were  Russians ; 
and  in  her  imagination  set  to  work  constructing  a 
beautiful  and  touching  romance  about  them.  But  the 
princess,  learning  by  the  kurliste,  or  list  of  arrivals, 
that  this  was  Nikolai  Levin  and  Marya  Nikolayevna, 
explained  to  her  what  a  bad  man  this  Levin  was,  and 
all  her  illusions  about  these  two  persons  vanished. 

The  fact  that  he  was  Konstantin  Levin's  brother, 
even  more  than  her  mother's  words,  suddenly  made 
these  two  people  particularly  repulsive  to  Kitty.  This 
Levin,  with  his  habit  of  twitching  his  head,  aroused  in 
her  an  unsurmountable  feeling  of  repulsion.  It  seemed 
to  her  that  in  his  great,  wild  eyes,  as  they  persistently 
followed  her,  was  expressed  a  sentiment  of  hatred  and 
irony,  and  she  tried  to  avoid  meeting  hint 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

It  was  a  stormy  day ;  the  rain  fell  all  the  morning, 
and  the  invalids  with  umbrellas  thronged  the  gallery. 

Kitty  and  her  mother,  accompanied  by  the  Muscovite 
colonel  playing  the  elegant  in  his  European  overcoat, 
bought  ready-made  in  Frankfort,  were  walking  on  one 
side  of  the  gallery,  in  order  to  avoid  Nikolaif  Levin,  who 


ANNA    KARENINA  283 

was  on  the  other.  Varenka,  in  her  dark  dress  and  a 
black  hat  with  the  brim  turned  down,  was  walking  up 
and  down  the  whole  length  of  the  gallery  with  a  little 
blind  French  woman ;  each  time  that  she  and  Kitty 
met,  they  exchanged  friendly  glances. 

"  Mamma,  may  I  speak  with  her .-' "  asked  Kitty,  as 
she  happened  to  be  following  her  unknown  friend  and 
noticed  that  she  was  approaching  the  spring,  where  they 
might  meet. 

"  Yes,  if  you  wish  it  so  much.  I  will  inquire  about 
her,  and  make  her  acquaintance  first,"  said  her  mother. 
"  But  what  do  you  find  especially  interesting  in  her } 
She  is  only  a  lady's  companion.  If  you  like,  I  can 
speak  to  Madame  Stahl.  I  knew  her  belle-sceur,''  added 
the  princess,  proudly  raising  her  head. 

Kitty  knew  that  her  mother  was  vexed  because 
Madame  Stahl  seemed  to  avoid  making  her  acquain- 
tance, and  she  did  not  press  the  point. 

"  How  wonderfully  charming  she  is!  "  said  she,  as  she 
saw  Varenka  give  the  blind  French  lady  a  glass.  "  See 
how  lovely  and  gentle  everything  is  that  she  does." 

"  You  amuse  me  with  your  engouements,"  replied  the 
princess.  "  No,  we  had  better  go  back,"  she  added,  as 
she  saw  Levin  approaching  with  Marya  and  a  German 
doctor,  with  whom  he  was  speaking  in  a  loud  and  angry 
tone. 

As  they  turned  to  go  back,  suddenly  they  heard,  not  loud 
voices,  but  a  cry.  Levin  had  stopped,  and  was  shriek- 
ing. The  doctor  was  also  angry.  A  crowd  was  gather- 
ing around  them.  The  princess  and  Kitty  hurried  away, 
but  the  colonel  joined  the  throng  to  find  out  what  the 
trouble  was.  After  a  few  moments  the  colonel  came 
back  to  them. 

"  What  was  it  .-*  "  asked  the  princess. 

"  It  is  a  shame  and  a  disgrace,"  replied  the  colonel. 
"There  's  only  one  thing  you  need  to  fear,  and  that  is  to 
meet  with  Russians  abroad.  This  tall  gentleman  was 
quarreling  with  his  doctor,  heaped  indignities  upon  him 
for  not  attending  to  him  as  he  wished,  and  finally  he 
threatened  him  with  his  cane.     It  is  simply  disgraceful." 


284  ANNA    KARENINA 

*'  Akh  !  how  unpleasant !  "  said  the  princess.  "  Well, 
how  did  it  end  ?  " 

"  Fortunately  that ....  that  girl  with  a  hat  like  a  toad- 
stool interfered.     A  Russian,  it  seems,"  said  the  colonel. 

"  Mademoiselle  Varenka  .''  "  joyously  exclaimed  Kitty. 

"  Yes,  yes  !  She  went  quicker  than  any  one  else,  and 
took  the  gentleman  by  the  arm,  and  led  him  off." 

"There,  mamma!"  said  Kitty,  "and  you  wonder  at 
my  enthusiasm  for  Varenka  !  " 

The  next  morning  Kitty,  watching  her  unknown 
friend,  noticed  that  Mademoiselle  Varenka  had  the 
same  relations  with  Levin  and  Marya  as  with  her  other 
proteges:  she  joined  them  and  talked  with  them,  and 
acted  as  interpreter  to  the  woman,  who  did  not  know 
any  language  besides  her  own. 

Kitty  again  begged  her  mother  even  more  urgently 
to  let  her  become  acquainted  with  Varenka  ;  and  though 
it  was  unpleasant  to  the  princess  to  seem  to  be  making 
advances  to  the  haughty  and  exclusive  Madame  Stahl, 
she  made  some  inquiries  about  Varenka,  and  learning 
enough  to  satisfy  herself  that  there  was  no  possible 
harm,  though  very  little  that  was  advantageous,  in  the 
proposed  acquaintance,  she  went  first  to  Varenka  and 
introduced  herself. 

Choosing  a  time  when  Kitty  was  at  the  spring,  and 
Varenka  was  opposite  the  baker's,  the  princess  went  up 
to  her. 

"Allow  me  to  introduce  myself,"  said  she,  with  her 
dignified  smile.  "  My  daughter  has  taken  a  great  fancy 
to  you.     But  perhaps  you  do  not  know  me.     I...." 

"  It  is  more  than  reciprocal,  princess,"  replied  Varenka, 
quickly, 

"What  a  good  thing  you  did  yesterday  toward  our 
wretched  fellow-countryman,"  said  the  princess. 

Varenka  blushed. 

"  I  do  not  remember,"  she  replied.  "  I  don't  think  I 
did  anything." 

"  Yes,  indeed  !  you  saved  this  Levin  from  an  unpleasant 
aflfair." 

"  Ah,  yes  !  sa  compagne  called  me,  and  I  tried  to  calm 


ANNA    KARENINA  285 

him  ;  he  is  very  sick,  and  dissatisfied  with  his  doctor. 
I  am  quite  used  to  this  kind  of  invalids." 

"  Oh,  yes.  I  have  heard  that  you  live  at  Mentone 
with  your  aunt,  Madame  Stahl.  I  used  to  know  her 
belle-soeur.'^ 

"  No,  Madame  Stahl  is  not  my  aunt.  I  call  her 
maman,  but  I  am  no  relation  to  her.  I  was  brought  up 
by  her,"  replied  Varenka,  again  blushing. 

All  this  was  said  with  perfect  simplicity ;  and  the 
expression  of  her  pleasing  face  was  so  frank  and  sin- 
cere, that  the  princess  began  to  understand  why  Kitty 
was  so  charmed  by  this  Varenka. 

"  Well,  what  is  this  Levin  going  to  do  ? "  she  asked. 

"He  is  going  away." 

At  this  moment,  Kitty,  radiant  with  pleasure  because 
her  mother  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  her  unknown 
friend,  came  in  from  the  spring. 

"  See  here  !  Kitty,  your  ardent  desire  to  know  Made- 
moiselle.,.." 

"  Varenka,"  said  the  girl,  smiling.  "  Every  one  calls 
me  so." 

Kitty  was  flushed  with  delight,  and  without  speaking 
long  pressed  her  new  friend's  hand,  which  gave  no  an- 
swering pressure,  but  lay  passive  in  hers.  Her  hand 
gave  no  answering  pressure,  but  Mademoiselle  Varenka's 
face  shone  with  a  quiet,  joyous,  though  melancholy  smile, 
which  showed  her  large  but  handsome  teeth. 

"  I  have  been  longing  to  know  you,"  she  said. 

"  But  you  are  so  busy...," 

•'  Oh  !  on  the  contrary,  I  have  n't  anything  to  do," 
replied  Varenka;  but  at  the  same  instant  she  had  to 
leave  her  new  acquaintances  because  two  little  Russian 
girls,  the  daughters  of  an  invalid,  ran  to  her. 

"Varenka,  mamma  is  calling,"  they  cried. 

And  Varenka  followed  them. 


286  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XXXII 

The  particulars  which  the  princess  learned  about 
Varenka's  past  life,  and  her  relations  with  Madame 
Stahl,  and  about  Madame  Stahl  herself,  were  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

Madame  Stahl  had  always  been  a  sickly  and  excitable 
woman,  who  was  said  by  some  to  have  tormented  the 
life  out  of  her  husband,  and  by  others  to  have  been  tor- 
mented by  his  unnatural  behavior.  After  she  was 
divorced  from  her  husband,  she  gave  birth  to  her  first 
child,  which  did  not  live ;  and  Madame  Stahl's  parents, 
knowing  her  sensitiveness,  and  fearing  that  the  shock 
would  kill  her,  substituted  for  the  dead  child  the 
daughter  of  a  court  cook,  born  on  the  same  night,  and 
in  the  same  house  at  Petersburg.  This  was  Varenka. 
Madame  Stahl  afterwards  learned  that  the  child  was 
not  her  own,  but  continued  to  take  charge  of  her,  the 
more  willingly  as  the  true  parents  shortly  after  died. 

For  more  than  ten  years  Madame  Stahl  lived  abroad, 
in  the  South,  never  leaving  her  bed.  Some  said  that 
she  was  a  woman  who  had  made  a  public  show  of  her 
piety  and  good  works  ;  others  said  that  she  was  at  heart 
the  most  highly  moral  of  women,  and  that  she  lived  only 
for  the  good  of  her  neighbor,  that  she  was  really  what 
she  pretended  to  be. 

No  one  knew  whether  she  was  Catholic,  Protestant, 
or  orthodox  ;  one  thing  alone  was  certain,  —  that  she  had 
friendly  relations  with  the  high  dignitaries  of  all  the 
churches  and  of  all  communions. 

Varenka  always  lived  with  Madame  Stahl  abroad ; 
and  all  who  knew  Madame  Stahl  knew  Mademoiselle 
Varenka  also,  and  loved  her.  When  she  had  learned 
all  the  particulars,  the  princess  found  nothing  objection- 
able in  her  daughter's  acquaintance  with  Varenka ;  the 
more  because  Varenka  had  the  most  cultivated  manners 
and  a  fine  education  ;  she  spoke  French  and  English 
admirably,  and  chief  of  all  she  brought  from  Ma- 
dame Stahl  her  regrets  that,  owing  to  her  illness,  she 


ANNA    KARENINA  287 

was  deprived  of  the  pleasure  of  making  the  princess's 
acquaintance. 

After  she  had  once  made  Varenka's  acquaintance, 
Kitty  became  more  and  more  attached  to  her  friend, 
and  each  day  discovered  some  new  charm  in  her.  The 
princess,  having  discovered  that  Varenka  sang  well,  in- 
vited her  to  come  and  give  them  an  evening  of  music. 

"  Kitty  plays,  and  we  have  a  piano  ;  not  a  very  good  in- 
strument, to  be  sure,  but  you  would  give  us  a  great  pleas- 
ure," said  the  princess,  with  her  hypocritical  smile  which 
was  displeasing  to  Kitty,  especially  as  she  knew  that 
Varenka  did  not  want  to  sing.  But  Varenka  came,  that 
same  evening,  and  brought  her  music.  The  princess 
had  invited  Marya  Yevgenyevna  and  her  daughter,  and 
the  colonel. 

Varenka  seemed  perfectly  indifferent  to  the  presence 
of  these  people,  who  were  strangers  to  her,  and  she  went 
to  the  piano  without  being  urged.  She  could  not  ac- 
company herself,  but  in  singing  she  read  the  notes  per- 
fectly.    Kitty,  who  played  very  well,  accompanied  her. 

"You  have  a  remarkable  talent,"  said  the  princess, 
after  the  first  song,  which  Varenka  sang  beautifully. 

Marya  Yevgenyevna  and  her  daughter  added  their 
compliments  and  their  thanks. 

"  See,"  said  the  colonel,  looking  out  of  the  window, 
"what  an  audience  you  have  attracted." 

In  fact,  a  large  number  of  people  had  gathered  in 
front  of  the  house. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  have  given  you  pleasure,"  said 
Varenka,  without  affectation. 

Kitty  looked  at  her  friend  proudly ;  she  admired  her 
art  and  her  voice  and  her  face,  and,  more  than  all,  she 
was  enthusiastic  over  the  way  in  which  Varenka  made 
it  evident  that  she  took  little  account  of  her  singing, 
and  was  perfectly  indifferent  to  compliments.  She 
simply  seemed  to  say,  "  Shall  I  sing  some  more,  or  is 
that  enough  ? " 

"  If  I  were  in  her  place,  how  proud  I  should  be  !  How 
happy  I  should  be  to  see  that  crowd  under  the  window ! 
But  she  seems    perfectly  unconscious  of   it.     All  that 


188  ANNA    KARENINA 

she  seemed  to  want  was  not  to  refuse,  but  to  please 
maman.  What  is  there  about  her  ?  What  is  it  that 
gives  her  this  power  of  indifference,  this  calmness  and 
independence  ?  How  I  should  like  to  learn  this  of  her! " 
thought  Kitty,  as  she  looked  into  her  peaceful  face. 

The  princess  asked  Varenka  to  sing  again  ;  and  she 
sang  this  time  as  well  as  the  first,  with  the  same  care 
and  the  same  perfection,  standing  erect  near  the  piano, 
and  beating  time  with  her  thin  brown  hand. 

The  next  piece  in  her  music-roll  was  an  Italian  aria. 
Kitty  played  the  introduction,  and  looked  at  Varenka. 

"  Let  us  not  do  that  one,"  said  she,  blushing. 

Kitty,  in  alarm  and  wonder,  fixed  her  eyes  on  Varenka's 
face. 

"Well!  another  one,"  she  said,  hastily  turning  the 
pages,  and  somehow  feeling  an  intuition  that  the  Italian 
song  brought  back  to  her  friend  some  painful  association. 

"  No,"  replied  Varenka,  putting  her  hand  on  the  notes 
and  smiling,  "let  us  sing  this."  And  she  sang  it  as 
calmly  and  coolly  as  the  one  before. 

After  the  singing  was  over,  they  all  thanked  her 
again,  and  went  out  into  the  dining-room  to  drink  tea. 
Kitty  and  Varenka  went  down  into  the  little  garden 
next  the  house. 

"You  had  some  association  with  that  song,  did  you 
not.?"  asked  Kitty.  "You  need  not  tell  me  about  it," 
she  hastened  to  add ;  "simply  say,  '  Yes,  I  have.'  " 

"  Why  should  I  not  tell  you  about  it }  Yes,  there  is 
an  association,"  said  Varenka,  calmly,  and  not  waiting 
for  Kitty  to  say  anything,  "and  it  is  a  painful  one,  I 
once  loved  a  man,  and  used  to  sing  that  piece  to  him." 

Kitty  with  wide-open  eyes  looked  at  Varenka  meekly,, 
but  did  not  speak. 

"I  loved  him,  and  he  loved  me  also;  but  his  mother 
was  unwilling,  and  he  married  some  one  else.  He  does 
not  live  very  far  from  us  now,  and  I  sometimes  see  him. 
You  did  n't  think  that  I  also  had  my  romance,  did  you  ? " 

And  her  face  lighted  up  with  a  rare  beauty,  and  a 
fire  such  as  Kitty  imagined  might  have  been  habitual 
in  other  days. 


ANNA    KARENINA  289 

"  Why  should  n't  I  have  thought  so  ?  If  I  were  a 
man  I  could  never  have  loved  any  one  else  after  know- 
ing you,"  said  Kitty.  "  What  I  cannot  conceive  is,  that 
he  was  able  to  forget  you,  and  make  you  unhappy  for 
the  sake  of  obeying  his  mother.  He  could  n't  have  had 
any  heart." 

"  Oh,  no,  he  was  an  excellent  man  ;  and  I  am  not  un- 
happy ;  on  the  contrary,  I  am  very  happy Well,  shall 

we  sing  anymore  this  evening?"  she  added,  starting 
to  go  toward  the  house. 

"  How  good  you  are !  how  good  you  are ! "  cried 
Kitty,  and  stopping  her,  she  kissed  her,  "  If  I  could 
only  be  a  bit  like  you  !  " 

"  Why  should  you  resemble  any  one  else  besides  your- 
self .'*  You  are  a  good  girl  as  you  are,"  said  Varenka, 
with  her  sweet  and  melancholy  smile. 

"No,  I  am  not  good  at  all.  Now,  tell  me....  Stay, 
stay ;  let  us  sit  down  a  little  while,"  said  Kitty,  draw- 
ing her  down  to  a  settee  near  by.  "  Tell  me  how  it  can 
be  other  than  a  pain  to  think  of  a  man  who  has  scorned 
your  love,  who  has  jilted  you...." 

*'  But  no,  he  did  not  scorn  it  at  all ;  I  am  sure  that  he 
loved  me.     But  he  was  a  dutiful  son,  and...." 

"  Yes,  but  suppose  it  had  not  been  for  his  mother's 
sake,  but  simply  of  his  own  free  will,"  said  Kitty,  feeling 
that  she  was  betraying  her  secret,  and  her  face,  glowing 
red  with  mortification,  convicted  her. 

"  Then  he  would  not  have  behaved  honorably,  and  I 
should  not  mourn  for  him,"  replied  Varenka,  perceiving 
that  the  supposition  concerned,  not  herself,  but  Kitty. 

"But  the  insult !  "  cried  Kitty.  "One  cannot  forget 
the  insult.  It  is  impossible,"  said  she,  remembering  her 
own  look  when  the  music  stopped  at  the  last  ball. 

"  Whose  insult  ?     You  did  n't  act  badly.?" 

"  Worse  than  badly,  —  shamefully  !  " 

Varenka  shook  her  head,  and  laid  her  hand  on  Kitty's. 

"  Well,  but  why  shamefully  .-* "  she  asked.  "  You 
surely  did  not  tell  a  man  who  showed  indifference  to 
you  that  you  loved  him  ?  "  ri 

"  Certainly  not ;    I   never  uttered  a  word.      But  he 

VOL.  I. — 19 


290  ANNA    KARENINA 

knew  it.  There  are  looks,  there  are  ways  ....  no,  no! 
not  if  I  lived  a  hundred  years  should  I  ever  forget  it." 

"  Now,  what  is  it  ?  I  don't  understand  you.  The 
question  is  solely  this :  do  you  love  him  now  or  not  .<' " 
said  Varenka,  who  liked  to  call  things  by  their  right 
names. 

"  I  hate  him.     I  cannot  forgive  myself." 

"But  what  for.?" 

"The  shame,  the  insult." 

"  Akh  !  if  every  one  were  as  sensitive  as  you  !  There 
is  never  a  young  girl  who  does  not  sometimes  feel  the 
same  way.     It  is  all  such  a  trifling  thing  !  " 

"But  what,  then,  is  important.?"  asked  Kitty,  look- 
ing at  Varenka  with  astonishment  and  curiosity. 

"  Oh  !  many  things  are  important,"  replied  Varenka, 
with  a  smile. 

"  Yes  ;  but  what  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  there  are  many  things  more  important,"  re- 
plied Varenka,  not  knowing  what  to  say ;  but  at  that 
moment  the  voice  of  the  princess  was  heard  from  the 
window  :  — 

"  Kitty,  it  is  getting  cool ;  put  on  your  shawl,  or 
come  in." 

"It  is  time  to  go,"  said  Varenka,  getting  up.  "I 
must  go  and  see  Madame  Berthe ;  she  asked  me  to 
come." 

Kitty  held  her  by  the  hand,  and  her  eyes,  full  of 
passionate,  almost  supplicating,  curiosity,  asked  her:  — 

"  What  is  it  that  is  so  important  that  can  give  such 
calm  }     You  know  ;  tell  me." 

But  Varenka  did  not  understand  the  meaning  of 
Kitty's  look.  She  remembered  only  that  she  had  still 
to  go  to  see  Madame  Berthe,  and  to  get  home  at  mid- 
night for  tea  with  manian.  She  went  back  to  the 
room,  picked  up  her  music,  and,  having  said  good-night 
to  all,  started  to  go. 

"  Allow  me ;  I  will  escort  you,"  said  the  colonel. 

"Certainly,"  said  the  princess.  "How  could  you  go 
home  alone  at  night }  I  was  going  to  send  Parasha 
with  you." 


ANNA   KARENINA  1291 

Kitty  saw  that  Varenka  could  hardly  keep  from  smil- 
ing at  the  idea  that  she  needed  any  one  to  go  home 
with  her. 

"  No ;  I  always  go  home  alone,  and  nothing  ever 
happens  to  me,"  said  she,  taking  her  hat,  and  after 
kissing  Kitty  again,  though  she  did  not  tell  her  "  the 
one  important  thing,"  she  hurried  away  with  firm  steps, 
her  music-roll  under  her  arm,  and  disappeared  in  the 
semi-darkness  of  the  summer  night,  carrying  with  her 
her  secret  of  "  what  is  important "  and  what  gave  her 
her  enviable  calmness  and  dignity. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII 

Kitty  also  made  Madame  Stahl's  acquaintance,  and 
her  relations  with  this  lady  and  her  friendship  with 
Varenka  had  rrot  only  a  powerful  influence  on  her,  but 
also  soothed  her  grief. 

She  found  this  consolation  in  the  fact  that,  through 
this  friendship,  there  opened  before  her  an  entirely  new 
world,  which  had  nothing  in  common  with  her  past, — 
a  beautiful,  supernal  world,  from  the  lofty  heights  of 
which  she  could  look  down  calmly  on  her  past.  She 
discovered  that  this  world,  which  was  entirely  apart 
from  the  instinctive  life  which  she  had  hitherto  led, 
was  the  spiritual  life.  This  life  was  reached  by  re- 
ligion, —  a  religion  which  had  nothing  in  common  with 
the  religion  to  which  Kitty  had  been  accustomed  since 
infancy,  a  religion  which  consisted  of  going  to  morn- 
ing and  evening  service,  and  to  the  House  of  Widows,^ 
where  she  met  her  acquaintances,  or  of  learning  by 
heart  Slavonic  texts  with  the  parish  priest.  This  was 
a  lofty,  mystic  religion,  united  with  the  purest  thoughts 
and  feelings,  and  believed  in  not  because  one  was  com- 
manded to  do  so,  but  through  love. 

Kitty  learned  all  this,  but  not  by  words.  Madame 
Stahl  talked  to  her  as  to  a  dear  child  whom  she  loved 
as  the  type  of  her  own  youth,  and  only  once  did  she 

^  Vdovui  Dom 


292 


ANNA    KARENINA 


make  any  allusion  to  the  consolation  brought  by  faith 
and  love  for  human  sorrows,  and  to  the  compassion 
of  Christ,  who  looked  on  no  sorrows  as  insignificant ; 
and  she  immediately  changed  the  subject. 

But  in  all  this  lady's  motions,  in  her  words,  in  her 
heavenly  looks,  as  Kitty  called  them,  and,  above  all, 
in  the  story  of  her  life,  which  she  knew  through  Va- 
renka,  Kitty  discovered  "the  important  thing"  which 
till  now  had  been  but  a  sealed  book  to  her. 

But,  lofty  as  Madame  Stahl's  character  was,  touch- 
ing as  was  her  history,  high-minded  and  affectionate 
her  discourse,  Kitty  could  not  help  noticing  certain 
peculiarities,  which  troubled  her.  One  day,  for  ex- 
ample, when  her  relatives  were  mentioned,  Madame 
Stahl  smiled  disdainfully ;  it  was  contrary  to  Christian 
charity.  Another  time  Kitty  noticed,  when  she  met 
a  Roman  Catholic  dignitary  calling  on  her,  that  Madame 
Stahl  kept  her  face  carefully  shaded  by  the  curtain,  and 
smiled  peculiarly.  Insignificant  as  these  two  incidents 
were,  they  gave  her  some  pain,  and  caused  her  to  doubt 
Madame  Stahl's  sincerity. 

Varenka,  on  the  other  hand,  alone  in  the  world,  with- 
out family  connections,  without  friends,  hoping  for 
naught,  harboring  no  ill-will  after  her  bitter  disap- 
pointment, seemed  to  her  absolute  perfection.  Through 
Varenka  she  learned  how  to  forget  herself,  and  to  love 
her  neighbor,  if  she  wanted  to  be  happy,  calm,  and 
good.  And  Kitty  did  wish  this.  And,  when  once 
she  learned  what  was  the  important  thing,  Kitty  was 
no  longer  willing  simply  to  admire,  but  gave  herself 
up  with  her  whole  heart  to  the  new  life  which  opened 
before  her.  After  the  stories  which  Varenka  told  her 
of  Madame  Stahl  and  others  whom  she  named,  Kitty 
drew  up  a  plan  for  her  coming  life.  She  decided  that, 
following  the  example  of  Aline,  Madame  Stahl's  niece, 
whom  Varenka  often  told  her  about,  she  would  visit 
the  unhappy,  no  matter  where  she  might  be  living, 
and  that  she  would  aid  them  to  the  best  of  her  ability ; 
that  she  would  distribute  the  Gospel,  read  the  New 
Testament  to  the  sick,  to  the  dying,  to  criminals :  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  293 

thought  of  reading  the  New  Testament  to  criminals, 
as  this  Aline  'had  done,  especially  appealed  to  Kitty. 
But  she  indulged  in  these  dreams  secretly,  without 
telling  them  to  her  mother  or  even  to  her  friend. 

However,  while  she  was  waiting  to  be  able  to  carry 
out  her  schemes  on  a  wider  scale,  it  was  easy  for  Kitty 
to  put  her  new  principles  in  practice  at  the  waters, 
even  then  and  there  at  the  Spa,  where  the  sick  and 
unhappy  are  easily  found,  and  she  did  as  Varenka  did. 

The  princess  swiftly  noticed  that  Kitty  had  fallen 
under  the  powerful  influence  of  her  engoiiement  with 
Madame  Stahl  (as  she  called  it),  and  particularly  with 
Varenka.  She  saw  that  Kitty  imitated  Varenka,  not 
only  in  her  deeds  of  charity,  but  even  in  her  gait,  in  her 
speech,  in  her  ways  of  shutting  her  eyes.  Later  she 
discovered  that  her  daughter  was  passing  through  a  sort 
of  crisis  of  the  soul  quite  independent  of  the  influence 
of  her  friends. 

The  princess  saw  that  Kitty  was  reading  the  Gospels 
evenings  in  a  French  Testament  loaned  her  by  Madame 
Stahl,  —  a  thing  which  she  had  never  done  before. 
She  also  noticed  that  she  avoided  her  society  friends, 
and  gave  her  time  to  the  sick  under  Varenka's  care,  and 
particularly  to  the  poor  family  of  a  sick  painter  named 
Petrof. 

Kitty  seemed  proud  to  fill,  in  this  household,  the 
functions  of  a  sister  of  charity.  All  this  was  very 
good ;  and  the  princess  had  no  fault  to  find  with  it,  and 
opposed  it  all  the  less  from  the  fact  that  Petrof's  wife 
was  a  woman  of  good  family,  and  that  one  day  the 
Filvstin,  noticing  Kitty's  charitable  activity,  had  praised 
her,  and  called  her  the  "  ministering  angel."  All  would 
have  been  very  good  if  it  had  not  been  carried  to  ex- 
cess. But  the  princess  saw  that  her  daughter  was  going 
to  extremes,  so  she  spoke  to  her  about  it. 

"//  ne  faut  rien  outrer —  One  must  never  go  to  ex- 
tremes," she  said  to  her. 

But  her  daughter  made  no  reply  ;  she  only  questioned 
from  the  bottom  of  her  heart  whether  one  could  ever 
talk  about  going  to  extremes  in  the  matter  of  religion. 


294  ANNA    KARENINA 

How  could  there  be  any  possibility  of  extremes  in  follow- 
ing teachings  which  bid  you  offer  your  left  cheek  when 
the  right  has  been  struck,  and  to  give  your  shirt  when 
your  cloak  is  taken  from  you  ?  But  the  princess  was 
displeased  with  this  tendency  to  exaggeration,  and  she 
was  still  more  displeased  to  feel  that  Kitty  was  unwill- 
ing to  open  her  heart  to  her.  In  point  of  fact,  Kitty 
kept  secret  from  her  mother  her  new  views  and  feelings. 
She  kept  them  secret,  not  because  she  lacked  affection 
or  respect  for  her  mother,  but  simply  because  she  was 
her  mother.  It  would  have  been  easier  to  confess  them 
to  a  stranger  than  to  her  mother. 

"  It  is  a  long  time  since  Anna  Pavlovna  has  been  to 
see  us,"  said  the  princess  one  day,  speaking  of  Madame 
Petrof.  "  I  invited  her  to  come,  but  she  seems  of- 
fended." 

"No,  I  don't  think  so,  maman,"  reiplied  Kitty,  with  a 
guilty  look. 

"  You  have  not  been  with  her  lately,  have  you  .'' " 

•'  We  planned  a  walk  on  the  mountain  for  to-morrow," 
said  Kitty. 

"I  see  no  objection,"  replied  the  princess,  noticing 
her  daughter's  confusion,  and  trying  to  fathom  the 
reason. 

That  same  day  Varenka  came  to  dinner  and  an- 
nounced that  Anna  Pavlovna  had  given  up  the  proposed 
expedition.  The  princess  noticed  that  Kitty  again 
blushed. 

"  Kitty,  has  there  been  anything  unpleasant  between 
you  and  the  Petrofs } "  she  asked,  as  soon  as  they  were 
alone.  "  Why  have  they  ceased  to  send  their  children, 
or  to  come  themselves  .■*  " 

Kitty  replied  that  nothing  had  happened,  and  that  she 
really  did  not  understand  why  Anna  Pavlovna  seemed 
to  be  angry  with  her ;  and  she  told  the  truth.  She  did 
not  know  the  reasons  for  the  change  in  Madame  Petrof, 
but  she  suspected  them,  and  thus  also  she  suspected  a 
thing  which  she  dared  not  to  confess,  even  to  herself, 
still  less  to  her  mother.  This  was  one  of  those  things 
which  you  know,  but  which  are  impossible  to  speak  even 


ANNA    KARENINA  295 

to  yourself,  so  humiliating  and  painful  would  it  be  if 
you  are  mistaken. 

Again  and  again  she  passed  in  review  all  the  mem- 
ories of  her  relations  with  this  family.  She  remembered 
the  innocent  joy  which  shone  on  Anna  Pavlovna's 
honest,  round  face  when  they  first  met ;  she  remembered 
their  secret  discussions  to  find  means  to  distract  the 
invalid,  and  keep  him  from  the  forbidden  work,  and  to 
get  him  out  of  doors  ;  the  attachment  of  the  youngest 
child,  who  called  her  Moya  Kiti,  and  would  not  go  to 
bed  without  her.  How  beautiful  everything  was  at  that 
time !  Then  she  remembered  Petrof's  thin  face,  his 
long  neck,  stretching  out  from  his  brown  coat ;  his  thin, 
curly  hair ;  his  blue  eyes,  with  their  questioning  look, 
which  she  had  feared  at  first ;  his  painful  efforts  to  seem 
lively  and  energetic  when  she  was  near ;  she  recalled 
the  effort  that  she  had  to  make  at  first  to  overcome  the 
repugnance  which  he,  as  well  as  all  consumptives,  caused 
her  to  feel ;  and  the  trouble  which  she  had  in  finding 
something  to  talk  with  him  about. 

She  remembered  the  sick  man's  humble  and  timid  looks 
when  he  saw  her,  and  the  strange  feeling  of  compassion 
and  awkwardness  which  came  over  her  at  first,  followed 
by  the  pleasant  consciousness  of  her  charitable  deeds. 
How  lovely  it  all  had  been  !  but  it  lasted  only  for  a 
brief  moment.  Now  and  for  several  days  there  had 
been  a  sudden  change.  Anna  Pavlovna  received  Kitty 
with  pretended  friendliness,  and  did  not  cease  to  watch 
her  and  her  husband. 

Could  it  be  that  the  invalid's  pathetic  joy  at  the  sight 
of  her  was  the  cause  of  Anna- Pavlovna's  coolness  .-' 

"Yes,"  she  said  to  herself,  "there  was  something 
unnatural  and  quite  different  from  her  ordinary  sweet 
temper  when  she  said  to  me,  day  before  yesterday, 
sharply,  'There!  he  will  not  do  anything  without  you; 
he  would  not  even  take  his  coffee,  though  he  was  awfully 
faint.' 

"  Yes !  perhaps  it  was  not  agreeable  to  her  when  I 
gave  him  his  plaid.  It  was  such  a  simple  little  thing  to 
do ;  but  he  seemed  so  strange,  and  thanked  me  so  warmly, 


296  ANNA   KARENINA 

that  I  felt  ill  at  ease.  And  then  that  portrait  of  me 
which  he  painted  so  well ;  but,  above  all,  his  gentle  and 
melancholy  look.  Yes,  yes,  it  must  be  so,"  Kitty  re- 
peated with  horror.  "  No,  it  cannot  be,  it  must  not  be ! 
He  is  to  be  pitied  so ! "  she  added,  in  her  secret  heart. 
This  suspicion  poisoned  the  pleasure  of  her  new  life. 


CHAPTER   XXXIV 

Just  before  their  season  at  the  Spa  was  over.  Prince 
Shcherbatsky  rejoined  them.  He  had  been  to  Carlsbad, 
to  Baden,  and  to  Kissingen,  with  Russian  friends,  —  "  to 
get  a  breath  of  Russian  air,"  as  he  expressed  it. 

The  prince  and  princess  had  conflicting  ideas  in  re- 
gard to  living  abroad.  The  princess  thought  that  every- 
thing was  lovely  ;  and,  notwithstanding  her  assured  posi- 
tion in  Russian  society,  while  she  was  abroad  she  put 
on  the  airs  of  a  European  lady  which  she  was  not,  for 
she  was  in  every  way  a  genuine  Russian  baruinya.  The 
prince,  on  the  other  hand,  considered  everything  abroad 
detestable,  and  the  European  life  unendurable ;  and  he 
even  exaggerated  his  Russian  characteristics,  and  tried 
to  be  less  of  a  European  than  he  really  was. 

He  came  back  emaciated  and  with  drooping  sacks 
under  his  eyes,  but  in  the  happiest  spirits ;  and  his 
happy  frame  of  mind  was  still  further  enhanced  when 
he  found  that  Kitty  was  on  the  road  to  health. 

The  accounts  that  he  heard  of  Kitty's  intimacy  with 
Madame  Stahl  and  Varenka,  and  the  princess's  de- 
scription of  the  moral  transformation  through  which  his 
daughter  was  passing,  rather  vexed  the  prince,  awaking 
in  him  that  feeling  of  jealousy  which  he  always  had  in 
regard  to  everything  that  might  draw  Kitty  away  from 
under  his  influence.  He  was  afraid  that  she  might 
ascend  to  regions  unattainable  to  him.  But  these  dis- 
agreeable presentiments  were  swallowed  up  in  the  sea 
of  gayety  and  good  humor  which  he  always  carried  with 
him,  and  which  his  sojourn  at  Carlsbad  had  increased. 

The  day  after  his  arrival,  the  prince,  in  his  long  pale- 


ANNA   KARENINA  297 

tot,  and  with  his  Russian  wrinkles  and  his  puffy  cheeks 
standing  out  above  his  stiffly  starched  collar,  went  in 
the  very  best  of  spirits  with  Kitty  to  the  spring. 

The  morning  was  beautiful.  The  neat,  gay  houses, 
with  their  little  gardens,  the  sight  of  the  German  ser- 
vants, with  their  red  faces  and  red  arms,  happily  work- 
ing, the  brilliant  sun,  —  everything  filled  the  heart  with 
pleasure.  But  as  they  came  nearer  to  the  spring  they 
met  more  and  more  invalids,  whose  lamentable  appear- 
ance contrasted  painfully  with  the  trim  and  beneficent 
German  surroundings. 

For  Kitty  the  bright  sunlight,  the  vivid  green  of  the 
trees,  the  sounds  of  the  music,  all  formed  a  natural 
framework  for  these  well-known  faces,  whose  changes 
for  better  or  worse  she  had  been  watching.  But  for 
the  prince  there  was  something  cruel  in  the  contrast 
between  this  bright  June  morning,  the  orchestra  play- 
ing the  latest  waltz,  and  especially  the  sight  of  these 
healthy-looking  servants,  and  the  miserable  invalids, 
from  all  the  corners  of  Europe,  dragging  themselves 
painfully  along. 

In  spite  of  the  return  of  his  youth  which  the  prince 
experienced,  and  the  pride  that  he  felt  in  having  his 
favorite  daughter  on  his  arm,  he  confessed  to  a  sense 
of  shame  and  awkwardness  in  walking  along  with  his 
firm  step  and  his  vigorous  limbs, 

'*  Introduce  me,  introduce  me  to  your  new  friends," 
said  he  to  his  daughter,  pressing  her  arm  with  his  elbow. 
"  I  am  beginning  to  like  your  abominable  Soden  for  the 
good  which  it  has  done  you.  Only  it  is  melancholy  for 
you.  — Who  is  this  ?  " 

Kitty  told  the  names  of  the  acquaintances  and 
strangers  that  they  met  on  their  way.  At  the  very 
entrance  of  the  garden  they  met  Madame  Berthe  and 
her  companion,  and  the  prince  was  pleased  to  see  the 
expression  of  joy  on  the  old  Frenchwoman's  face  at 
the  sound  of  Kitty's  voice.  With  true  French  exagger- 
ation she  immediately  overwhelmed  the  prince  with 
compliments,  congratulating  him  on  having  such  a 
charming  daughter,   whose    merits  she  praised  to  the 


298  ANNA    KARENINA 

skies,  declaring  to  her  face  that  she  was  a  treasure,  a 
pearl,  a  ministering  angel. 

"Well!  she  must  be  angel  number  two,"  said  the 
prince,  gallantly,  "for  she  calls  Mademoiselle  Varenka 
angel  number  one." 

"  Oh !  Mademoiselle  Varenka  is  truly  an  angel. 
Allez"  said  Madame  Berthe,  vivaciously. 

They  met  Varenka  herself  in  the  gallery.  She 
hastened  up  to  them,  carrying  an  elegant  red  bag. 

"  Here  is  papa,"  said  Kitty. 

Varenka  made  the  prince  a  simple  and  natural  saluta- 
tion, almost  like  a  courtesy,  and  without  any  false 
modesty  immediately  entered  into  conversation  with 
him  as  she  conversed  with  every  one,  without  restraint 
or  affectation. 

"Of  course  I  know  you,  —  know  you  very  well  al- 
ready," said  the  prince,  with  a  pleasant  expression  that 
made  Kitty  see  that  her  friend  pleased  her  father. 
"  Where  were  you  going  so  fast  ?  " 

"  Maman  is  here,"  she  replied,  turning  to  Kitty. 
"She  did  not  sleep  all  night,  and  the  doctor  advised  her 
to  take  the  air.     I  have  brought  her  work," 

"  So  that  is  angel  number  one } "  said  the  prince, 
when  Varenka  had  gone. 

Kitty  saw  that  he  had  intended  to  rally  her  about  her 
friend,  but  had  refrained  because  her  friend  had  pleased 
him.  "Well,  let  us  go  and  see  them  all,"  said  he, — 
"  all  your  friends,  even  Madame  Stahl,  if  she  will  deign 
to  remember  me." 

"But  did  you  ever  know  her,  papa.-*"  asked  Kitty, 
with  fear,  as  she  saw  an  ironical  flash  in  her  father's 
eyes  as  he  mentioned  Madame  Stahl. 

"  I  knew  her  husband,  and  I  knew  her  a  little,  before 
she  joined  the  Pietists." 

"  What  are  Pietists,  papa  1  "  asked  Kitty,  troubled 
because  such  a  nickname  was  given  to  what  in  Madame 
Stahl  she  valued  so  highly. 

"  I  myself  do  not  know  much  about  them.  I  only 
know_  this,  that  she  thanks  God  for  everything,  even 
for  her  tribulations,   and,   above  all,   she    thanks   God 


ANNA    KARENINA  299 

because  her  husband  is  dead.  Now,  that  is  comical, 
because  they  did  not  live  happily  together.  But  who  is 
that .''  What  a  melancholy  face  !  "  he  added,  seeing  an 
invalid  sitting  in  a  shop  in  cinnamon-colored  paletot, 
with  white  pantaloons  making  strange  folds  around  his 
emaciated  legs.  This  gentleman  had  raised  his  straw 
hat,  and  bared  his  sparse  curly  hair  and  high  sickly 
forehead,  on  which  showed  the  red  line  made  by  the 
brim. 

"That  is  Petrof,  a  painter,"  replied  Kitty,  with  a 
blush  ;  "  and  there  is  his  wife,"  she  added,  indicating 
Anna  Pavlovna,  who,  at  their  approach,  had  evidently 
made  the  excuse  of  running  after  one  of  their  children 
playing  in  the  street. 

"  Poor  fellow  !  and  what  a  pleasant  face  he  has !  " 
said  the  prince.  "But  why  did  you  not  go  to  him .-^  He 
seemed  anxious  to  speak  to  you." 

"Well,  let  us  go  back  to  him,"  said  Kitty,  resolutely 
turning  about.  "  PJow  do  you  feel  to-day  ? "  she  asked 
of  Petrof. 

Petrof  arose,  leaning  on  his  cane,  and  looked  timidly 
at  the  prince. 

"This  is  my  daughter,"  said  the  prince;  "allow  me 
to  make  your  acquaintance." 

The  painter  bowed  and  smiled,  showing  teeth  of 
strangely  dazzling  whiteness. 

"We  expected  you  yesterday,  princess,"  said  he  to 
Kitty. 

He  staggered  as  he  spoke ;  and  to  conceal  the  fact 
that  it  was  involuntary,  he  repeated  the  motion. 

"  I  expected  to  come,  but  Varenka  told  me  that  Anna 
Pavlovna  sent  word  that  you  were  not  going." 

"  That  we  were  n't  going } "  said  Petrof,  troubled,  and 
beginning  to  cough.  Then,  looking  toward  his  wife,  he 
called  hoarsely,  "  Annetta  !  Annetta  !  "  while  the  great 
veins  on  his  thin  white  neck  stood  out  like  cords. 

Anna  Pavlovna  drew  near. 

"  How  did  you  send  word  to  the  princess  that  we 
were  not  going  ? "  he  demanded  angrily,  in  a  whisper. 

"  Good-morning,  princess,"  said  Anna  Pavlovna,  with 


300 


ANNA   KARENINA 


a  constrained  smile,  totally  different  from  her  former 
effusiveness.  "Very  glad  to  make  your  acquaintance," 
she  added,  addressing  the  prince.  "  You  have  been 
long  expected,  prince." 

"  How  could  you  have  sent  word  to  the  princess  that 
we  were  not  going  ?  "  again  demanded  the  painter,  in  his 
hoarse  whisper,  and  still  more  irritated  because  he  could 
not  express  himself  as  he  wished. 

"  Oh,  good  heavens !  I  thought  that  we  were  not 
going,"  said  his  wife,  testily. 

"  How."*....  when  .?  "  .... 

He  coughed,  and  made  a  gesture  of  despair  with  his 
hand. 

The  prince  raised  his  hat,  and  went  away  with  his 
daughter. 

"  Oh  !  okh  !"  he  said,  with  a  deep  sigh.  "  Oh,  these 
poor  creatures  !  " 

"Yes,  papa,"  said  Kitty;  "and  you  must  know  that 
they  have  three  children,  and  no  servant,  and  almost  no 
means.  He  receives  a  pittance  from  the  Academy," 
she  continued  eagerly,  so  as  to  conceal  the  emotion 
caused  by  the  strange  change  in  Anna  Pavlovna,  in 
her  behavior  to  her.  "Ah,  there  is  Madame  Stahl  !  " 
said  Kitty,  directing  his  attention  to  a  wheeled-chair,  in 
which  was  lying  a  human  form,  wrapped  in  gray  and 
blue,  propped  up  by  pillows,  and  shaded  by  an  umbrella. 
It  was  Madame  Stahl.  A  solemn  and  sturdy  German 
laborer  was  pushing  her  chair.  Beside  her  walked  a  light- 
complexioned  Swedish  count,  whom  Kitty  knew  by  sight. 
Several  people  had  stopped  near  the  wheeled-chair,  and 
were  gazing  at  this  lady  as  if  she  were  some  curiosity. 

The  prince  approached  her,  and  Kitty  instantly  noticed 
in  her  father's  eyes  that  ironical  gleam  which  had 
troubled  her  before.  He  went  up  to  Madame  Stahl, 
and  addressed  her  in  that  excellent  French  which  so 
few  Russians  nowadays  are  able  to  speak,  and  was  ex- 
tremely polite  and  friendly. 

"I  do  not  know  whether  you  still  recollect  me,  but 
it  is  my  duty  to  bring  myself  to  your  remembrance,  in 
order  that  I  may  thank  you  for  your  kindness  to  my 


ANNA   KARENINA  joi 

daughter,"  said  he,  taking  off  his  hat,  and  holding  it 
in  his  hand. 

"Prince  Aleksandr  Shcherbatsky  ! "  said  Madame 
Stahl,  looking  at  him  with  her  heavenly  eyes,  in  which 
Kitty  detected  a  shade  of  dissatisfaction.  "  I  am  very 
glad  to  see  you  ;  I  love  your  daughter  so  !  " 

"  Your  health  is  not  always  good .''  " 

"  Oh !  I  am  pretty  well  used  to  it  now,"  replied 
Madame  Stahl ;  and  she  presented  the  prince  to  the 
Swedish  count. 

"  You  have  changed  very  little,"  said  the  prince  to 
her,  "during  the  ten  or  twelve  years  since  I  had  the 
honor  of  seeing  you." 

"  Yes.  God  gives  the  cross,  and  gives  also  the  power 
to  carry  it.  I  often  ask  myself  why  my  life  is  so  pro- 
longed  Not  like  that,"  she  said  crossly,  to  Varenka, 

who  had  not  succeeded  in  putting  her  plaid  over  her 
shoulders  to  her  satisfaction. 

"  For  doing  good,  without  doubt,"  said  the  prince, 
with  laughing  eyes. 

"It  is  not  for  us  to  judge,"  replied  Madame  Stahl, 
observing  the  gleam  of  irony  in  the  prince's  face. 

"  I  pray  you  send  me  that  book,  dear  count.  I  will 
thank  you  a  thousand  times,"  said  she,  turning  to  the 
young  Swede. 

"Ah!"  cried  the  prince,  who  had  just  caught  sight 
of  the  Muscovite  colonel  standing  near ;  and,  bowing  to 
Madame  Stahl,  he  went  away  with  his  daughter  and  the 
Muscovite  colonel,  who  had  joined  him. 

"  This  is  our  aristocracy,  prince ! "  said  the  colonel, 
with  sarcastic  intent,  for  he  also  was  piqued  because 
Madame  Stahl  refused  to  be  friendly. 

"  Always  the  same,"  replied  the  prince. 

"  Did  you  know  her  before  her  illness,  prince,  —  that 
is,  before  she  became  an  invalid  ? " 

"  Yes  ;  she  became  an  invalid  after  I  knew  her." 

"  They  say  that  she  has  not  walked  for  ten  years.  "  .... 

"  She  does  not  walk  because  one  leg  is  shorter  than 
the  other.     She  is  very  badly  put  together.  ".... 

"  Papa,  it  is  impossible,"  cried  Kitty. 


302 


ANNA    KARENINA 


"  Evil  tongues  say  so,  my  dear ;  and  your  friend 
Varenka  ought  to  see  her  as  she  is.  Oh,  these  invalid 
ladies  ! " 

"  Oh,  no,  papa !  I  assure  you,  Varenka  adores  her," 
cried  Kitty,  eagerly;  "and  besides,  she  does  so  much 
good !  Ask  any  one  you  please.  Every  one  knows  her 
and  Aline  Stahl." 

"  Maybe,"  replied  her  father,  pressing  her  arm  gently  ; 
"  but  it  would  be  better  when  people  do  such  things 
that  no  one  should  know  about  it." 

Kitty  was  silent,  not  because  she  had  nothing  to  say, 
but  she  was  unwilling  to  reveal  her  inmost  thoughts 
even  to  her  father. 

There  was  one  strange  thing,  however :  decided  though 
she  was  not  to  unbosom  herself  to  her  father,  not  to 
let  him  penetrate  into  the  sanctuary  of  her  reflections, 
she  nevertheless  was  conscious  that  her  ideal  of  holiness, 
as  seen  in  Madame  Stahl,  which  she  had  for  a  whole 
month  carried  in  her  soul,  had  irrevocably  disappeared, 
as  a  face  seen  in  a  garment  thrown  down  by  chance 
disappears  when  one  really  sees  how  the  garment  is 
lying.  She  retained  only  the  image  of  a  lame  woman 
who,  because  she  was  deformed,  stayed  in  bed,  and  who 
tormented  the  paftient  Varenka  because  she  did  not 
arrange  her  plaid  to  suit  her.  And  it  became  impossi- 
ble for  her  imagination  to  bring  back  to  her  the  remem- 
brance of  the  former  Madame  Stahl. 


CHAPTER   XXXV 

The  prince's  gayety  and  good  humor  were  contagious ; 
his  household  and  acquaintances,  and  even  their  Ger- 
man landlord,  felt  it. 

When  he  came  in  with  Kitty,  from  the  springs,  the 
prince  invited  the  colonel,  Marya  Yevgenyevna  and  her 
daughter,  and  Varenka,  to  luncheon,  and  had  the  table 
and  chairs  brought  out  under  the  chestnut  trees  in  the 
garden,  and  there  the  guests  were  served.  The  landlord 
and  his  domestics  were  filled  with  zeal  under  the  influ- 


ANNA    KARENINA  303 

ence  of  his  good  spirits.  They  knew  his  generosity ; 
and  before  half  an  hour  was  over  a  sick  Hamburg  doc- 
tor, who  had  rooms  on  the  upper  floor,  was  looking  down 
with  envy  on  the  happy  group  of  hearty  Russians  sitting 
under  the  chestnut  trees. 

Under  the  flickering  'shade  of  the  sun-flecked  leaves  sat 
the  princess,  in  a  bonnet  trimmed  with  lilac  ribbons,  pre- 
siding over  the  table  spread  with  a  white  cloth,  whereon 
were  placed  the  coffee-service,  the  bread,  butter,  cheese, 
and  cold  game ;  she  was  distributing  cups  and  tarts. 
At  the  other  end  of  the  table  sat  the  prince,  eating 
with  good  appetite,  and  talking  with  great  animation. 
He  had  spread  out  in  front  of  him  his  purchases,  — 
carved  boxes,  jackstraws,  paper-cutters  of  all  kinds, 
which  he  had  brought  back  from  all  the  places  where 
he  had  been  ;  and  he  was  distributing  them  around  to 
all,  including  Lieschen  the  maid,  and  the  landlord,  with 
whom  he  joked  in  his  comically  bad  German,  assuring 
him  that  it  was  not  the  waters  that  had  cured  Kitty, 
but  his  excellent  cuisine,  and  particularly  his  prune  soup. 

The  princess  laughed  at  her  husband  for  his  Russian 
peculiarities ;  but  never,  since  she  had  been  at  the  Spa, 
had  she  been  so  gay  and  lively.  The  colonel,  as  always, 
was  amused  at  the  prince's  jests ;  but  he  agreed  with 
the  princess  on  the  European  question,  which  he  im- 
agined that  he  understood  thoroughly.  The  good 
Marya  Yevgenyevna  laughed  at  every  good  thing  that 
the  prince  said  ;  and  even  Varenka,  to  Kitty's  great 
astonishment,  laughed  till  she  was  tired,  with  unde- 
monstrative but  infectious  hilarity  awakened  by  the 
prince's  jests.  This  was  something  Kitty  had  never 
known  to  happen  before. 

All  this  delighted  Kitty,  but  she  could  not  free  her- 
self from  mental  agitation  ;  she  could  not  resolve  the 
problem  which  her  father  had  unintentionally  given  her 
by  his  jesting,  humorous  attitude  toward  her  friends 
and  the  life  which  offered  her  so  many  attractions. 
Moreover,  she  could  not  help  puzzling  herself  with  the 
reasons  for  the  change  in  her  relations  with  the  Pe- 
trofs,  which  had  struck  her  that  day  so  plainly  and  dis- 


304  ANNA   KARENINA 

agreeably.  All  the  rest  were  gay,  but  Kitty  could  not 
be  gay,  and  this  still  more  annoyed  her.  She  experi- 
enced a  feeling  analogous  to  that  which  she  had  known 
in  her  childhood,  when,  as  a  punishment  for  some  offense, 
she  was  shut  up  in  her  room  and  heard  the  gay  merri- 
ment of  her  sisters. 

"  Now,  why  did  you  purchase  this  heap  of  things  .■' " 
asked  the  princess,  smiling  and  offering  her  husband  a 
cup  of  coffee. 

"You  go  out  for  a  walk,  well!  and  you  come  to  a 
shop,  and  they  address  you,  and  say,  ^  ErlaiicJit,  Excel- 
lenz,  Diirchlaiicht!'  Well,  when  they  say  Diirchlaucht} 
I  cannot  resist  any  longer,  and  my  ten  thalers  vanish." 

"  It  was  merely  because  you  were  bored,"  said  the 
princess. 

"  Certainly  I  was  bored !  It  was  ennui  which  one 
does  not  know  how  to  escape  from." 

"  But  how  can  you  be  bored .''  There  are  so  many 
interesting  things  to  see  in  Germany  now,"  said  Marya 
Yevgenyevna. 

"  Yes  !  I  know  all  which  is  interesting  just  at  the 
present  time :  I  know  soup  with  prunes,  I  know  pea- 
pudding,  I  know  everything." 

"  Just  as  you  please,  prince,  but  their  institutions  are 
interesting,"  said  the  colonel. 

"  Yes !  but  what  is  there  interesting  about  them .-" 
They  are  as  contented  as  copper  kopeks.  They  have 
whipped  the  world !  Now,  why  should  I  find  anything 
to  content  me  here  }  I  never  conquered  anybody ;  but 
I  have  to  take  off  my  boots  myself,  and,  what  is  worse, 
put  them  out  myself  in  the  corridor.  In  the  morning 
I  get  up,  and  have  to  dress  myself,  and  go  down  to  the 
dining-room  and  drink  execrable  tea.  'T  is  n't  like  that 
at  home.  There  you  can  get  up  when  you  please ;  if 
you  are  out  of  sorts,  you  can  grumble  ;  you  have  all  the 
time  you  need  for  remembering  things,  and  you  can  do 
whatever  you  please  without  hurrying." 

"But  time  is  money;  you  forget  that,"  said  the 
colonel. 

^  Durcklauchty  highness. 


ANNA    KARENINA  305 

"That  depends.  There  are  whole  months  which  you 
would  sell  for  fifty  kopeks,  and  half-hours  which  you 
would  not  take  any  amount  of  money  for.  Is  n't  that 
so,  Katenka  .<*     But  why  are  you  so  solemn  .''  " 

"  I  am  not,  papa." 

"Where  are  you  going?  Stay  a  little  longer,"  said 
the  prince  to  Varenka. 

"  But  I  must  go  home,"  said  Varenka,  rising,  and 
laughing  gayly  again.  After  she  had  excused  herself, 
she  took  leave  of  her  friends,  and  went  into  the  house 
to  get  her  hat. 

Kitty  followed  her.  Even  Varenka  seemed  to  her 
friend  changed.  She  was  not  less  good,  but  she  was 
different  from  what  she  had  imagined  her  to  be. 

"Akh!  it  is  a  long  time  since  I  have  laughed  so 
much,"  said  Varenka,  as  she  was  getting  her  parasol 
and  her  satchel,     "  How  charming  your  papa  is  !  " 

Kitty  did  not  answer. 

"  When  shall  I  see  you  again  .? "  asked  Varenka, 

^' Mamaii  wanted  to  go  to  the  Petrofs'.  Are  you 
going  to  be  there } "  asked  Kitty,  trying  to  sound 
Varenka. 

"  I  am  going  to  be  there,"  she  replied.  "  They  are 
expecting  to  leave,  and  I  promised  to  help  them  pack," 

"Well,  then  I  will  go  with  you," 

"  No  ;  why  should  you  .■'  "• 

"  Why  not  ?  why  not  ?  why  not  ?  "  asked  Kitty,  open- 
ing her  eyes  very  wide,  and  holding  Varenka  by  her 
sunshade.     "Wait  a  moment,  and  tell  me  why  not," 

" '  Why  not  ? '  Because  your  papa  has  come,  and 
because  they  are  vexed  at  you." 

"  No ;  tell  me  honestly  why  you  don't  like  to  have 
me  go  to  the  Petrofs',  You  don't  like  it ;  why  is 
it.?" 

"I  didn't  say  so,"  replied  Varenka,  calmly. 

"  I  beg  you  to  tell  me." 

"  Must  I  tell  you  all  ? " 

"All,  all,"  replied  Kitty. 

"  Well !  There  is  really  nothing  very  serious  ;  only 
Mikhail  Alekseyevitch  —  that  was  Petrofs  name  —  a 
VOL,  I.  —  20 


3o6  ANNA    KARENINA 

short  time  ago  wanted  to  leave  even  before  this,  and  now 
he  does  not  want  to  go  at  all,"  replied  Varenka,  smiling. 

"Well,  well!"  cried  Kitty,  looking  at  Varenka  with 
a  gloomy  expression. 

"  Now  for  some  reason  Anna  Pavlovna  imagines  that 
he  does  not  want  to  go  because  you  are  here.  Of 
course  this  was  unfortunate ;  but  you  have  been  the 
unwitting  cause  of  a  family  quarrel,  and  you  know  how 
irritable  these  invalids  are." 

Kitty  grew  still  more  melancholy,  and  kept  silent ; 
and  Varenka  went  on  speaking,  trying  to  smooth  it 
over,  and  put  things  in  a  better  light,  though  she  fore- 
saw that  the  result  would  be  either  tears  or  reproaches, 
she  knew  not  which. 

"So  it  is  better  for  you  not  to  go  there  ....and  you 
will  not  be  angry....  " 

"  But  it  was  my  fault,  it  was  my  fault,"  said  Kitty, 
speaking  rapidly,  and  snatching  Varenka's  parasol  away 
from  her,  and  not  looking  at  her. 

Varenka  was  amused  at  her  friend's  childish  anger, 
but  she  was  afraid  of  offending  her. 

"  How  is  it  your  fault  ?     I  don't  understand  !  " 

"  My  fault  because  it  was  all  pretense,  it  was  all 
hypocrisy,  and  because  it  did  not  come  from  the  heart. 
What  business  had  I  to  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  a  stran- 
ger.^ And  so  I  have  been  the  cause  of  a  quarrel,  and 
I  have  been  doing  what  no  one  asked  me  to  do,  simply 
because  it  was  all  hypocrisy,  hypocrisy,"  said  she. 

"  But  why  do  you  call  it  hypocrisy.'"  asked  Varenka, 
gently. 

"  Akh  !     How  stupid,  how  wretched  !     It  was  none  of 

my  business Hypocrisy  !  "  mechanically  opening  and 

shutting  the  sunshade. 

"  But  it  was  your  idea }  " 

"  So  as  to  seem  better  to  others,  to  myself,  to  God, — 
to  deceive  every  one.  No,  I  will  not  fall  so  low  again. 
I  may  be  wicked,  but  at  least  I  will  not  be  a  liar  and 
deceiver !  " 

"  But  who  is  a  liar  ? "  asked  Varenka,  in  a  reproachful 
tone.     "  You  speak  as  if  ....  " 


ANNA   KARENINA  307 

But  Kitty  was  thoroughly  angry,  and  did  not  let  her 
finish. 

"  I  am  not  speaking  of  you,  not  of  you  at  all.  You 
are  perfection.  Yes,  yes  ;  I  know  that  you  are  all  per- 
fection. How  can  I  help  it.-*,...  I  am  wicked;  this 
would  not  have  occurred,  if  I  had  not  been  wicked.  So 
let  me  be  what  I  am,  but  I  will  not  be  deceitful.  What 
have  I  to  do  with  Anna  Pavlovna  ?  Let  them  live  as 
they  want  to,  and  I  will  do  the  same.  I  can't  be  some- 
body else Besides,  everything  is  different....  " 

"  What  is  'different  * .-' "  asked  Varenka,  in  perplexity, 

"  Everything !  I  can  only  live  by  my  heart,  but  you 
live  by  your  principles.  I  like  you  all ;  but  you  have 
had  in  view  only  to  save  me,  to  convert  me." 

"You  are  not  fair,"  said  Varenka. 

"  I  am  not  speaking  for  other  people.  I  only  speak 
for  myself." 

"  Kitty  !  "  cried  her  mother's  voice,  "  come  here  and 
show  papa  your  corals." 

Kitty,  with  a  haughty  face  and  not  making  it  up  with 
her  friend,  took  the  box  with  the  corals  from  the  table 
and  carried  it  to  her  mother. 

"What  is  the  matter.?  why  are  you  so  flushed?" 
asked  her  father  and  mother  with  one  voice. 

"  Nothing ;  I  am  coming  right  back  ; "  and  she  hur- 
ried back  to  the  house. 

"She  is  still  there,"  she  thought;  "what  shall  I  tell 
her  ?  Bozhe  mof !  what  have  I  done  ?  what  have  I  said.? 
Why  did  I  hurt  her  feelings  ?  What  have  I  done  ?  what 
shall  I  say  to  her .-' "  she  asked  herself,  as  she  hesitated 
at  the  door. 

Varenka,  with  her  hat  on  and  her  parasol  in  her  hand, 
was  sitting  by  the  table,  examining  the  spring,  which 
Kitty  had  broken.     She  raised  her  head. 

"Varenka,  forgive  me,"  whispered  Kitty,  coming  up 
to  her.     "  Forgive  me,  I  don't  know  what  I  said.     I ....  " 

"  Truly,  I  did  not  mean  to  cause  you  pain,"  said 
Varenka,  smiling. 

Peace  was  made. 

But  her  father's  coming  had  changed  for  Kitty  the 


3o8  ANNA    KARENINA 

whole  world  in  which  she  lived.  She  did  not  give  up 
what  she  had  learned,  but  she  confessed  that  she  had 
been  under  an  illusion  by  believing  that  she  was  what 
she  had  dreamed  of  being.  She  awoke  as  it  were  from 
a  dream.  She  felt  all  the  difficulty  of  staying  without 
hypocrisy  and  boastfulness  on  the  heights  to  which  she 
had  tried  to  raise  herself ;  moreover,  she  felt  still  more 
vividly  all  the  weight  of  that  world  of  misfortunes,  of 
illnesses,  of  those  who  surrounded  her,  and  she  was  tor- 
mented by  the  efforts  which  she  had  made  to  interest 
herself  in  them ;  and  she  began  to  long  to  breathe  the 
purer,  healthier  atmosphere  of  Russia  at  Yergushovo, 
where  Dolly  and  the  children  had  gone,  as  she  learned 
from  a  letter  that  had  just  come. 

But  her  love  for  Varenka  had  not  diminished.  When 
she  went  away,  she  begged  her  to  come  and  visit  them 
in  Russia. 

"  I  will  come  when  you  are  married,"  said  she. 

"I  shall  never  marry." 
'  '"Well,  then  I  shall  never  come." 

"Well,  in  that  case,  I  shall  get  married  only  for 
your  sake.     Don't  forget  your  promise,"  said  Kitty. 

The  doctor's  prophecies  were  realized.  Kitty  came 
home  to  Russia  perfectly  well ;  possibly  she  was  not 
as  gay  and  careless  as  before,  but  her  calmness  was 
restored.     The  pains  of  the  past  were  only  a  memory. 


END  OF  VOL.  L 


Levin  and  Kitty, 

Original  Drawing  by  E.  Boyd  Smith, 


ANNA   KARENINA 

VOL.   U 


ANNA   KARENINA 


PART    THIRD 

CHAPTER  I 

SERGYEI  IVANOVITCH  KOZNUISHEF  wanted 
a  rest  after  his  intellectual  labors ;  and,  instead  of 
going  abroad  as  usual,  he  came,  toward  the  end  of  May, 
to  visit  his  brother  in  the  country.  In  his  opinion,  coun- 
try life  was  best  of  all,  and  he  came  now  to  his  brother's 
to  enjoy  it.  Konstantin  Levin  was  very  glad  to  welcome 
him,  the  more  because  this  sumrper  he  did  not  expect 
his  brother  Nikolai'.  But  in  spite  of  his  love  and  respect 
for  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  Konstantin  was  not  at  his  ease 
with  him  in  the  country.  He  was  not  at  his  ease,  he 
was  even  annoyed  to  see  how  his  brother  regarded  the 
country.  For  Konstantin  Levin  the  country  was  the 
place  for  life,  —  for  pleasures,  sorrows,  labor.  For  Ser- 
gyei  Ivanovitch  the  country,  on  the  one  side,  offered 
rest  from  labor,  on  the  other,  a  profitable  antidote  against 
corruption,  and  he  took  it  gladly,  convinced  of  its  utility. 
For  Konstantin  Levin  the  country  was  beautiful  because 
it  offered  field  for  works  of  incontestable  utility.  For 
Sergyef  Ivanovitch  the  country  was  especially  delightful 
because  there  was  nothing  he  could  do,  or  needed  to  do 
there,  at  all. 

Moreover,  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch's  behavior  toward  the 
people  somewhat  piqued  Konstantin.  Sergyeif  Ivano- 
vitch said  that  he  loved  and  knew  the  people ;  and  he 
often  chatted  with  the  muzhiks  as  he  was  fully  able  to 
do,  without  pretense  and  without  affectation,  and  dis- 
covered, in  his  interviews  with  them,  traits  of  character 
honorable  to  the  people,  so  that  he  felt  convinced  that 

VOL.  II.  —  I  i 


2  ANNA    KARENINA 

he  knew  them  thoroughly.  Such  relations  with  the 
people  displeased  Konstantin  Levin.  For  him  the  peas- 
antry was  only  the  chief  factor  in  associated  labor ;  and 
though  he  respected  the  muzhik,  and,  as  he  himself  said, 
drew  in  with  the  milk  of  the  woman  who  nursed  him  a 
genuine  love  for  them,  still  he,  as  a  factor  associated 
with  them  in  the  general  labors,  while  sometimes  ad- 
miring their  strength,  their  good  nature,  their  sense  of 
justice,  very  often  when  in  the  general  work  of  the 
estate  other  qualities  were  needed,  flew  into  a  passion 
with  the  peasantry  for  their  carelessness,  slovenliness, 
drunkenness,  untruthfulness.  If  he  had  been  asked 
whether  he  liked  the  people,  he  would  really  have  not 
known  what  reply  to  make.  He  liked  and  he  did  not 
like  the  people  as  the  majority  of  men  did.  Of  course 
as  a  good  man  he  liked  men  more  than  he  disliked 
them  ;  and  so  it  was  with  the  peasantry.  But  to  like  or 
not  to  like  the  peasantry,  as  something  out  of  the  com- 
mon, was  an  impossibility  to  him,  because  he  not  only 
lived  with  the  peasantry,  because  not  only  were  his  in- 
terests bound  up  with  those  of  the  peasantry,  but  also 
he  looked  on  himself  as  a  part  of  the  people,  saw  no 
qualities  or  faults  in  the  people  that  he  did  not  himself 
possess,  and  could  not  take  his  stand  contrary  to  the 
people.  Moreover,  although  he  had  long  lived  in  the 
closest  relationship  with  his  muzhiks  as  their  landlord, 
their  mediator,  and,  what  was  more,  their  adviser,  —  for 
the  muzhiks  had  faith  in  him,  and  came  to  him  from 
forty  versts  around  to  ask  his  advice,  —  he  passed  no 
definite  judgment  on  them  ;  and  to  the  question,  did 
he  know  the  people,  he  would  have  found  it  as  hard 
to  find  an  answer  as  to  the  question,  did  he  like  the 
people. 

But  to  say  that  he  knew  the  peasantry  would  have 
meant  in  his  opinion  the  same  as  to  say  that  he  knew 
men.  He  was  constantly  admiring  and  studying  all 
kinds  of  men,  and  among  them,  men  from  among  the 
peasantry  whom  he  considered  to  be  fine  and  interest- 
ing specimens  of  humanity,  and  he  was  all  the  time 
discovering   in   them    new  characteristics,   and   chang- 


ANNA    KARENINA  J 

ing  and  revising  his  preconceived  theories  regarding 
them. 

Sergyef  Ivanovitch  was  the  opposite.  Just  exactly  as 
he  liked  and  enjoyed  the  country  life  for  its  contrariety 
to  that  which  he  did  not  like,  so  he  liked  the  peasantry 
for  their  contrariety  to  that  class  of  men  which  he  did 
not  like,  and  in  exactly  the  same  way  he  knew  the 
people  as  beings  opposed  to  men  in  general.  His 
methodical  mind  clearly  differentiated  the  definite  forms 
of  life  among  the  peasantry,  deducing  it  partly  from 
the  life  of  the  peasantry  itself,  but  principally  from 
its  contrarieties.  He  never  changed  his  opinions  in 
regard  to  the  people  and  his  sympathetic  relationship 
to  them. 

In  the  discussions  which  arose  between  the  brothers 
in  consequence  of  their  divergence  of  views,  Sergyelf 
Ivanovitch  always  won  the  victory  because  he  had  defi- 
nite opinions  concerning  the  people,  their  character, 
peculiarities,  and  tastes  ;  while  Konstantin  Levin,  cease- 
lessly modifying  his,  was  easily  convicted  of  contradict- 
ing himself. 

Sergyelf  Ivanovitch  looked  on  his  brother  as  a  splen- 
did fellow,  whose  heart  was  bicn  placi,  as  he  expressed 
it  in  French,  but  whose  mind,  though  quick  and  active, 
was  open  to  the  impressions  of  the  moment,  and,  there- 
fore, full  of  contradictions.  With  the  condescension  of 
an  elder  brother,  he  sometimes  explained  to  him  the  real 
meaning  of  things  ;  but  he  could  not  take  genuine  pleas- 
ure in  discussing  with  him,  because  his  opponent  was  so 
easy  to  vanquish. 

Konstantin  Levin  looked  on  his  brother  as  a  man  of 
vast  intelligence  and  learning,  endowed  with  extraordi- 
nary faculties,  most  advantageous  to  the  community  at 
large ;  but  as  he  advanced  in  life,  and  learned  to  know 
him  better,  he  sometimes  asked  himself,  in  the  secret 
chambers  of  his  heart,  if  this  devotion  to  the  general 
interests,  which  he  felt  that  he  himself  entirely  lacked, 
was  really  a  good  quality,  or  rather  a  lack  of  something 
—  not  a  lack  of  good-natured,  upright,  benevolent  wishes 
and  tastes,  but  the  lack  of  the  motive  power  of  life, 


4  ANNA    KARENINA 

which  is  called  "  heart,"  of  that  impulse  which  con- 
strains a  man  to  choose  one  out  of  all  multitudes  of 
paths  which  life  offers  to  men,  and  to  desire  this  alone. 
The  better  he  knew  his  brother,  the  more  he  remarked 
that  Sergyer  Ivanovitch  and  many  other  workers  for  the 
common  good  were  not  drawn  by  their  affections  to  this 
work,  but  that  they  used  their  reason  to  justify  them- 
selves in  the  interest  they  took  in  it. 

Levin  was  still  further  confirmed  in  this  hypothesis 
by  the  observation  that  his  brother  did  not  really  take 
much  more  to  heart  the  questions  concerning  the  com- 
mon good  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul  than  those 
connected  with  a  game  of  chess  or  the  ingenious  con- 
struction of  a  new  machine. 

Again  Levin  felt,  also,  constraint  with  his  brother 
from  the  fact  that  while  he  was  in  the  country,  and  es- 
pecially in  the  summer-time,  he  was  all  the  time  busy 
with  his  work  on  the  estate.  The  days  seemed  to  him 
too  short  for  him  to  accomplish  all  that  he  wanted  to 
do,  while  his  brother  was  taking  his  ease.  But,  though 
Sergyef  Ivanovitch  was  enjoying  his  vacation,  in  other 
words,  was  jiot  working  at  his  writing,  he  was  so  used  to 
intellectual  activity,  that  he  enjoyed  expressing  in  beau- 
tiful, concise  form  the  thoughts  that  occurred  to  him, 
and  he  liked  to  have  some  one  listen  to  him.  His  most 
habitual  and  most  natural  auditor  was  his  brother,  and 
therefore,  notwithstanding  the  friendly  simplicity  of 
their  relations,  Konstantin  felt  awkward  to  be  alone  with 
him.  Sergyei'  Ivanovitch  liked  to  lie  on  the  grass,  in  the 
sun,  stretched  out  at  full  length,  and  to  talk  lazily. 

"You  would  n't  believe,"  he  would  say  to  his  brother, 
"how  I  enjoy  this  tufted  idleness.  I  have  not  an  idea 
in  my  head ;  it  is  empty  as  a  shell." 

But  Konstantin  Levin  quickly  wearied  of  sitting  down 
and  hearing  him  talk  —  especially  because  he  knew  that 
in  his  absence  they  were  spreading  the  manure  on  the 
unplowed  field,  and  would  be  up  to  God  knows  what 
mischief,  unless  he  should  be  on  hand  to  superintend  this 
work  ;  he  knew  that  they  would  not  screw  up  the  cutters 
in   his  plows,  but  would  be  taking  them  off  and  then 


ANNA    KARENINA    ■  ^ 

say  that  plows  were  foolish  devices,  and  that  Andreyef  s 
sokha  ^  did  the  work,  and  the  like. 

"  Don't  you  ever  get  weary  going  about  so  in  this 
heat?"  asked  Sergyei'  Ivanovitch. 

"  No.  Only  I  must  run  over  to  the  office  for  a  min- 
ute," said  Levin ;  and  he  hurried  across  the  field. 


CHAPTER   II 

Early  in  June,  Agafya  Mikhadovna,  the  old  nurse 
and  ckonomka,  or  housekeeper,  in  going  down  cellar  with 
a  pot  of  salted  mushrooms,  slipped  and  fell,  and  dislo- 
cated her  wrist. 

The  district  doctor,  a  loquacious  young  medical  stu- 
dent who  had  just  taken  his  degree,  came,  and,  after 
examining  the  arm,  declared  that  it  was  not  out  of  joint. 
During  dinner,  proud  of  finding  himself  in  the  society 
of  the  distinguished  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  Koznuishef,  he 
began  to  relate  all  the  petty  gossip  of  the  district  in 
order  to  display  his  enlightened  views  of  things ;  and  he 
expressed  his  regrets  at  the  bad  condition  of  provincial 
affairs. 

Sergyei  Ivanovitch  listened  attentively,  asking  various 
questions ;  and  animated  by  the  presence  of  a  new  hearer, 
he  made  keen  and  shrewd  observations,  which  were  re- 
ceived by  the  young  doctor  with  respectful  appreciation, 
and  his  spirits  rose  high,  which,  as  his  brother  knew, 
was  liable  to  be  the  case  with  him  after  a  lively  and  brill- 
iant conversation. 

After  the  doctor's  departure  he  expressed  his  desire 
to  go  to  the  river  and  fish.  He  was  fond  of  fishing, 
and  seemed  to  take  pride  in  showing  that  he  could 
amuse  himself  with  such  a  stupid  occupation.  Kon- 
stantin  had  to  go  to  certain  fields  and  meadows,  and 
offered  to  take  his  brother  in  his  cabriolet  as  far  as  the 
river, 

^  The  picture  by  Repin  represents  Count  Tolstoi  plowing  with  the  primi- 
tive sokha.  Levin's  peasantry  call  the  plow  (^plug)  vuidumka  pustaya, 
"  empty  invention." 


6  ANNA    KARENINA 

It  was  the  time  of  the  year,  the  very  top  of  the  sum< 
mer,  when  the  prospects  of  harvest  may  be  estimated, 
when  the  labors  of  the  next  year's  planting  begin  to  be 
thought  of,  and  the  mowing-time  has  come ;  when  the  rye 
is  already  eared  and  sea-green  in  color,  but  still  not  fully 
formed ;  when  the  ears  of  corn  swing  lightly  in  the  breeze ; 
when  the  green  oats,  with  scattered  clumps  of  yellow 
grass,  peep  irregularly  from  the  late-sown  fields;  when 
the  early  buckwheat  already  is  up  and  hides  the  soil; 
when  the  fallow  fields,  beaten  a^  hard  as  stone  by  the 
cattle  and  with  paths  deserted,  on  which  the  sokha,  or 
primitive  plow,  has  no  effect,  are  half  broken  up ;  when 
the  odor  of  the  dry  manure,  heaped  in  little  hillocks  over 
the  fields,  mingles  at  twilight  with  the  perfume  of  the 
"  honey-grass,"  ^  and  on  the  bottom  lands,  waiting  for 
the  scythe,  stand  the  protected  meadows  like  a  bound- 
less sea  with  the  darkening  clumps  of  sorrel  that  has 
done  blooming. 

It  was  the  time  when  there  is  a  brief  breathing-spell 
before  the  harvest,  that  great  event  which  the  muzhik 
with  eagerness  expects  each  year.  The  crops  promised 
to  be  superb  ;  and  there  was  a  succession  of  bright,  clear 
summer  days,  followed  by  short,  dewy  nights. 

The  two  brothers  had  to  go  through  the  woodland  to 
reach  the  fields.  SergyeT  Ivanovitch  was  all  the  time 
admiring  the  beauty  of  the  forest  with  its  dense  canopy 
of  leaves,  and  he  pointed  out  to  his  brother,  as  they  rode 
along,  now  an  old  linden  almost  in  flower,  dark  on  its 
shady  side  and  variegated  with  yellow  stipules ;  now  at 
the  emerald-shining  young  shoots  of  that  same  year; 
but  Konstantin  did  not  himself  like  to  speak  or  to  hear 
about  the  beauties  of  nature.  Words,  he  thought,  spoiled 
the  beauty  of  the  thing  that  Ije  saw.  He  assented  to 
what  his  brother  said,  but  allowed  his  mind  to  concern 
itself  with  other  things.  After  they  left  the  wood,  his 
whole  attention  was  absorbed  by  a  fallow  field  on  a 
hillock,  where  in  some  places  the  grass  was  growing 
yellow,  where  in  others  whole  squares  of  it  had  been 
cut,  and  in  others  raked  up  into  haycocks,  and  where  in 

1  IJokus  mollis,  soft-grass. 


ANNA    KARENINA  7 

still  other  places  the  men  were  plowing.  The  carts 
were  thronging  up  toward  the  field.  Levin  counted 
them,  and  was  satisfied  with  the  work  which  was  going 
on. 

His  thoughts  were  diverted,  by  the  sight  of.  the 
meadows,  to  the  question  of  haymaking.  He  always 
experienced  something  which  went  to  his  very  heart  at 
the  hay-harvesting.  When  they  reached  the  meadow 
Levin  stopped  his  horse.  The  morning  dew  was  still 
damp  on  the  thick  grass,  and  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  begged 
his  brother,  in  order  that  he  might  not  wet  his  feet,  to 
drive  him  in  his  cabriolet  as  far  as  a  clump  of  laburnums 
near  which  perch  were  to  be  caught.  Though  Levin 
disliked  to  trample  down  his  grass,  he  drove  over  through 
the  field.  The  tall  grass  clung  round  the  wheels  and 
the  horse's  legs,  and  scattered  its  seed  on  the  damp 
spokes  and  naves. 

Sergyei  sat  down  under  the  laburnums,  and  cast  his 
line,  but  Levin  drove  the  horse  aside,  fastened  him,  and 
then  went  off  through  the  vast  green  sea  of  the  meadow 
unstirred  by  a  breath  of  wind.  The  silky  grass  with 
its  ripe  seeds  was  almost  waist-high  in  the  places  that 
had  been  overflowed. 

As  Konstantin  Levin  crossed  the  meadow  diagonally, 
he  met  on  the  road  an  old  man  with  one  of  his  eyes 
swollen,  and  carrying  a  swarming-basket  full  of  bees. 

"  Well  .-*     Have  you  caught  them,  Fomitch  }  "  he  asked. 

"  Caught  them  indeed,  Konstantin  Mitritch  !  If  only 
I  could  keep  my  own !  This  is  the  second  time  this 
swarm  has  gone  off, ....  but,  thanks  to  the  boys !  they 
galloped  after  'em  ! ....  They  *re  plowing  your  fields. 
They  unhitched  the  horse  and  dashed  off  after  'em!" .... 

"  Well,  what  do  you  say,  Fomitch,  should  we  begin 
mowing  or  wait .-'  " 

"  Just  as  you  say  !  According  to  our  notions  we  should 
wait  till  St.  Peter's  Day.^  But  you  always  mow  earlier. 
Well,  just  as  God  will  have  it  —  the  grass  is  in  fine  con- 
dition.    There  '11  be  plenty  of  room  for  the  cattle." 

"And  what  do  you  think  of  the  weather.?" 
1  The  feast  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  is  June  29  (O.S.),  or  July  II. 


8  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Well,  all  is  in-  the  hand  of  God.  Maybe  the  weathei 
will  hold." 

Levin  returned  to  his  brother. 

Though  he  had  caught  nothing,  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch 
was  .undisturbed,  and  seemed  in  the  best  of  spirits. 
Levin  saw  that  he  was  stimulated  by  his  talk  with  the 
doctor,  and  that  he  was  eager  to  go  on  talking.  Levin, 
on  the  contrary,  was  anxious  to  get  back  to  the  house 
as  soon  as  possible  to  give  some  orders  about  hiring 
mowers  for  the  next  day,  and  to  decide  the  question 
about  the  haymaking  which  occupied  all  his  thoughts. 
"Well,"  said  he,  "  shall  we  go  ?  " 

"  What  is  your  hurry  ,''  Do  let  us  sit  down.  But  how 
drenched  you  are  ! ....  No,  I  have  had  no  luck,  but  I  have 
enjoyed  it  all  the  same.  All  outdoor  sports  are  beautiful 
because  you  have  to  do  with  nature.  Now  just  notice 
how  charming  that  steely  water  is  !  "  he  exclaimed. 

"These  meadow  banks,"  he  went  on  to  say,  "always 
remind  me  of  an  enigma,  do  you  know.?  —  'The  grass 
says  to  the  river,  "  We  have  strayed  far  enough,  we  have 
strayed  far  enough,"  '  " 

"  I  don't  know  that  riddle,"  interrupted  Konstantin, 
in  a  melancholy  tone. 


CHAPTER   III 

"  Do  you  know,  I  was  thinking  about  you,"  said 
Sergyeif  Ivanovitch.  "  It  is  not  well  at  all,  what  is 
going  on  in  your  district,  if  that  doctor  tells  the  truth  ; 
he  is  not  a  stupid  fellow.  And  I  have  told  you  all 
along,  and  I  say  to-day,  you  are  wrong  in  not  going  to 
the  assembly-meetings  and  in  generally  holding  aloof 
from  the  affairs  of  the  commune.  If  men  of  standing 
don't  take  an  interest  in  affairs,  God  knows  how  things 
will  turn  out.  The  taxes  we  pay  will  be  spent  in  salaries, 
and  not  for  schools,  or  hospitals,  or  midwives,  or  pharma- 
cies, or  anything." 

"  But    I    have   tried   it,"    replied    Levin,   faintly  and 


ANNA    KARENINA  9 

unwillingly.      "  I    can't   do   anything.     What   is  to  be 
done  about  it  ? " 

"  Now,  why  can't  you  do  anything  ?  I  confess  I  don't 
understand  it.  I  cannot  admit  that  it  is  indifference  or 
lack  of  intelligence  ;  is  n't  it  simply  laziness  ? " 

"  It  is  not  that,  or  the  first  or  the  second.  I  have 
tried  it,  and  I  see  that  I  cannot  do  anything,"  said 
Levin. 

•He  was  not  paying  great  heed  to  what  his  brother 
said,  but  was  looking  intently  across  the  fields  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river.  He  saw  something  black,  but 
he  could  not  make  out  whether  it  was  only  a  horse,  or 
his  overseer  on  horseback. 

"Why  can't  you  do  anything.-*  You  have  made  an 
experiment,  and  it  does  not  turn  out  to  your  satisfaction, 
and  you  give  up.  Why  not  have  a  little  pride  about 
you  ? " 

"  Pride  ? "  said  Levin,  touched  to  the  quick  by  his 
brother's  reproach.  *'  I  don't  see  what  that  has  to  do 
with  it.  If  at  the  university  they  had  told  me  that 
others  understood  the  integral  calculus,  but  I  did  not, 
that  would  have  touched  my  pride ;  but  here  one  must 
be  convinced  in  advance  that  one  needs  special  apti- 
tude for  these  things,  and  first  of  all  that  these  things 
are  very  important." 

"  What !  do  you  mean  to  say  that  they  are  not  impor- 
tant .'' "  asked  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  in  his  turn  touched  to 
the  quick  because  his  brother  seemed  to  attach  so  little 
importance  to  what  so  deeply  interested  him,  and  more 
than  all  because  he  apparently  gave  him  such  poor 
attention. 

"  What  you  wish  does  not  seem  to  me  important,  and 
I  cannot  feel  interested  in  it,"  replied  Levin,  who  now 
saw  that  the  black  speck  was  the  overseer,  and  that  the 
overseer  was  probably  taking  some  muzhiks  from  their 
work.  They  had  canted  over  their  plows.  "  Can  they 
have  finished  plowing .-'"  he  asked  himself. 

"  Now,  listen !  nevertheless,"  said  his  brother,  his 
handsome  intellectual  face  growing  a  shade  darker. 
"  There  are  limits  to  everything.     It  is  very  fine  to  be  an 


lo  ANNA   KARENINA 

original  and  outspoken  man,  and  to  hate  falsehood,  — 
all  that  I  know ;  but  the  fact  is,  what  you  say  has  no 
sense  at  all,  or  has  a  very  bad  sense.  How  can  you 
think  it  unimportant  that  this  people,  which  you  love, 
as  you  assert.... " 

"  I  never  asserted  any  such  thing,"  said  Konstantin 
Levin  to  himself. 

"  That  this  people  should  perish  without  aid  .-*  Coarse 
peasant  women  act  as  midwives,  and  the  people  remain 
in  ignorance,  and  are  at  the  mercy  of  every  letter-writer. 
But  the  means  is  given  into  your  hands  to  remedy  all 
this ;  and  you  don't  assist  them,  because,  in  your  eyes, 
it  is  not  important." 

And  Sergyei'  Ivanovitch  offered  him  the  following  di- 
lemma :  — 

"  Either  you  are  not  developed  sufficiently  to  see  all 
that  you  might  do,  or  you  do  not  care  to  give  up  your 
own  comfort,  or  your  vanity,  I  don't  know  which,  in 
order  to  do  this." 

Konstantin  Levin  felt  that  he  must  make  a  defense, 
or  be  convicted  of  indifference  for  the  public  weal,  and 
this  was  vexatious  and  offensive  to  him. 

"  Ah !  but  there  is  still  another  thing,"  he  said  reso- 
lutely.    "  I  do  not  see  how  it  is  possible  ....  " 

"  What !  impossible  to  give  medical  aid  if  the  funds 
were  watched  more  closely  ? " 

"  Impossible  it  seems  to  me In  the  four  thousand 

square  versts  of  our  district,  with  our  floods,  snow-storms, 
and  busy  seasons,  I  don't  see  the  possibility  of  giving  pub- 
lic medical  aid.  Besides,  I  don't  much  believe  in  medi- 
cine, anyway." .... 

"  Well  now,  what  nonsense  !  you  are  unjust I  could 

name  you  a  thousand  cases ....  well,  but  how  about 
schools .'' " 

"  Why  schools  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  say  ?  Can  you  doubt  the  advantages 
of  education  ?  If  it  is  good  for  you,  then  it  is  good  for 
every  one !" 

Konstantin  Levin  felt  that  he  was  morally  pushed  to 
the  wall ;  and  so  he  grew  irritated,  and  involuntarily 


ANNA    KARENINA  ii 

revealed  the  chief  reason  for  his  indifference  to  the 
communal  affairs. 

"  Maybe  all  this  is  a  good  thing,"  said  he  ;  "but  why 
should  I  put  myself  out  to  have  medical  dispensaries 
located  which  I  shall  never  make  use  of,  or  schools 
where  I  shall  never  send  my  children,  and  where  the 
peasants  won't  want  to  send  their  children,  and  where  I 
am  not  sure  that  it  is  wise  to  send  them,  anyway  ?  " 

Sergyei'  Ivanovitch  for  a  moment  was  disconcerted  by 
this  unexpected  way  of  looking  at  the  matter ;  but  he 
immediately  developed  a  new  plan  of  attack.  He  was 
silent,  pulled  in  one  af  his  lines  and  wound  it  up ;  then 
with  a  smile  he  turned  to  his  brother :  — 

'•  Now,  excuse  me In  the  first  place,  the  dispensary 

has  proved  necessary.  Here,  we  ourselves  have  just 
sent  for  the  communal  doctor  for  Agafya  Mikhailovna." 

"Well,  I  still  think  her  wrist  was  out  of  joint." 

"That  remains  to  be  proved In  the  next  place,  the 

muzhik  who  can  read  is  a  better  workman,  and  more 
useful  to  you." 

"  Oh,  no !  "  replied  Konstantin  Levin,  resolutely. 
"  Ask  any  one  you  please,  they  will  tell  you  that  the 
educated  muzhik  is  far  worse  as  a  laborer.  He  will  not 
repair  the  roads  ;  and,  when  they  build  bridges,  he  will 
only  steal  the  planks." 

"  Now,  that  is  not  the  point,"  said  Sergyef,  frowning 
because  he  did  not  like  contradictions,  and  especially 
those  that  leaped  from  one  subject  to  another,  and  kept 
bringing  up  new  arguments  without  any  apparent  con- 
nection, so  that  it  was  impossible  to  know  what  to  say 
in  reply.  "  That  is  not  the  point.  Excuse  me.  Do 
you  admit  that  education  is  a  benefit  to  the  peasantry.-'" 

"I  do,"  said  Levin,  at  haphazard,  and  instantly  he 
saw  that  he  had  not  said  what  he  thought.  He  realized 
that,  by  making  this  admission,  it  would  be  easy  to 
convict  him  of  speaking  nonsense.  How  it  would  be 
brought  up  against  him  he  did  not  know ;  but  he  knew 
that  he  would  surely  be  shown  his  logical  inconsequence, 
and  he  awaited  the  demonstration.  It  came  much  sooner 
than  he  expected. 


12  ANNA    KARENINA 

"If  you  admit  its  value,"  said  Sergyef  Ivanovitch, 
"then,  as  an  honest  man,  you  cannot  refuse  to  delight 
in  this  work  and  sympathize  with  it,  and  give  it  your 
cooperation." 

"  But  I  still  do  not  admit  that  this  activity  is  good," 
said  Konstantin  Levin,  his  face  flushing, 

"  What  ?     But  you  just  said  ...." 

"  That  is,  I  don't  say  that  it  is  bad,  but  that  it  is  not 
possible." 

"  But  you  can't  know  this,  since  you  have  not  made 
any  effort  to  try  it." 

"  Well,  let  us  admit  that  the  education  of  the  people 
is  advantageous,"  said  Levin,  although  he  did  not  in 
the  least  admit  it.  "  Let  us  admit  that  it  is  so ;  still  I 
don't  see  why  I  should  bother  myself  with  it." 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

"  Well,  if  we  are  going  to  discuss  the  question,  then 
explain  it  to  me  from  your  philosophical  point  of  view." 

"  I  don't  see  what  philosophy  has  to  do  here,"  retorted 
Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  in  a  tone  which  seemed  to  cast  some 
doubt  on  his  brother's  right  to  discuss  philosophy;  and 
this  nettled  Levin. 

"  This  is  why,"  said  he,  warmly.  "  I  think  that  the 
motive  power  in  all  our  actions  is  forever  personal  hap- 
piness. Now,  I  see  nothing  in  our  provincial  institu- 
tions that  contributes  to  my  well-being  as  a  nobleman. 
The  roads  are  not  better,  and  cannot  be  made  so.  My 
horses  carry  me,  even  on  bad  roads.  The  doctor  and 
the  dispensary  are  no  use  to  me.  The  justice  of  the 
peace  does  me  no  good ;  I  never  went  to  him,  and  never 
shall  go  to  him.  The  schools  seem  to  me  not  only  use- 
less, but,  as  I  have  said,  are  even  harmful ;  and  these 
communal  institutions  oblige  me  to  pay  eighteen  kopeks 
a  desyatin,  to  go  to  town,  to  sleep  with  bugs,  and  to 
hear  all  sorts  of  vulgar  and  obscene  talk,  but  my 
personal  interests  are  not  helped." 

"Excuse  me,"  said  Sergyei  Ivanovitch,  with  a  smile. 
"  Our  personal  interests  did  not  compel  us  to  work  for 
the  emancipation  of  the  serfs,  and  yet  we  worked  for  it." 

"  No,"  replied  Konstantin,  with  still  more  animation ; 


ANNA   KARENINA  13 

"the  emancipation  of  the  serfs  was  quite  another  affair. 
It  was  for  personal  interest.  We  wanted  to  shake  off 
this  yoke  that  hung  on  the  necks  of  all  of  us  decent 
people.  But  to  be  a  member  of  the  council ;  to  discuss 
how  much  the  night  workman  should  be  paid,  and  how 
to  lay  sewer-pipes  in  streets  where  one  does  not  live  ;  to 
be  a  juryman,  and  sit  in  judgment  on  a  muzhik  who  has 
stolen  a  ham ;  to  listen  for  six  hours  to  all  sorts  of  rub- 
bish which  the  defendant  and  the  prosecutor  may  utter, 
and,  as  presiding  officer,  to  ask  my  old  friend,  the  half- 
idiotic  Aloshka,  '  Do  you  plead  guilty,  Mr.  Accused,  of 
having  stolen  this  ham  ?'  "  .... 

And  Konstantin,  carried  away  by  his  subject,  enacted 
the  scene  between  the  president  and  the  half-idiotic  Al- 
oshka. It  seemed  to  him  that  this  was  in  the  line  of 
the  argument. 

But  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  Nu  !  what  do  you  mean  by  this  ?  " 

"  I  only  mean  that  I  will  always  defend  with  all  my 
powers  those  rights  which  touch  me,  —  my  interests ; 
that  when  the  policemen  came  to  search  us  students,  and 
read  our  letters,  I  was  ready  to  defend  these  rights  with 
all  my  might,  to  defend  my  rights  to  instruction,  to  lib- 
erty. I  am  interested  in  the  military  obligation  which 
concerns  the  fate  of  my  children,  of  my  brothers,  and  of 
myself.  I  am  willing  to  discuss  this  because  it  touches 
me  ;  but  to  deliberate  on  the  employment  of  forty  thou- 
sand rubles  of  communal  money,  or  to  judge  the  crack- 
brained  Aloshka,  I  won't  do  it,  and  I  can't." 

Konstantin  Levin  discoursed  as  if  the  fountains  of  his 
speech  were  unloosed.     Sergyei  Ivanovitch  smiled. 

"  Supposing  to-morrow  you.  were  arrested  ;  would  you 
prefer  to  be  tried  by  the  old  '  criminal  court '  ?  "  1 

"  But  I  am  not  going  to  be  arrested.  I  am  not  going 
to  cut  any  one's  throat,  and  this  is  no  use  to  me.  Now, 
see  here !  "  he  continued,  again  jumping  to  a  matter  en- 
tirely foreign  to  their  subject,  "  our  provincial  institu- 
tions, and  all  that,  remind  me  of  the  little  twigs  which 
on  Trinity  day  we  stick  into  the  ground,  to  imitate  a 

^  Ugolovnaya  Palata, 


J4  ANNA    KARENINA 

forest.  The  forest  has  grown  of  itself  in  Europe ;  but 
I  cannot  on  my  soul  have  any  faith  in  our  birch  sprouts, 
or  water  them." 

Sergyei  Ivanovitch  only  shrugged  his  shoulders  again, 
as  a  sign  of  astonishment  that  birch  twigs  should  be 
mingled  in  their  discussion,  although  he  understood  per- 
fectly what  his  brother  meant. 

"  Excuse  me,"  said  he.     "That is  no  way  to  reason." 

But  Konstantin  Levin  was  eager  to  explain  his  self- 
confessed  lack  of  interest  in  matters  of  public  concern, 
and  he  went  on  to  say  :  — 

"  I  think  that  there  can  be  no  durable  activity  if  it  is 
not  founded  in  individual  interest  :  this  is  a  general,  a 
philosophical  truth,"  said  he,  laying  special  emphasis  on 
the  word  "  philosophical,"  as  if  he  wished  to  show  that  he 
also  had  the  right,  as  well  as  any  one  else,  to  speak  of 
philosophy. 

Again  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  smiled.  **  He  also,"  thought 
he,  "  has  his  own  special  philosophy  for  the  benefit  of 
his  inclinations." 

"Well,  have  done  with  philosophy,"  he  said.  "Its 
chief  problem  has  been  in  all  times  to  grasp  the  indis- 
pensable bond  which  exists  between  the  individual  inter- 
est and  the  public  interest.  This  is  not  to  the  point, 
however.  But  I  can  make  your  comparison  fit  the  case. 
The  little  birch  twigs  have  not  been  merely  stuck  in, 
but  have  been  sowed,  planted,  and  it  is  necessary  to 
watch  them  carefully.  The  only  nations  which  can 
have  a  future,  the  only  nations  which  deserve  the  name 
of  historic,  are  those  which  feel  the  importance  and 
the  value  of  their  institutions,  and  prize  them." 

And  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  transferred  the  question  over 
into  the  domain  of  the  historico-philosophical,  which 
Konstantin  was  by  no  means  able  to  appreciate,  and 
showed  him  all  the  erroneousness  of  his  views. 

"  As  to  your  distaste  for  affairs,  excuse  me  if  I  refer 
it  to  our  Russian  indolence  and  gentility ;  ^  and  I  trust 
that  this  temporary  error  of  yours  will  pass  away." 

Konstantin  was   silent.     He   felt  himself  routed  on 

^  Barsivo,  Russian  rank.     The  stem  appears  in  the  word  barin,  master. 


ANNA    KARENINA  15 

every  side,  but  he  felt  also  that  his  brother  had  not 
understood  what  he  wished  to  say.  He  did  not  know 
exactly  whether  it  was  because  he  did  not  know  how  to 
express  himself  clearly,  or  because  his  brother  did  not  wish 
to  understand  him,  or  whether  he  could  not  understand 
him.  He  did  not  try  to  fathom  this  question ;  but,  with- 
out replying  to  his  brother,  he  became  absorbed  in  en- 
tirely different  thoughts,  connected  with  his  own  work. 
Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  reeled  in  his  last  line,  he  unhitched 
the  horse,  and  they  drove  away. 


CHAPTER   IV 

The  thought  that  was  absorbing  Levin  at  the  time  of 
his  discussion  with  his  brother  was  this :  the  year  be- 
fore, having  come  one  day  to  the  hay-field.  Levin  had 
fallen  into  a  passion  with  his  overseer.  He  had  em- 
ployed his  favorite  means  of  calming  himself  —  had 
taken  the  scythe  from  a  muzhik  and  begun  to  mow. 

He  enjoyed  the  work  so  much  that  he  had  tried  it 
again  and  again.  He  had  mowed  the  whole  of  the 
lawn  in  front  of  his  house,  and  this  year  early  in  the 
spring  he  had  formulated  a  plan  of  spending  whole 
days  mowing  with  the  muzhiks. 

Since  his  brother's  arrival  he  had  been  in  doubt: 
Should  he  mow  or  not  ?  He  had  scruples  about  leaving 
his  brother  alone  for  whole  days  at  a  time,  and  he  was 
afraid  that  his  brother  would  make  sport  of  him  on  ac- 
count of  this.  But  as  they  crossed  the  meadow,  and  he 
recalled  the  impression  that  the  mowing  had  made  on 
him,  he  had  almost  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would 
mow.  Now  after  his  vexatious  discussion  with  his 
brother,  he  again  remembered  his  project. 

"  I  must  have  some  physical  exercise,  or  my  charac- 
ter will  absolutely  spoil,"  he  thought,  and  made  up  his 
mind  to  mow,  no  matter  what  his  brother  or  his  servants 
should  say. 

That  very  evening  Konstantin  Levin  went  to  the  office, 
gave  some  directions  about  the  work  to  be  done,  and 


i6  ANNA    KARENINA 

sent  to  the  village  to  hire  some  mowers  for  the  morrow, 
so  as  to  attack  his  field  at  Kalinovo,  which  was  the 
largest  and  best. 

"  And  here,  please  send  my  scythe  over  to  Sef,  and 
have  him  put  it  in  order  and  bring  it  back  to-morrow ; 
perhaps  I  will  come  and  mow  too,"  said  he,  trying  to 
hide  his  confusion. 

The  overseer  smiled,  and  said  :  — 

"  I  will  obey  you  —  sluskayu-s." 

Later,  at  the  tea-table.  Levin  said  to  his  brother :  — 

"  It  seems  like  settled  weather.  To-morrow  I  am 
going  to  begin  mowing." 

"  I  like  this  work  very  much,"  said  Sergyei  Ivanovitch. 

"  I  like  it  extremely,"  said  Levin.  "  Last  year  I 
myself  mowed  with  the  muzhiks,  and  to-morrow  I  am 
going  to  spend  all  day  at  it." 

Sergyei  Ivanovitch  raised  his  head,  and  gazed  with 
astonishment  at  his  brother. 

"  What  did  you  say }  Like  the  muzhiks,  all  day 
long .? " 

"  Certainly  ;  it  is  very  enjoyable,"  said  Levin. 

•'  It  is  excellent  as  physical  exercise,  but  can  you  stand 
such  work  1  "  asked  Sergyei  Ivanovitch,  without  mean- 
ing to  say  anything  ironical. 

"  I  have  tried  it.  At  first  it  is  hard  work,  but  after- 
wards you  get  used  to  it.  I  think  I  shall  not  leave 
off."  .... 

"  Really !  but  tell  me,  how  do  the  muzhiks  look  at  it  .>' 
Naturally  they  make  sport  because  the  barin  is  queer, 
don't  they  ? " 

"  No,  I  don't  think  so ;  but  this  is  such  pleasant  and 
at  the  same  time  hard  work,  that  they  don't  think  about 
it." 

"  But  how  do  you  and  they  do  about  dinner }  You 
could  hardly  have  a  bottle  of  Lafitte  and  a  roast  turkey 
sent  you  out  there." 

"  No ;  I  come  home  while  the  workmen  have  their 
nooning." 

The  next  morning  Konstantin  Levin  got  up  earlier 
than  usual ;    but  his  duties  about  the  house  detained 


ANNA    KARENINA  17 

him,  and  when  he  came  to  the  mowing-field  he  found 
the  men  had  already  mowed  the  first  time  across. 

From  the  top  of  the  slope  the  part  of  the  meadow 
still  in  the  shade,  and  already  mowed,  spread  out  before 
him,  with  its  long  windrows  and  the  little  black  heaps 
of  kaftans  thrown  down  by  the  men  when  they  went  by 
the  first  time. 

As  he  drew  nearer  he  saw  also  the  band  of  muzhiks, 
some  in  their  kaftans,  some  in  their  shirt-sleeves,  mov- 
ing in  a  long  line,  and  swinging  their  scythes  in  unison. 
He  counted  forty-two  men  of  them.  They  were  advanc- 
ing slowly  over  the  uneven  bottom-land  of  the  meadow, 
where  there  was  an  old  dike.  Many  of  them  Levin 
knew.  There  was  the  old  round-shouldered  Yermil,  in 
a  very  clean  white  shirt,  wielding  the  scythe  ;  there  was 
the  young  small  Vaska,  who  used  to  be  Levin's  coach- 
man ;  there  was  Sef,  also,  a  little,  thin  old  peasant,^  who 
had  taught  him  how  to  mow.  He  was  cutting  a  wide 
swath  without  stooping,  and  handling  his  scythe  as  if 
he  were  playing  with  it. 

Levin  dismounted  from  his  horse,  tied  her  near  the 
road,  and  went  across  to  Sef,  who  immediately  got  a 
second  scythe  from  a  clump  of  bushes  and  handed  it  to 
him. 

"  All  ready,  barin  ;  't  is  like  a  razor,  -—  cuts  of  itself," 
said  Sef,  with  a  smile,  taking  off  his  cap  and  handing 
him  the  scythe. 

Levin  took  it  and  began  to  try  it.  The  mowers,  hav- 
ing finished  their  line,  were  returning  one  after  the  other 
on  their  track,  covered  with  sweat,  but  gay  and  lively. 
They  laughed  timidly,  and  saluted  the  barin.  All  of 
them  looked  at  him,  but  no  one  ventured  to  speak  until 
at  last  a  tall  old  man,  with  a  wrinkled,  beardless  face, 
and  dressed  in  a  sheepskin  jacket,  thus  addressed 
him  :  — 

"  Look  here,  barin,  if  you  put  your  hand  to  the  rope, 
you  must  not  let  go,"  said  he ;  and  Levin  heard  the 
sound  of  stifled  laughter  among  the  mowers. 

^  MuzJiichok,  diminutive  of  muzhik,  as  muzhik  is  diminutive  of  muzh,  a 
man. 

VOL.  II.  —  2 


i8  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  I  will  try  not  to  be  left  behind,"  he  said,  as  he  took 
his  place  behind  Sef,  and  waited  for  the  signal  to 
begin. 

"  'Tention  !  "  cried  the  old  man. 

Sef  opened  the  way,  and  Levin  followed  in  his  track. 
The  grass  was  short  and  tough ;  and  Levin,  who  had 
not  mowed  in  a  long  time,  and  was  confused  by  the 
watchful  eyes  of  the  men,  at  first  made  very  bad  work 
of  it,  though  he  swung  the  scythe  energetically.  Voices 
were  heard  behind  him  :  — 

"He  does  not  hold  his  scythe  right:  the  sned  is  too 
high.     See  how  he  stoops  like,"  said  one. 

"  Bears  his  hand  on  too  much,"  said  another. 

"  No  inatter,  it  goes  pretty  well,"  said  the  head 
man. 

"  Look,  he  goes  at  a  great  rate  !  Cuts  a  wide  swath  ! 
....  He  '11  get  played  out.  The  master  is  trying  it  for 
himself  as  hard  as  he  can,  but  look  at  his  row !  For 
such  work  my  brother  was  beaten  once." 

The  grass  became  less  tough ;  and  Levin,  listening 
and  making  no  reply,  trying  to  mow  as  well  as  he  could, 
followed  Sef.  Thus  they  went  a  hundred  steps.  Sef 
kept  on  without  any  intermission,  and  without  showing 
the  least  fatigue ;  but  Levin  began  by  this  time  to  feel 
terribly  and  feared  that  he  could  not  keep  it  up,  he  was 
so  tired. 

He  was  just  thinking  that  he  was  using  his  last 
strength  and  had  determined  to  ask  Sef  to  rest ;  but 
at  this  time  the  muzhik  of  his  own  accord  halted, 
bent  over,  and,  taking  a  handful  of  grass,  began  to 
wipe  his  scythe,  and  to  whet  it.  Levin  straightened 
himself  up,  and  with  a  sigh  of  relief  looked  about  him. 
Just  behind  was  a  peasant,  and  he  also  was  evidently 
tired,  because  instantly  without  catching  up  to  Levin  he 
also  stopped  and  began  to  whet  his  scythe.  Sef  whetted 
his  own  scythe  and  Levin's,  and  they  started  again. 

At  the  second  attempt  it  was  just  the  same.  Sef  ad- 
vanced a  step  at  every  swing  of  the  scythe,  without 
stopping  and  without  sign  of  weariness.  Levin  followed 
him,  striving  not  to  fall  behind;  but  each  moment  it 


ANNA    KARENINA  19 

came  harder  and  harder.  But,  as  before,  just  as  he 
believed  himself  at  the  end  of  his  forces,  Sef  stopped 
and  whetted  his  scythe. 

Thus  they  went  over  the  first  swath.  And  this  long 
stretch  seemed  especially  hard  for  Levin.  When  the 
swath  was  finished  and  Sef,  throwing  the  scythe  over 
his  shoulder,  slowly  walked  back  in  the  tracks  made  by 
his  heels  as  he  had  mowed,  and  Levin  also  retraced  his 
steps  in  the  same  way,  although  the  sweat  stood  on  his 
face  and  dropped  from  his  nose,  and  all  his  back  was  as 
wet  as  if  he  had  been  plunged  in  water ;  still  he  felt 
very  comfortable.  He  was  especially  glad  that  he  knew 
now  that  he  could  keep  up  with  the  rest. 

His  pleasure  was  marred  only  by  the  fact  that  his 
swath  was  not  good. 

"  I  will  work  less  with  my  arms  and  more  with  my 
whole  body,"  he  said  to  himself,  carefully  comparing 
Sef's  smooth  straight  swath  with  his  own  rough  and 
irregular  line. 

The  first  time,  as  Levin  observed,  Sef  went  very 
rapidly,  apparently  wishing  to  test  his  barin's  endur- 
ance, and  the  swath  seemed  endless.  But  the  succeed- 
ing swaths  grew  easier  and  easier.  Still  Levin  had  to 
exert  all  his  energies  .not  to  fall  behind  the  muzhiks. 
He  had  no  other  thought,  no  other  desire,  than  to  reach 
the  other  end  of  the  meadow  as  soon  as  the  others  did, 
and  to  do  his  work  as  perfectly  as  possible.  He  heard 
nothing  but  the  swish  of  the  scythes,  saw  nothing  but 
Sef's  straight  back,  plodding  on  in  front  of  him,  and  the 
semicircle  described  in  the  grass  which  fell  over,  slowly 
carrying  with  it  the  delicate  heads  of  flowers,  and  then 
far  in  front  of  him  the  end  of  the  row,  where  he  would 
be  able  to  get  breath. 

Not  at  first  realizing  what  it  was  or  whence  it  came, 
suddenly  in  the  midst  of  his  labors  he  felt  a  pleasant 
sensation  of  coolness  on  his  shoulders.  He  looked  up 
at  the  sky  while  Sef  was  plying  the  whetstone,  and  he 
saw  an  inky  black  cloud.  A  heavy  shower  had  come 
up  and  the  raindrops  were  falling  fast.  Some  of  the 
muzhiks   were   putting   on   their  kaftans;  others,   like 


20  ANNA   KARENINA 

Levin  himself,  were  glad  to  feel  the  rain  on  their  hot, 
sweaty  shoulders. 

The  work  went  on  and  on.  Some  of  the  swaths  were 
long,  others  were  shorter ;  here  the  grass  was  good, 
there  it  was  poor.  Levin  absolutely  lost  all  idea  of  time 
and  knew  not  whether  it  was  early  or  late.  In  his  work 
a  change  now  began  to  be  visible,  and  this  afforded  him 
vast  satisfaction.  While  he  was  engaged  in  this  labor 
there  were  moments  during  which  he  forgot  what  he 
was  doing  and  it  seemed  easy  to  him,  and  during  these 
moments  his  swath  came  out  almost  as  even  and  per- 
fect as  that  done  by  Sef.  But  as  soon  as  he  became 
conscious  of  what  he  was  doing  and  strove  to  do  better, 
he  immediately  began  to  feel  all  the  difficulty  of  the 
work  and  his  swath  became  poor. 

After  they  had  gone  over  the  field  one  more  time,  he 
started  to  turn  back  again ;  but  Sef  halted,  and,  going 
to  the  old  man,  whispered  something  to  him.  Then  the 
two  studied  the  sun. 

"  What  are  they  talking  about  ?  and  why  don't  they 
keep  on  .-*  "  thought  Levin,  without  considering  that  the 
muzhiks  had  been  mowing  for  more  than  four  hours,  and 
it  was  time  for  them  to  have  their  morning  meal. 

"  Breakfast,  barin,"  said  the  old  man. 

"Time,  is  it.?     Well,  breakfast,  then." 

Levin  gave  his  scythe  to  Sef,  and  together  with  the 
muzhiks,  who  were  going  to  their  kaftans  for  their  bread, 
he  crossed  the  wide  stretch  of  field,  where  the  mown 
grass  lay  lightly  moistened  by  the  shower,  and  went  to 
his  horse.  Then  only  he  perceived  that  he  had  made  a 
false  prediction  about  the  weather,  and  that  the  rain  had 
wet  his  hay. 

"The  hay  will  be  spoiled,"  he  said. 

"  No  harm  done,  barin ;  mow  in  the  rain,  rake  in  the 
sun,"  said  the  old  man. 

Levin  unhitched  his  horse  and  went  home  to  take 
coffee. 

SergyeY  Ivanovitch  had  just  got  up ;  before  he  was 
dressed  and  down  in  the  dining-room,  Konstantin  was 
back  to  the  field  again. 


ANNA    KARENINA  2i 


CHAPTER  V 

After  breakfast,  Levin  took  his  place  in  the  line  not 
where  he  had  been  before,  but  between  the  quizzical  old 
man,  who  asked  him  to  be  his  neighbor,  and  a  young 
muzhik  who  had  been  married  only  since  autumn  and 
was  now  mowing  for  the  first  time. 

The  old  man,  standing  very  erect,  mowed  straight 
on,  with  long,  regular  strides ;  and  the  swinging  of  the 
scythe  seemed  no  more  like  labor  than  the  swinging 
of  his  arms  when  walking.  His  well-whetted  scythe 
cut,  as  it  were,  of  its  own  energy  through  the  succulent 
grass. 

Behind  Levin  came  the  young  Mishka.  His  pleasant, 
youthful  face,  under  a  wreath  of  green  grass  which  bound 
his  hair,  worked  with  the  energy  that  employed  the  rest 
of  his  body.  But  when  any  one  looked  at  him,  he  would 
smile.  He  would  rather  die  than  confess  that  he  found 
the  labor  hard. 

Levin  went  between  the  two. 

The  labor  seemed  lighter  to  him  during  the  heat  of 
the  day.  The  sweat  in  which  he  was  bathed  refreshed 
him ;  and  the  sun,  burning  his  back,  his  head,  and  his 
arms  bared  to  the  elbow,  gave  him  force  and  tenacity 
for  his  work.  More  and  more  frequently  the  moments 
of  oblivion,  of  unconsciousness  of  what  he  was  doing, 
came  back  to  him ;  the  scythe  went  of  itself.  Those 
were  happy  moments.  Then,  still  more  gladsome  were 
the  moments  when,  coming  to  the  river  where  the  wind- 
rows ended,  the  old  man,  wiping  his  scythe  with  the 
moist,  thick  grass,  rinsed  the  steel  in  the  river,  then, 
dipping  up  a  ladleful  of  the  cool  water,  gave  it  to 
Levin. 

"  This  is  my  kvas  !  It 's  good,  is  n't  it .!"  "  he  exclaimed, 
winking. 

And,  indeed,  it  seemed  to  Levin  that  he  had  never 
tasted  any  liquor  more  refreshing  than  this  lukewarm 
water,  in  which  grass  floated,  and  tasting  of  the  rusty 
tin  cup.      Then   came   the   glorious   slow  promenade, 


22  ANNA   KARENINA 

when,  with  scythe  on  the  arm,  there  was  time  to  wipe 
the  heated  brow,  fill  the  lungs  full,  and  glance  round  at 
the  long  line  of  haymakers,  and  the  busy  work  that  had 
been  accomplished  in  field  and  forest. 

The  longer  Levin  mowed,  the  more  frequently  he 
felt  the  moments  of  oblivion,  when  his  hands  did  not 
wield  the  scythe,  but  the  scythe  seemed  to  have  a  self- 
conscious  body,  full  of  life,  and  carrying  on,  as  it  were 
by  enchantment,  a  regular  and  systematic  work.  These 
were  indeed  joyful  moments. 

It  was  hard  only  when  he  was  obliged  to  interrupt 
this  unconscious  activity  to  think  about  something,  when 
he  had  to  remove  a  clod  or  a  clump  of  wild  sorrel.  The 
old  man  did  this  easily.  When  he  came  to  a  clod,  he 
changed  his  motion  and  now  with  his  heel,  now  with 
the  end  of  the  scythe,  pushed  it  aside  with  repeated 
taps.  And  while  doing  this  he  noticed  everything  and 
examined  everything  that  was  to  be  seen.  Now  he 
picked  a  strawberry,  and  ate  it  himself  or  gave  it  to 
Levin ;  now  snipped  off  a  twig  with  the  end  of  the 
scythe ;  now  he  discovered  a  nest  of  quail  from  which 
the  mother  was  scurrying  away,  or  impaled  a  snake  as 
if  with  a  spear,  and,  having  shown  it  to  Levin,  flung  it 
out  of  the  way. 

But  for  Levin  and  the  young  fellow  behind  him  these 
changes  of  motion  were  difficult.  When  once  they  got 
into  the  swing  of  work,  they  could  not  easily  change 
their  movements  and  at  the  same  time  observe  what 
was  before  them. 

Levin  did  not  realize  how  the  time  was  flying.  If  he 
had  been  asked  how  long  he  had  been  mowing,  he 
would  have  answered,  "  Half  an  hour ;  "  and  here  it 
was  almost  dinner-time. 

After  they  finished  one  row,  the  old  man  drew  his 
attention  to  some  little  girls  and  boys,  half  concealed 
by  the  tall  grass,  who  were  coming  from  all  sides, 
through  the  tall  grass  and  down  the  roads,  bringing  to 
the  haymakers  their  parcels  of  bread  and  rag-stoppered 
jugs  of  kvas,  which  seemed  too  heavy  for  their  little 
arms. 


ANNA   KARENINA  aj 

"See!  here  come  the  midgets,"^  said  he,  pointing  to 
them  ;  and,  shading  his  eyes,  he  looked  at  the  sun. 

Twice  more  they  went  across  the  field,  and  then  the 
old  man  stopped. 

"  Well,  barin,  dinner,"  said  he,  in  a  decided  tone. 

Then  the  mowers,  walking  along  the  riverside,  went 
back  through  the  windrows  to  their  kaftans,  where  the 
children  were  waiting  with  the  dinners.  The  muzhiks 
gathered  together ;  some  clustered  around  the  carts, 
others  sat  in  the  shade  of  a  laburnum  bush,  where  the 
mown  grass  was  heaped  up. 

Levin  sat  down  near  them ;  he  had  no  wish  to  leave 
them. 

All  constraint  in  the  presence  of  the  barin  had  disap- 
peared. The  muzhiks  prepared  to  take  their  dinner. 
Some  washed  themselves,  the  children  went  in  swim- 
ming in  the  river,  others  found  places  to  nap  in,  or 
undid  their  bags  of  bread  and  uncorked  their  jugs  of 
kvas. 

The  old  man  crumbed  his  bread  into  his  cup,  mashed 
it  with  the  shank  of  his  spoon,  poured  water  on  from 
his  tin  basin,  and,  cutting  off  still  more  bread,  he  salted 
the  whole  plentifully ;  and,  turning  to  the  east,  he  said 
his  prayer. 

"  Here  now,  barin,  try  my  bread-crumbs  !  "^  said  he, 
kneeling  down  before  his  cup. 

Levin  found  the  soaked  bread  so  palatable  that  he 
decided  not  to  go  home  to  dinner.  He  dined  with  the 
old  man,  and  talked  with  him  about  his  domestic  affairs, 
in  which  he  took  a  lively  interest,  and  in  his  turn  told 
the  old  man  about  such  of  his  plans  and  projects  as 
would  interest  him. 

He  felt  far  nearer  to  him  than  to  his  brother,  and  he 
could  not  help  smiling  at  the  affection  which  he  felt  for 
this  simple-hearted  man. 

When  the  old  man  got  up  from  his  dinner,  offered 

1  Kozyavki,  ladybugs. 

2  Tiurka,  diminutive  of  tiura,  a  bread-crumb  soaked  in  kvas^  or  beer. 
The  starik  used  water  instead  of  kvas.  Kvas  is  a  drink  made  of  fermented 
rye  meal  or  bread  with  malt. 


24  ANNA    KARENINA 

another  prayer,  and  arranged  a  pillow  of  fresh-mown 
grass;  and  composed  himself  for  a  nap,  Levin  did  the 
same  ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  stubborn,  sticky  flies  and 
insects  tickling  his  heated  face  and  body,  he  immedi- 
ately went  off  to  sleep,  and  did  not  wake  until  the 
sun  came  out  on  the  other  side  of  the  laburnum  bush 
and  began  to  shine  in  his  face.  The  starik  had  been 
long  awake,  and  was  sitting  up  cutting  the  children's 
hair. 

Levin  looked  around  him,  and  did  not  know  where  he 
was.  Everything  seemed  so  changed.  The  vast  level 
of  the  mown  meadow  with  its  windrows  of  already 
fragrant  hay  was  lighted  and  glorified  in  a  new  fashion 
by  the  oblique  rays  of  the  afternoon  sun.  The  trimmed 
bushes  down  by  the  river,  and  the  river  itself,  before  in- 
visible but  now  shining  like  steel  with  its  windings ; 
and  the  busy  peasantry ;  and  the  high  wall  of  grass, 
where  the  meadow  was  not  yet  mowed ;  and  the  young 
vultures  flying  high  above  the  bare  field,  —  all  this  was 
absolutely  new  to  him. 

Levin  calculated  how  much  had  been  mowed,  and 
how  much  could  still  be  done  that  day.  The  work 
accomplished  by  the  forty-two  men  was  considerable. 
The  whole  great  meadow,  which  in  the  time  of  serfdom 
used  to  take  thirty  scythes  two  days,  was  now  almost 
mowed ;  only  a  few  corners  with  short  rows  were  left. 
But  Levin  wanted  to  do  as  much  as  possible  that  day, 
and  he  was  vexed  at  the  sun  which  was  sinking  too 
early.  He  felt  no  fatigue;  he  only  wanted  to  do  more 
rapid  work,  and  get  as  much  done  as  was  possible. 

"  Do  you  think  we  shall  get  Mashkin  Verkh  ^  mowed 
to-day.!" "  he  asked  of  the  old  man. 

"  If  God  allows;  the  sun  is  getting  low.  Will  there 
be  little  sips  of  vodka  for  the  boys?  " 

At  the  time  of  the  mid-afternoon  luncheon,  when  the 
men  rested  again,  and  the  smokers  were  lighting  their 
pipes,  the  elder  announced  to  the  "boys  "  :  — 

"  Mow  Mashkin  Verkh  —  extra  vodka  !  " 

"  All  right !     Come  on,  Sef !     Let 's  tackle  it  lively, 

1  Mashka's  Hillside. 


ANNA    KARENINA  25 

We  '11  eat  after  dark.  Come  on  !  "  cried  several  voices ; 
and,  even  while  still  munching  their  bread,  they  got  to 
work  again. 

"  Well,  boys,  keep  up  good  hearts  !  "  said  Sef,  setting 
off  almost  on  the  run. 

"Come,  come!"  cried  the  old  man,  hastening  after 
him  and  easily  outstripping  him.  "  I  am  first.  Look 
out!" 

Old  and  young  mowed  as  if  they  were  racing ;  and 
yet,  with  all  their  haste,  they  did  not  spoil  their  work, 
but  the  windrows  lay  in  neat  and  regular  swaths. 

The  triangle  was  finished  in  five  minutes.  The  last 
mowers  had  just  finished  their  line,  when  the  first,  throw- 
ing their  kaftans  over  their  shoulders,  started  down  the 
road  to  the  Mashkin  Verkh. 

The  sun  was  just  hovering  over  the  tree-tops,  when, 
with  rattling  cans,  they  came  to  the  little  wooded  ravine 
of  Mashkin  Verkh. 

The  grass  here  was  as  high  as  a  man's  waist,  tender, 
succulent,  thick,  and  variegated  with  the  flower  called 
Ivafi-da-Marya. 

After  a  short  parley,  to  decide  whether  to  take  it 
across,  or  lengthwise,  an  experienced  mower,  Prokhor 
Yermilin,  a  huge,  black-bearded  muzhik,  went  over  it 
first.  He  took  it  lengthwise,  and  came  back  in  his 
track;  and  then  all  followed  him,  going  along  the  hill 
above  the  hollow,  and  skirting  the  wood.  The  sun  was 
setting.  The  light  was  going  behind  the  forest.  The 
dew  was  already  falling.  Only  the  mowers  on  the 
ridge  were  in  the  sun ;  but  down  in  the  hollow,  where 
the  mist  was  beginning  to  rise,  and  behind  the  slope, 
they  went  in  fresh,  dewy  shade. 

The  work  went  on.  The  grass,  cut  off  with  a  juicy 
sound,  and  falling  evenly,  lay  in  high  windrows.  The 
mowers  came  close  together  from  all  sides  as  the  rows 
converged,  rattling  their  drinking-cups,  sometimes  hit- 
ting their  scythes  together,  working  with  joyful  shouts, 
rallying  one  another. 

Levin  still  kept  his  place  between  the  short  young 
man   and   the   elder.     The   elder,  with    his   sheepskin 


26  ANNA    KARENINA 

jacket  loosened,  was  as  gay,  jocose,  free  in  his  move> 
ments  as  ever. 

They  kept  finding  birch-mushrooms  in  the  woods, 
lurking  in  the  juicy  grass  and  cut  off  by  the  scythes. 
But  the  elder  bent  down  whenever  he  saw  one,  and^ 
picking  it,  put  it  in  his  breast. 

"  Still  another  little  present  for  my  old  woman,"  he 
would  say. 

Easy  as  it  was  to  mow  the  tender  and  soft  grass,  it 
was  hard  to  climb  and  descend  the  steep  sides  of  the 
ravine.  But  the  elder  did  not  let  this  appear.  Always 
lightly  swinging  his  scythe,  he  climbed  with  short,  firm 
steps,  and  his  feet  shod  in  huge  lapti,  or  bast  shoes, 
though  he  trembled  with  his  whole  body,  and  his  drawers 
were  slipping  down  below  his  shirt,  he  let  nothing  escape 
him,  not  an  herb  or  a  mushroom ;  and  he  never  ceased 
to  joke  with  Levin  and  the  muzhiks. 

Levin  went  behind  him,  and  more  than  once  felt  that 
he  would  surely  drop,  trying  to  climb,  scythe  in  hand, 
this  steep  hillside,  where  even  unencumbered  it  would 
be  hard  to  go.  But  he  persevered  all  the  same,  and  did 
what  was  required.  He  felt  as  if  some  interior  force 
sustained  him. 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  men  had  mowed  the  Mashkin  Verkh,  they  had 
finished  the  last  rows,  and  had  taken  their  kaftans,  and 
were  gayly  going  home.  Levin  mounted  his  horse  and 
regretfully  took  leave  of  his  companions.  On  the  hill- 
top he  turned  round  to  take  a  last  look ;  but  the  even- 
ing's mist,  rising  from  the  bottoms,  hid  them  from 
sight;  but  he  could  hear  their  loud,  happy  voices  and 
laughter  and  the  sound  of  their  clinging  scythes. 

SergyeY  Ivanovitch  had  long  finished  dinner,  and, 
sitting  in  his  room,  was  taking  iced  lemonade,  and  read- 
ing the  papers  and  reviews  which  had  just  come  from 
the  post,  when  Levin,  with  his  disordered  hair  matted 
down  on  his  brow  with  perspiration,  and  with  his  back 


ANNA    KARENINA  ay 

and  chest  black  and  wet,  came  into  the  room  and  joined 
him,  full  of  lively  talk. 

"Well!  we  mowed  the  whole  meadow.  Akh  !  How 
good,  how  delightful !  And  how  has  the  day  passed 
with  you  ? "  he  asked,  completely  forgetting  the  un- 
pleasant conversation  of  the  evening  before. 

"Ye  saints!  How  you  look!"  exclaimed  Sergyei 
Tvanovitch,  staring  at  first  not  over-pleasantly  at  his 
brother.  "There,  shut  the  door,  shut  the  door!"  he 
cried.     "  You  've  certainly  let  in  more  than  a  dozen  !  " 

Sergyei"  Ivanovitch  could  not  endure  flies ;  and  he 
never  opened  his  bedroom  windows  except  at  night,  and 
he  made  it  a  point  to  keep  his  doors  always  shut. 

"Indeed,  not  a  one!  If  I  have,  I '11  catch  him!.... 
If  you  knew  what  fun  I  've  had !  And  how  has  it  gone 
with  you .'' " 

"  First-rate.  But  you  don't  mean  to  say  that  you 
have  been  mowing  all  day  ?  You  must  be  hungry  as  a 
wolf.     Kuzma  has  your  dinner  all  ready  for  you." 

"  No ;  I  am  not  hungry.  I  ate  yonder.  But  I  'm 
going  to  polish  myself  up." 

"  All  right,  I  '11  join  you  later,"  said  SergyeT  Ivano- 
vitch, shaking  his  head  and  gazing  at  his  brother.  "Be 
quick  about  it,"  he  added,  with  a  smile,  arranging  his 
papers  and  getting  ready  to  follow ;  he  also  suddenly 
felt  enlivened,  and  was  unwilling  to  be  away  from  his 
brother.  "Well,  but  where  were  you  during  the 
shower  .-* " 

"  What  shower  ?  Only  a  drop  or  two  fell.  I  '11  soon 
be  back.  And  did  the  day  go  pleasantly  with  you .'' 
Well,  that 's  capital !  " 

And  Levin  went  to  dress. 

About  five  minutes  afterwards  the  brothers  met  in  the 
dining-room.  Although  Levin  imagined  that  he  was  not 
hungry,  and  he  sat  down  only  so  as  not  to  hurt  Kuzma's 
feelings,  yet  when  he  once  began  eating,  he  found  it  ex- 
cellent.    Sergyei  Ivanovitch  looked  at  him  with  a  smile. 

"  Oh,  yes,  there  's  a  letter  for  you,"  he  said.  "  Kuzma, 
go  and  get  it.  Be  careful  and  see  that  you  shut  the 
door." 


28  ANNA    KARENINA 

The  letter  was  from  Oblonsky.  Levin  read  it  aloud. 
It  was  dated  from  Petersburg  :  — 

I  have  just  heard  from  Dolly  ;  she  is  at  Yergushovo  ;  every- 
thing is  going  wrong  with  her.  Please  go  and  see  her,  and 
give  her  your  advice,  —  you  who  know  everything.  She  will  be 
so  glad  to  see  you  !  She  is  all  alone,  wretched.  The  mother- 
in-law  is  still  abroad  with  the  family. 

"  This  is  admirable  !  Certainly  I  will  go  to  see  her," 
said  Levin.  "  Let  us  go  together.  She  is  a  glorious 
woman  ;  don't  you  think  so  ?  " 

"  And  they  live  near  you  .-•  " 

"  About  thirty  versts,  possibly  forty.  But  there  's  a 
good  road.     We  can  cover  it  quickly." 

"  I  shall  be  delighted,"  said  SergyeY  Ivanovitch, 
smiling.  The  sight  of  his  brother  immediately  filled 
him  with  happiness.  "  Well  there  !  what  an  appetite  you 
have !  "  he  added,  looking  at  his  tanned,  sunburned, 
glowing  face  and  neck,  as  he  bent  over  his  plate. 

"  Excellent !  You  can't  imagine  how  useful  this 
regime  is  against  whims !  I  am  going  to  enrich  medi- 
cine with  a  new  term,  arbeitskur — labor-cure." 

"  Well ,  you  don't  seem  to  need  it  much,  it  seems  to 
me. 

"  Yes ;  it  is  a  sovereign  specific  against  nervous 
troubles." 

"  It  must  be  looked  into.  I  was  coming  to  see  you 
mow,  but  the  heat  was  so  insupportable  that  I  did  not 
go  farther  than  the  wood.  I  rested  awhile,  and  then  I 
went  to  the  village.  I  met  your  nurse  there,  and 
sounded  her  as  to  what  the  muzhiks  thought  about  you. 
As  I  understand  it,  they  don't  approve  of  you.  She 
said,  '  Not  gentlemen's  work.'  I  think  that,  as  a  gen- 
eral thing,  the  peasantry  form  very  definite  ideas  aboul; 
what  is  becoming  for  the  gentry  to  do,  and  they  don't 
like  to  have  them  go  outside  of  certain  fixed  limits." 

"  Maybe ;  but  you  see  I  have  never  enjoyed  anything 
more  in  all  my  life,  and  I  do  not  do  anybody  any  harm, 
do  I .''  "  asked  Levin.  "  And  suppose  it  does  n't  please 
them,  what  is  to  be  done  }     Whose  business  is  it .''  " 


ANNA    KARENINA  29 

"  Well,  I  see  you  are  well  satisfied  with  your  day," 
replied  Sergyef  Ivanovitch. 

"  Very  well  satisfied.  We  mowed  the  whole  meadow, 
and  I  made  such  friends  with  an  old  man  —  the  elder. 
You  can't  imagine  how  he  pleased  me." 

"  Well,  you  are  satisfied  with  your  day !  So  am  I 
with  mine.  In  the  first  place,  I  solved  two  chess  prob- 
lems, and  one  was  a  beauty  —  it  opened  with  a  pawn. 
I  '11  show  it  to  you.  And  then  —  I  thought  of  our  last 
evening's  discussion." 

"  What  .-*  Our  last  evening's  discussion  ?  "  said  Levin, 
half  closing  his  eyes,  and  drawing  a  long  breath  with  a 
sensation  of  comfort  after  his  dinner,  and  really  unable 
to  recollect  the  subject  of  their  discussion. 

"  I  come  to  the  conclusion  that  you  are  partly  in  the 
right.  The  discrepancy  in  our  views  lies  in  the  fact 
that  you  assume  personal  interest  as  the  motive  power 
of  our  actions,  while  I  claim  that  every  man  who  has 
reached  a  certain  stage  of  intellectual  development  must 
have  for  his  motive  the  public  interest.  But  you  are 
probably  right  in  saying  that  materially  interested  activity 
would  be  more  to  be  desired.  Your  nature  is,  as  the 
French  say,  prhnesautiere}  You  want  strong,  energetic 
activity,  or  nothing." 

Levin  listened  to  his  brother,  but  he  did  not  under- 
stand him  at  all,  and  did  not  try  to  understand.  His 
only  fear  was  that  his  brother  would  ask  him  some 
question,  by  which  it  would  become  evident  that  he  was 
not  listening. 

"  How  is  this,  my  dear  boy } "  asked  Sergyef  Ivano- 
vitch, touching  him  on  the  shoulder. 

"Yes,  of  course.  But,  then,  I  don't  set  much  store 
on  my  own  opinions,"  replied  Levin,  smiling  like  a 
guilty  child.  His  thought  was,  "  What  was  our  discus- 
sion about .''  Of  course  ;  I  am  right,  and  he  is  right,  and 
all  is  charming.  But  I  must  go  the  office  and  give  my 
orders."     He  arose,  stretching  himself  and  smiling. 

SergyeY  Ivanovitch  also  smiled. 

"  If  you  want  to  go  out,  let 's  go  together,"  he  said, 

1  Off-hand. 


^o  ANNA    KARENINA 

not  wanting  to  be  away  from  his  brother,  from  whom 
emanated  such  a  spirit  of  freshness  and  good  cheer. 
"  If  you  must  go  the  office,  I  '11  go  with  you." 

"  O  ye  saints !  "  exclaimed  Levin,  so  loud  that  Ser- 
geyif  Ivanovitch  was  startled. 

"What's  the  matter.?" 

"  Agafya  Mikhai'lovna's  hand,"  said  Levin,  striking 
his  forehead.     "  I  had  forgotten  all  about  her." 

"  She  is  much  better." 

"  Well,  I  must  go  to  her,  all  the  same.  I  '11  be  back 
before  you  get  on  your  hat." 

And  he  started  down-stairs  on  the  run,  his  heels 
clattering  on  the  steps. 


CHAPTER  VII 

At  the  time  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  off  to  Peters- 
burg to  fulfil  the  most  natural  of  obligations,  without 
which  the  service  could  not  exist,  unquestioned  by  all 
functionaries,  however  unimportant  for  non-function- 
aries —  that  of  reporting  to  the  ministry,  and  while 
fulfilling  this  obligation,  being  well  supplied  with 
money,  was  enjoying  himself  at  the  races  and  his 
friends'  datchas,  Dolly,  with  the  children,  was  on  her 
way  to  the  country,  in  order  to  reduce  the  expenses  as 
much  as  possible.  She  was  going  to  their  country- 
place  at  Yergushovo,  an  estate  which  had  been  a  part 
of  her  dowry.  It  was  where  the  wood  had  been  sold 
in  the  spring,  and  was  situated  about  fifty  versts  from 
Levin's  Pokrovsky. 

The  large  old  mansion  at  Yergushovo  had  long  been 
demolished,  and  the  prince  had  contented  himself  with 
enlarging  and  repairing  one  of  the  wings.  Twenty 
years  before,  when  Dolly  was  a  little  girl,  this  wing 
was  spacious  and  comfortable,  though,  in  the  manner 
of  all  wings,  it  stood  sidewise  as  regarded  the  avenue 
and  the  south.  But  now  this  wing  was  old  and  out  of 
repair.  When  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  went  down  in  the 
spring  to  sell  the  wood,  Dolly  asked  him  to  look  over 


ANNA    KARENINA  31 

the  house  and  have  done  to  it  whatever  was  necessary 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  like  all  guilty  husbands,  being 
deeply  concerned  for  his  wife's  comfort,  inspected  the 
house  and  made  arrangements  to  have  everything  done 
that,  in  his  opinion,  was  necessary.  In  his  opinion  it 
was  necessary  to  have  the  furniture  covered  with  cre- 
tonne, to  hang  curtains,  to  clear  up  the  garden,  to  plant 
flowers,  and  to  build  a  bridge  across  the  pond ;  but  he 
had  overlooked  many  more  essential  matters,  the  lack 
of  which  afterwards  caused  Darya  Aleksandrovna  great 
annoyance. 

Although  Stepan  strove  to  be  a  solicitous  husband 
and  father,  he  never  could  realize  that  he  had  a  wife 
and  children.  His  tastes  remained  those  of  a  bachelor, 
and  to  them  he  conformed.  When  he  got  back  to  Mos- 
cow he  proudly  assured  his  wife  that  everything  was 
in  prime  order,  that  the  house  would  be  perfection,  and 
he  advised  her  strongly  to  go  there  immediately.  To 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  his  wife's  departure  to  the  country 
was  delightful  in  many  ways :  it  would  be  healthy  for 
the  children,  expenses  would  be  lessened,  and  he  would 
be  freer. 

Darya  Aleksandrovna,  on  her  part,  felt  that  a  sum- 
mer in  the  country  was  indispensable  for  the  children, 
and  especially  for  the  youngest  little  girl,  who  gained 
very  slowly  after  the  scarlatina.  Moreover,  she  would 
be  freed  from  petty  humiliations,  from  little  duns  of  the 
butcher,  the  fish-dealer,  and  the  baker,  which  troubled 
her. 

And  above  all  the  departure  was  very  pleasant  to  her 
for  the  especial  reason  that  the  happy  thought  had  oc- 
curred to  her  to  invite  her  sister  Kitty,  who  was  coming 
home  from  abroad  about  the  middle  of  the  summer  and 
had  been  advised  to  take  some  cold  baths.  '  Kitty  wrote 
her  from  the  Spa  that  nothing  would  delight  her  so 
much  as  to  spend  the  rest  of  the  summer  with  her  at 
Yergushovo,  that  place  that  was  so  full  of  happy  child- 
hood memories  for  both  of  them. 

The  first  part  of  the  time  country  life  was  very  hard 
for  Dolly.     She  had  lived  there  when  she  was  a  child, 


ja  ANNA   KARENINA 

and  it  had  left  the  impression  that  it  was  a  refuge  from 
all  the  trials  of  the  city,  and  if  it  was  not  very  elegant, 
—  and  Dolly  was  willing  to  put  up  with  that,  —  at  least, 
it  would  be  comfortable  and  inexpensive,  and  the  chil- 
dren would  be  happy.  But  now,  when  she  came  there 
as  mistress  of  the  house,  she  found  that  things  were  not 
at  all  as  she  had  expected. 

*  On  the  morning  after  their  arrival,  it  began  to  rain 
in  torrents,  and  by  night  the  water  was  leaking  in  the 
corridor  and  the  nursery,  so  that  the  little  beds  had  to 
be  brought  down  into  the  parlor.  It  was  impossible  to 
find  a  cook.  Among  the  nine  cows  in  the  barn,  accord- 
ing to  the  dairywoman's  report,  some  were  going  to 
calve,  some  had  their  first  calf,  still  others  were  too  old, 
and  the  rest  had  trouble  with  their  udders,  consequently 
they  could  not  have  butter,  or  even  milk  for  the  chil- 
dren. Not  an  egg  was  to  be  had.  It  was  impossible 
to  find  a  hen.  They  had  for  roasting  or  broiling  only 
tough  old  purple  roosters.  No  women  were  to  be  found 
to  do  the  washing  —  all  were  at  work  on  the  potatoes. 

They  could  not  go  driving,  because  one  of  the  horses 
was  restive  and  pulled  at  the  pole.  There  was  no 
chance  for  bathing,  because  the  bank  of  the  river  had 
been  trodden  into  a  quagmire  by  the  cattle,  and  was 
visible  from  the  road.  They  could  not  even  go  out 
walking,  because  the  cattle  had  got  into  the  garden, 
through  the  tumble-down  fences,  and  there  was  a  terri- 
ble bull  which  bellowed,  and  therefore,  of  course,  tossed 
people  with  his  horns.  In  the  house,  there  was  no 
clothes-press.  The  closet  doors  either  would  not  shut, 
or  flew  open  when  any  one  passed.  In  the  kitchen, 
there  were  no  pots  or  kettles.  In  the  laundry,  there 
were  no  tubs,  or  even  any  scrubbing-boards  for  the 
domestics. 

At  first,  therefore,  finding  herself  plunged  into  what 
seemed  to  her  such  terrible  straits,  instead  of  the  rest 
and  peace  which  she  expected,  Darya  Aleksandrovna 
was  in  despair.  Though  she  exerted  all  her  energies, 
she  felt  the  helplessness  of  her  situation,  and  could  not 
keep  back  her  tears. 


ANNA    KARENINA  33 

The  steward,  who  had  been  formerly  a  vakhmistr,  or 
quartermaster  in  the  army,  and  on  account  of  his  good 
looks  and  fine  presence  had  been  promoted  by  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  from  his  place  as  Swiss,  showed  no  sym- 
pathy with  Darya  Aleksandrovna's  tribulations,  but  sim- 
ply said  in  his  respectful  way  :  — 

"  Nothing  can  be  done,  such  a  beastly  peasantry !  " 
and  would  not  raise  his  hand  to  help. 

The  situation  seemed  hopeless ;  but  in  the  Oblonsky 
household,  as  in  all  well-regulated  homes,  there  was  one 
humble  but  still  important  and  useful  member,  Matriona 
Filimonovna.  She  calmed  the  baruinya,  telling  her  that 
"  all  would  come  out  right,"  —  that  was  her  phrase,  and 
Matvei"  had  borrowed  it  from  her,  —  and  she  went  to 
work  without  fuss  and  without  bother. 

She  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  overseer's 
wife,  and  on  the  very  day  of  their  arrival  went  to  take 
tea  with  her  and  the  overseer  under  the  acacias,  and 
discussed  with  them  the  state  of  affairs.  A  club  was 
quickly  organized  by  Matriona  Filimonovna  under  the 
acacia ;  and  then  through  this  club,  which  was  com- 
posed of  the  overseer's  wife,  the  starosta,  or  village  elder, 
and  the  bookkeeper,  the  difficulties,  one  by  one,  disap- 
peared, and  within  a  week  everything,  as  Matriona  said. 
"  came  out  all  right."  The  roof  was  patched  up ;  a 
cook  was  found  in  a  friend  of  the  starosta's  ;  chickens 
were  bought ;  the  cows  began  to  give  milk  ;  the  garden- 
fence  was  repaired;  the  carpenter  made  a  mangle,  and 
drove  in  hooks,  and  put  latches  on  the  closets,  so  that 
they  would  not  keep  flying  open ;  the  ironing-board,  cov- 
ered with  a  piece  of  soldiers'  cloth,  was  stretched  from 
the  dresser  across  the  back  of  a  chair,  and  the  smell  of 
the  ironing  came  up  from  below. 

"  There  now,"  exclaimed  Matriona  Filimonovna,  point- 
ing to  the  ironing-board,  "there  is  no  need  of  worrying." 

They  even  built  a  board  bath-house.  Lili  began  to 
bathe,  and  Darya  Aleksandrovna's  hope  of  a  comfortable, 
if  not  a  peaceful,  country  life  became  almost  realized. 
Peaceful  life  was  impossible  to  Dar3^a  Aleksandrovna 
with  six  children.     If  one  had  an  ill  turn,  another  was 

VOL.  II.  —  3 


34  ANNA    KARENINA 

sure  to  follow  suit,  and  something  would  happen  to  a 
third,  and  the  fourth  would  show  signs  of  a  bad  dispo- 
sition, and  so  it  went  on.  Rarely,  rarely  came  even 
short  periods  of  rest.  But  these  very  anxieties  and 
troubles  were  the  only  chances  of  happiness  that  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  had.  If  it  had  not  been  for  this,  she 
would  have  been  alone  with  her  thoughts  about  a  hus- 
band who  no  longer  loved  her.  But  however  cruel  were 
the  anxieties  caused  by  the  fear  of  illness,  by  the  ill- 
nesses themselves,  and  by  the  grief  a  mother  feels  at 
the  sight  of  evil  tendencies  in  her  children,  these  same 
children  repaid  her  for  her  sorrows  by  their  pleasures 
and  enjoyments.  Her  joys  were  so  small  that  they 
were  almost  invisible,  like  gold  in  sand  ;  and  in  trying 
hours  she  saw  only  the  sorrows,  only  the  sand ;  but 
there  were  also  happy  moments,  when  she  saw  only  the 
joys,  only  the  gold. 

Now,  in  the  quiet  of  the  country,  she  became  more 
and  more  conscious  of  her  joys.  Often,  as  she  looked 
on  them,  she  made  unheard-of  efforts  to  persuade  her- 
self that  she  was  mistaken,  that  she  had  a  mother's 
partiality;  but  she  could  not  help  saying  to  herself  that 
she  had  beautiful  children,  all  six,  all  of  them  charming 
in  their  own  ways,  —  such  children  as  are  rare  to  find. 
And  she  rejoiced  in  them,  and  was  proud  of  them. 


CHAPTER  Vni 

Toward  the  beginning  of  June,  when  everything 
was  more  or  less  satisfactorily  arranged,  she  received 
her  husband's  reply  to  her  complaints  about  her  do- 
mestic tribulations.  He  wrote,  asking  pardon  because 
he  had  not  remembered  everything,  and  promised  to 
come  just  as  soon  as  he  could.  This  had  not  yet 
come  to  pass ;  and  at  the  end  of  June  Darya  Alek- 
sandrovna was  still  living  alone  in  the  country. 

It  was  midsummer,  Sunday, -the  feast  of  St.  Peter,  and 
Darya  Aleksandrovna  took  all  her  children  to  the  holy 
communion.     In  her  intimate  philosophical  discussions 


ANNA   KARENINA  3s 

with  her  sister,  her  mother,  or  her  friends,  she  often  sur- 
prised them  by  the  breadth  of  her  views  on  reHgious 
subjects.  A  strange  religious  metempsychosis  had 
taken  place  in  her,  and  she  had  come  out  into  a  faith 
which  had  very  little  in  common  with  ecclesiastical 
dogmas.  But  in  her  family,  —  not  merely  for  the  sake 
of  example,  but  in  answer  to  the  requirements  of  her 
own  soul,  —  she  conformed  strictly  to  all  the  obligations 
of  the  church,  and  now  she  was  blaming  herself  because 
her  children  had  not  been  to  communion  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year ;  and,  with  the  full  approbation  and 
sympathy  of  Matriona  Filimonovna,  she  resolved  to  ac- 
complish this  duty. 

For  several  days  beforehand  she  had  been  occupied 
in  arranging  what  the  children  should  wear :  and  now 
their  dresses  were  arranged,  all  clean  and  in  order ; 
flutings  and  flounces  were  added,  new  buttons  were  put 
on,  and  ribbons  were  gathered  in  knots.  Only  Tania's 
frock,  which  had  been  intrusted  to  the  English  gover- 
ness to  alter,  caused  Dolly  great  vexation.  The  English 
governess,  in  making  the  changes,  put  the  seams  in  the 
wrong  place,  cut  the  sleeves  too  short,  and  spoiled  the 
whole  garment.  It  fitted  so  badly  about  the  shoulders 
that  it  was  painful  to  look  at  her.  But  it  occurred  to 
Matriona  Filimonovna  to  piece  out  the  waist  and  to 
make  a  cape.  The  damage  was  repaired,  but  they 
almost  had  a  quarrel  with  the  English  governess. 

By  morning  all  was  in  readiness ;  a'nd  about  ten 
o'clock  —  the  hour  they  had  asked  the  father  to  give 
them  for  the  communion  —  the  children,  in  their  best 
clothes  and  radiant  with  joy,  were  gathered  on  the  steps 
before  the  calash  waiting  for  their  mother. 

Thanks  to  Matriona  Filimonovna's  watchful  care,  the 
overseer's  BuroY  had  been  harnessed  to  the  calash  in 
place  of  the  restive  Voron,  and  Darya  Aleksandrovna, 
who  had  taken  considerable  pains  with  her  toilet,  ap- 
peared in  a  white  muslin  gown,  and  took  her  seat  in  the 
vehicle. 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  had  arranged  her  hair  and 
dressed  herself  with  care  and  with  emotion.     In  former 


^6  ANNA    KARENINA 

times  she  had  liked  to  dress  well  so  as  to  render  herself 
handsome  and  attractive ;  but  as  she  became  older,  she 
lost  her  taste  for  adornment ;  she  saw  how  her  beauty- 
had  faded.  But  now  she  once  more  found  satisfaction 
and  a  certain  emotion  in  being  attractively  arrayed. 
She  did  not  now  dress  for  her  own  sake,  or  to  enhance 
her  beauty,  but  so  that,  as  mother  of  these  lovely  chil- 
dren, she  might  not  spoil  the  general  impression.  And 
as  she  cast  a  iinal  glance  at  the  mirror,  she  was  satisfied 
with  herself.  She  was  beautiful,  —  not  beautiful  in  the 
same  way  as  at  one  time  she  liked  to  be  at  a  ball,  but 
beautiful  for  the  purpose  which  she  had  now  in  mind. 

There  was  no  one  at  church  except  the  muzhiks 
and  the  household  servants  ;  but  Darya  Aleksandrovna 
noticed,  or  thought  she  noticed,  the  attention  that  she 
and  her  children  attracted  as  they  went  along.  The 
children  were  handsome  in  their  nicely  trimmed  dresses, 
and  still  more  charming  in  their  behavior.  Alosha,  to 
be  sure,  was  not  absolutely  satisfactory ;  he  kept  turn- 
ing round,  and  trying  to  look  at  the  tails  of  his  little 
coat,  but  nevertheless  he  was  wonderfully  pretty. 
Tania  behaved  like  a  grown-up  lady,  and  looked  after 
the  younger  ones.  But  Lili,  the  smallest,  was  fascinat- 
ing in  her  nafve  wonder  at  everything  that  she  saw ; 
and  it  was  hard  not  to  smile  when,  after  she  had  re- 
ceived the  communion,  she  cried  out  in  English, 
^^ Please f  some  more!" 

After  they  got  home,  the  children  felt  the  conscious- 
ness that  something  solemn  had  taken  place,  and  were 
very  quiet. 

All  went  well  in  the  house,  till  at  lunch  Grisha  began 
to  whistle,  and,  what  was  worse  than  all,  refused  to 
obey  the  English  governess ;  and  he  was  sent  away 
without  any  tart.  Darya  Aleksandrovna  would  not 
have  allowed  any  punishment  on  such  a  day  if  she  had 
been  there ;  but  she  was  obliged  to  uphold  the  gover- 
ness, and  confirm  her  in  depriving  Grisha  of  the  tart. 
This  was  a  cloud  on  the  general  happiness. 

Grisha  began  to  cry,  saying  that  Nikolinka  also  had 
whistled  but  they  did  not  punish  him,  and  that  he  was 


ANNA    KARENINA  37 

not  crying  about  the  tart,  —  that  was  no  account,  —  but 
because  they  had  not  been  fair  to  him.  This  was  very 
disagreeable ;  and  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  after  a  con- 
sultation with  the  English  governess,  decided  to  pardon 
Grisha,  and  went  to  get  him.  But  then,  as  she  went 
through  the  hall,  she  saw  a  scene  which  brought  such 
joy  to  her  heart,  that  the  tears  came  to  her  eyes,  and 
she  herself  forgave  the  culprit. 

The  little  fellow  was  sitting  in  the  drawing-room  by 
the  bay-window ;  near  him  stood  Tania  with  a  plate. 
Under  the  pretext  of  wanting  some  dessert  for  her  dolls, 
she  had  asked  the  English  governess  to  let  her  take  her 
portion  of  the  pie  to  the  nursery ;  but,  instead  of  this, 
she  had  taken  it  to  her  brother.  Grisha,  still  sobbing 
over  the  unfairness  of  his  punishment,  was  eating  the 
pie,  and  saying  to  his  sister  in  the  midst  of  his  tears, 
"  Take  some  too ....  we  will  eat  to  ....  together." 

Tania  was  full  of  sympathy  for  her  brother,  and  had 
the  sentiment  of  having  performed  a  generous  action, 
and  the  tears  stood  in  her  eyes,  but  she  accepted  the 
portion  and  was  eating  it. 

When  they  saw  their  mother,  they  were  scared,  but 
they  felt  assured,  by  the  expression  of  her  face,  that 
they  were  doing  right ;  they  both  laughed,  and,  with 
their  mouths  still  full  of  pie,  they  began  to  wipe  their 
laughing  lips  with  their  hands,  and  their  shining  faces 
were  stained  with  tears  and  jam. 

"Ye  saints!  my  new  white  gown!  Tania!  Grisha!" 
exclaimed  the  mother,  endeavoring  to  save  her  gown, 
but  at  the  same  time  smiling  at  them  with  a  happy, 
beatific  smile. 

Afterwards  the  new  frocks  were  taken  off,  and  the 
girls  put  on  their  old  blouses  and  the  boys  their  old 
jackets;  and  the  line'ika,  or  two-seated  drozhky,  was 
brought  out,  and  again,  to  the  overseer's  annoyance, 
Buroi  was  at  the  pole,  so  that  they  might  go  out  after 
mushrooms,  and  to  have  a  bath.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  enthusiastic  shouts  and  squeals  arose  in  the  nurs- 
ery, and  did  not  cease  until  they  actually  got  started  for 
their  excursion. 


38  ANNA    KARENINA 

They  soon  filled  a  basket  with  mushrooms ;  even  Lili 
found  some  of  the  birch  agarics.  Always  before  Miss 
Hull  had  found  them  and  pointed  them  out  to  her ;  but 
now  she  herself  found  a  huge  birch  shliupik,  and  there 
was  a  universal  cry  of  enthusiasm  :  — 

"  Lili  has  found  a  mushroom  !  " 

Afterwards  they  came  to  the  river,  left  the  horses 
under  the  birch  trees,  and  went  to  the  bath-house.  The 
coachman,  Terenti,  leaving  the  animals  to  switch  away 
the  flies  with  their  tails,  stretched  himself  out  on  the 
grass  in  the  shade  of  the  birches,  and  smoked  his  pipe, 
and  listened  to  the  shouts  and  laughter  of  the  children 
in  the  bath-house. 

Though  it  was  rather  embarrassing  to  look  after  all 
these  children,  and  to  keep  them  from  mischief ;  though 
it  was  hard  to  remember,  and  not  mix  up  all  these 
stockings,  shoes,  and  trousers  for  so  many  different 
legs,  and  to  untie,  unbutton,  and  then  fasten  again,  so 
many  tapes  and  buttons,  —  still  Darya  Aleksandrovna 
always  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  bathing,  looking  on 
it  as  advantageous  for  the  children,  and  never  feeling 
happier  than  when  engaged  in  this  occupation.  To  fit 
the  stockings  on  those  plump  little  legs ;  to  take  the 
younger  ones  by  the  hand,  and  dip  their  naked  little 
bodies  into  the  water;  to  hear  their  cries,  now  joyful, 
now  terrified ;  to  see  these  breathless  faces  of  those 
splashing  cherubimchiks  of  hers,  with  their  scared  or 
sparkling  eyes  wide  open  with  excitement,  —  all  this 
was  a  perfect  delight  to  her. 

When  half  of  the  children  were  dressed,  some  peas- 
ant women,  in  Sunday  attire,  on  their  way  to  get  herbs, 
came  along,  and  stopped  timidly  at  the  bath-house. 
Matriona  Filimonovna  called  to  one  of  them,  in  order 
to  give  her  a  sheet  and  a  shirt  to  dry  that  had  f^len 
into  the  water ;  and  Darya  Aleksandrovna  talked  with 
the  women.  At  first  they  laughed  behind  their  hands, 
not  understanding  her  questions;  but  little  by  little 
their  courage  returned  and  they  began  to  chatter,  and 
they  quite  won  Darya  Aleksandrovna's  heart  by  their 
sincere  admiration  of  the  children. 


ANNA   KARENINA  39 

"  hit  tui  !  ain't  she  lovely,  now  ?  White  as  sugar  !  " 
said  one,  pointing  to  Tania,  and  nodding  her  head. 
"But  thin...." 

"  Yes ;  because  she  has  been  ill." 

"  Vish  tui,''  said  still  another,  pointing  to  the  youngest 
child. 

"  It  seems  you  don't  take  him  into  the  water,  do 
you .? " 

"  No,"  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  proudly.  "  He  is 
only  three  months  old." 

"  You  don't  say  so  !  "  ^ 

"And  have  you  any  children.''  " 

"  I  've  had  four ;  two  are  alive,  a  boy  and  a  girl.  I 
weaned  the  youngest  before  Lent." 

"  How  old  is  she  .''  " 

"  Well,  she  is  going  into  her  second  year." 

"  Why  do  you  nurse  her  so  long  t  " 

"  It 's  our  way  :  three  springs."  .... 

And  then  the  woman  asked  Darya  Aleksandrovna 
about  the  birth  of  her  baby  :  did  she  have  a  hard  time  ? 
where  was  her  husband  .<*  would  he  come  often  ? 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  was  reluctant  to  part  with  the 
peasant  women,  §0  delightful  did  she  find  the  conversa- 
tion with  them,  so  perfectly  identical  were  their  interests 
and  hers.  And  it  was  more  pleasant  to  her  than  any- 
thing else  to  see  how  evidently  all  these  women  were 
filled  with  admiration  because  she  had  so  many  and  such 
lovely  children.  The  women  made  Darya  Aleksandrovna 
laugh,  and  offended  Miss  Hull  for  the  very  reason  that 
she  was  the  cause  of  their  unaccountable  laughter.  One 
of  the  young  women  gazed  with  all  her  eyes  at  the  Eng- 
lish governess,  who  was  dressing  last ;  and,  when  she 
put  on  the  third  petticoat,  she  could  not  restrain  her- 
self any  longer,  but  burst  out  laughing  :  — 

"  /s/t  tui  !  she  put  on  one,  and  then  she  put  on  another, 
and  she  has  n't  got  them  all  on  yet !  "  and  they  all  broke 
into  loud  laughter. 


40  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER  IX 

Darya  Aleksandrovna,  with  a  kerchief  on  her  head, 
and  surrounded  by  all  her  flock  of  bathers  with  wet  hair, 
was  just  drawing  near  the  house  when  the  coachman  called 
out,  "Here  comes  somebarin,  —  Pokrovsky,  it  looks  like." 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  looked  out,  and,  to  her  great 
joy,  saw  that  it  was  indeed  Levin's  well-known  form  in 
gray  hat  and  gray  overcoat.  She  was  always  glad  to 
see  him,  but  now  she  was  particularly  delighted,  because 
he  saw'her  in  all  her  glory.  No  one  could  appreciate 
her  splendor  better  than  Levin. 

When  he  caught  sight  of  her,  it  seemed  to  him  that  he 
saw  one  of  his  visions  of  family  life. 

"You  are  like  a  brooding  hen,  Darya  Aleksandrovna." 

"  Oh,  how  glad  I  am  !  "  said  she,  offering  him  her  hand. 

"  Glad  !  But  you  did  not  let  me  know.  My  brother 
is  staying  with  me ;  I  had  a  little  note  from  Stiva,  tell- 
ing me  you  were  here." 

"  From  Stiva .''  "  repeated  Dolly,  astonished. 

"Yes.  He  wrote  me  that  you  had  come  into  the 
country,  and  thought  that  you  would  ajlow  me  to  be  of 
some  use  to  you,"  said  Levin  ;  and,  even  while  speaking, 
he  became  confused,  and  breaking  off  suddenly,  walked 
in  silence  by  the  lineika,  pulling  off  and  biting  linden 
twigs  as  he  went.  It  had  occurred  to  him  that  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  would  doubtless  find  it  painful  to  have 
a  neighbor  offer  her  the  assistance  which  her  husband 
should  have  given.  In  fact,  Darya  Aleksandrovna  was 
displeased  at  the  way  in  which  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
had  thrust  his  domestic  difficulties  upon  a  stranger.  She 
immediately  perceived  that  Levin  felt  this,  and  she  felt 
grateful  to  him  for  his  tact  and  delicacy. 

"Of  course,  I  understood,"  said  Levin,  "that  this 
only  meant  that  you  would  be  glad  to  see  me ;  and  I 
was  glad.  Of  course,  I  imagine  that  you,  a  city  house- 
keeper, find  it  uncivilized  here ;  and,  if  I  can  be  of  the 
least  use  to  you,  I  am  wholly  at  your  service." 

"  Oh,  no  !  "  said  Dolly.     "  At  first  it  was  rather  hard, 


ANNA    KARENINA  41 

but  now  everything  has  been  beautifully  arranged.  1 
owe  it  all  to  my  old  nurse,"  she  added,  indicating 
Matriona  Filimonovna,  who,  perceiving  that  they  were 
speaking  of  her,  gave  Levin  a  pleasant,  friendly  smile. 
She  knew  him,  and  knew  that  he  would  make  a  splen- 
did husband  for  the  young  lady,  and  she  wished  that  it 
might  be  so. 

"  Will  you  get  in  ?  We  will  squeeze  up  a  little,"  said 
she. 

"  No,  I  will  walk.  —  Children,  which  of  you  will  run 
with  me  to  get  ahead  of  the  horses .'' " 

The  children  were  very  slightly  acquainted  with  Levin, 
and  did  not  remember  where  they  had  seen  him ;  but 
they  had  none  of  that  strange  feeling  of  timidity  and 
aversion  which  children  are  so  often  blamed  for  show- 
ing toward  grown-up  persons  who  are  not  sincere.  Pre- 
tense in  any  person  may  deceive  the  shrewdest  and  most 
experienced  of  men,  but  a  child  of  very  limited  intelli- 
gence detects  it  and  is  repelled  by  it,  though  it  be  most 
carefully  hidden. 

Whatever  faults  Levin  had,  he  could  not  be  accused 
of  lack  of  sincerity ,  and  consequently  the  children 
showed  him  the  same  good-will  that  they  had  seen  on 
their  mother's  face.  The  two  eldest  instantly  accepted 
his  invitation,  and  ran  with  him  as  they  would  have 
gone  with  their  nurse,  or  Miss  Hull,  or  their  mother. 
Lili  also  wanted  to  go  with  him,  and  her  mother  in- 
trusted her  to  him ;  so  he  set  her  on  his  shoulder  and 
began  to  run  with  her. 

"  Don't  be  frightened,  don't  be  frightened,  Darya 
Aleksandrovna,"  he  said,  laughing  gayly.  "  I  won't 
hurt  her  or  let  her  fall." 

And  when  she  saw  his  strong,  agile,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  prudent  and  careful  movements,  the  mother  felt 
reassured,  and  smiled  as  she  watched  him,  with  pleasure 
and  approval. 

There  in  the  country,  with  the  children  and  with 
Darya  Aleksandrovna,  whom  he  liked,  Levin  entered 
into  that  boylike,  happy  frame  of  mind  which  was  not 
unusual   with   him,    and   which   Darya   Aleksandrovna 


42  ANNA    KARENINA 

especially  admired  in  him.  He  played  with  the  children, 
and  taught  them  gymnastic  exercises  ;  he  jested  with 
Miss  Hull  in  his  broken  English;  and  he  told  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  of  his  undertakings  in  the  country. 

After  dinner,  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  sitting  alone  with 
him  on  the  balcony,  began  to  speak  of  Kitty. 

"  Did  you  know  ?  Kitty  is  coming  here  to  spend  the 
summer  with  me  !  " 

"Indeed!"  replied  Levin,  confused;  and  instantly,  in 
order  to  change  the  subject,  he  added  :  — 

"  Then  I  shall  send  you  two  cows,  shall  I  .-*  And  if 
you  insist  on  paying,  and  have  no  scruples,  then  you 
may  give  me  five  rubles  a  month." 

"  No,  thank  you.     We  shall  get  along." 

"  Well,  then  I  am  going  to  look  at  your  cows  ;  and, 
with  your  permission,  I  will  give  directions  about  feed- 
ing them.     Everything  depends  on  that." 

And  Levin,  in  order  to  turn  the  conversation,  ex- 
plained to  Darya  Aleksandrovna  the  whole  theory  of 
the  proper  management  of  cows,  which  was  based  on 
the  idea  that  a  cow  is  only  a  machine  for  the  conversion 
of  fodder  into  milk,  and  so  on. 

He  talked  on  this  subject,  and  yet  he  was  passion- 
ately anxious  to  hear  the  news  about  Kitty,  but  he  was 
also  afraid  to  hear  it.  It  was  terrible  to  him  to  think  that 
his  peace  of  mind,  so  painfully  won,  might  be  destroyed. 

"Yes;  but,  in  order  to  do  all  this,  there  must  be  some 
one  to  superintend  it ;  and  who  is  there  ? "  asked  Darya 
Aleksandrovna,  not  quite  convinced. 

Now  that  she  carried  on  her  domestic  affairs  so  satis- 
factorily, through  Matriona  Filimonovna,  she  had  no 
desire  to  make  any  changes  ;  moreover,  she  had  no 
faith  in  Levin's  knowledge  about  rustic  management. 
His  reasonings  about  a  cow  being  merely  a  machine  to 
produce  milk  were  suspicious.  It  seemed  to  her  that 
such  theories  would  throw  housekeeping  into  discord ;  it 
even  seemed  to  her  that  it  was  all  far  simpler,  that  it 
was  sufficient,  to  do  as  Matriona  Filimonovna  did,  — to 
give  Pestrukha  and  Byelopakha^  more  fodder  and  drink, 

^  Dapple  and  White-foot. 


ANNA   KARENINA  43 

and  to  prevent  the  cook  from  carrying  dish-water  from 
the  kitchen  to  the  cow,  —  that  was  clear.  But  the 
theories  about  meal  and  grass  for  fodder  were  not  clear, 
but  dubious ;  but  the  principal  point  was,  that  she 
wanted  to  talk  about  Kitty. 


CHAPTER  X 

"  Kitty  writes  me  that  she  is  longing  for  solitude 
and  repose,"  began  Dolly,  after  a  moment's  silence. 

"  Is  her  health  better.-*  "  asked  Levin,  with  emotion. 

"  Thank  the  Lord,  she  is  entirely  well !  I  never  be- 
lieved that  she  had  any  lung  trouble." 

"  Oh !  I  am  very  glad,"  said  Levin ;  and  Dolly 
thought  that,  as  he  said  it,  and  then  looked  at  her  in 
silence,  his  face  had  a  pathetic,  helpless  expression. 

"  Tell  me,  Konstantin  Dmitritch,"  said  Darya  Alek- 
sandrovna  with  a  friendly,  and  at  the  same  time  a  rather 
mischievous,  smile,  "why  are  you  angry  with  Kitty?" 

"  I  .-*     I  am  not  angry  with  her,"  said  Levin. 

"  Yes,  you  are.  Why  did  n't  you  come  to  see  any  of 
us  the  last  time  you  were  in  Moscow  ?  " 

"  Darya  Aleksandrovna,"  he  exclaimed,  blushing  to 
the  roots  of  his  hair,  "  I  am  astonished  that,  with  your 
kindness  of  heart,  you  can  think  of  such  a  thing !  How 
can  you  not  pity  me  when  you  know ....  " 

"  What  do  I  know .?  " 

"  You  know  that  I  offered  myself,  and  was  rejected." 
And  as  he  said  this,  all  the  tenderness  that  he  had  felt 
for  Kitty  a  moment  before  changed  in  his  heart  into  a 
sense  of  anger  at  the  memory  of  this  injury. 

"  How  could  you  suppose  that  I  knew  ?  " 

"  Because  everybody  knows  it." 

"  That  is  where  you  are  mistaken.  I  suspected  it, 
but  I  knew  nothing  positive." 

"  Ah,  well,  and  so  you  know  now !  " 

"  All  that  I  know  is  that  there  was  something  which 
keenly  tortured  her,  and  that  she  has  besought  me 
never  to  mention  it.     If  she  has  not  told  me,  then  she 


44  ANNA    KARENINA 

has  not  told  any  one.  Now,  what  have  you  against 
her  ?     Tell  me  !  " 

"  I  have  told  you  all  that  there  was." 

"  When  was  it  ?  " 

"When  I  was  at  your  house  the  last  time." 

"  But  do  you  know  .'*  I  will  tell  you,"  said  Darya 
Aleksandrovna.  "  I  am  sorry  for  Kitty,  awfully  sorry. 
You  suffer  only  in  your  pride ....  " 

"Perhaps  so,"  said  Levin,  "but...." 

She  interrupted  him. 

"  But  she,  poor  little  girl,  I  am  awfully  sorry  for  her. 
Now  I  understand  all !  " 

"Well,  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  excuse  me,"  said  he, 
rising.  ^'  Prashchaite —  good-by,  Darya  Aleksandrovna, 
da  svidanya  !  " 

"  No  !  wait !  "  she  cried,  holding  him  by  the  sleeve  ; 
"  wait !  sit  down  !  " 

"  I  beg  of  you,  I  beg  of  you,  let  us  not  speak  of  this 
any  more,"  said  Levin,  sitting  down  again,  while  a  ray 
of  that  hope  which  he  believed  forever  vanished  flashed 
into  his  heart. 

"  If  I  did  not  like  you,"  said  Dolly,  and  the  tears 
came  into  her  eyes,  "if  I  did  not  know  you  as  I  do  .... " 

The  hope  which  he  thought  was  dead  awoke  more 
and  more,  filled  Levin's  heart,  and  took  masterful  pos- 
session of  it. 

"Yes,  I  understand  all  now,"  said  Dolly:  "you  can- 
not understand  this,  you  men,  who  are  free  in  your 
choice  ;  it  is  perfectly  clear  whom  you  love  ;  but  a  young 
girl,  with  that  feminine,  maidenly  reserve  which  is  im- 
posed on  her,  and  seeing  you  men  only  at  a  distance,  is 
constrained  to  wait,  and  she  is,  and  must  be,  so  agitated 
that  she  will  not  know  what  answer  to  give." 

"  Yes,  if  her  heart  does  not  speak....  " 

"  No ;  her  heart  speaks,  but  think  for  a  moment : 
you  men  decide  on  some  girl,  you  visit  her  home, 
you  watch,  observe,  and  you  make  up  your  minds 
whether  you  are  in  love  or  not,  and  then,  when  you 
have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  you  love  her,  you  offer 
yourselves.... " 


ANNA   KARENINA  45 

"  Well,  now !  we  don't  always  do  that." 

"  All  the  same,  you  don't  propose  until  your  love 
is  fully  ripe,  or  when  you  have  made  up  your  mind 
between  two  possible  choices.  But  the  young  girl 
cannot  make  a  choice.  They  pretend  that  she  can 
choose,  but  she  cannot ;  she  can  only  answer  *  yes '  or 
'no.'" 

"  Well !  the  choice  was  between  me  and  Vronsky," 
thought  Levin ;  and  the  resuscitated  dead  love  in  his 
soul  seemed  to  die  a  second  time,  giving  his  heart  an 
additional  pang. 

"  Darya  Aleksandrovna,"  said  he,  "  thus  one  chooses 
a  gown  or  any  trifling  merchandise,  but  not  love.  Be- 
sides, the  choice  has  been  made,  and  so  much  the 
better  ....  and  it  cannot  be  done  again." 

"Oh!  pride,  pride!  "  said  Dolly,  as  if  she  would  ex- 
press her  scorn  for  the  degradation  of  his  sentiments 
compared  with  those  which  only  women  are  able  to 
comprehend.  "  When  you  offered  yourself  to  Kitty, 
she  was  in  just  that  situation  where  she  could  not  give 
an  answer.  She  was  in  doubt ;  the  choice  was  you  or 
Vronsky.  She  saw  him  every  day ;  you  she  had  not 
seen  for  a  long  time.  If  she  had  been  older,  it  would 
have  been  different ;  if  I,  for  example,  had  been  in  her 
place,  I  should  not  have  hesitated.  He  was  always 
distasteful  to  me,  and  so  that  is  the  end  of  it." 

Levin  remembered  Kitty's  reply  :  "  JVo,  tJiis  cannot 
be....'' 

"  Darya  Aleksandrovna,"  said  he,  dryly,  "  I  am  touched 
by  your  confidence  in  me,  but  I  think  you  are  mistaken. 
But  whether  I  am  right  or  wrong,  this  pride  which  you 
so  despise  makes  it  impossible  for  me  ever  to  think  about 
Katerina  Aleksandrovna ;  you  understand  ?  utterly  im- 
possible." 

"  I  will  say  only  one  thing  more.  You  must  know 
that  I  am  speaking  to  you  of  my  sister,  whom  I  love 
as  my  own  children.  I  don't  say  that  she  loves  you, 
but  I  only  wish  to  say  that  her  reply  at  that  moment 
amounted  to  nothing  at  all." 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Levin,  leaping  suddenly  to  his 


46  ANNA    KARENINA 

feet.  "  If  you  only  realized  the  pain  that  you  cause  me ! 
It  is  just  the  same  as  if  you  had  lost  a  child,  and  they 
came  to  you  and  said,  '  He  would  have  been  like  this, 
like  this,   and    he   might    have    lived,   and   you   would 

have  had  so  much  joy  in  him But  he  is  dead,  dead, 

dead.'  " .... 

"  How  absurd  you  are  !  "  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna, 
with  a  melancholy  smile  at  the  sight  of  Levin's  emotion. 
"  Well !  I  understand  it  all  better  and  better,"  she  con- 
tinued pensively.  "Then  you  won't  come  to  see  us 
when  Kitty  is  here  .''  " 

"  No,  I  will  not.  Of  course  I  will  not  avoid  Katerina 
Aleksandrovna ;  but,  when  it  is  possible,  I  shall  en- 
deavor to  spare  her  the  affliction  of  my  presence." 

"  You  are  very,  very  absurd,"  said  Darya  Aleksan- 
drovna, looking  at  him  affectionately.  "Well,  then,  let 
it  be  as  if  we  had  not  said  a  word  about  it.  —  What  do 
you  want,  Tania.''  "  said  she  in  French  to  her  little  girl, 
who  came  running  in. 

"Where  is  my  little  shovel,  mamma .-"" 

"  I  speak  French  to  you,  and  you  must  answer  in 
French." 

The  child  tried  to  speak,  but  could  not  recall  the 
French  word  for  lopatka,  shovel.  Her  mother  whis- 
pered it  to  her,  and  then  told  her,  still  in  French,  where 
she  should  go  to  find  it.  This  made  Levin  feel  un- 
pleasant. 

Everything  now  seemed  changed  in  Darya  Aleksan- 
drovna's  household;  even  the  children  were  not  nearly 
so  attractive  as  before. 

"  And  why  does  she  speak  French  with  the  children  ? " 
he  thought.  "  How  false  and  unnatural !  Even  the 
children  feel  it.  Teach  them  French,  and  spoil  their 
sincerity,"  he  said  to  himself,  not  knowing  that  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  had  twenty  times  asked  the  same  ques- 
tion, and  yet,  in  spite  of  the  harm  that  it  did  their 
simplicity,  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  this  was  the 
right  way  to  teach  them. 

"  But  why  are  you  in  a  hurry  }  Sit  a  little  while 
longer." 


ANNA    KARENINA  47 

Levin  stayed  to  tea ;  but  all  his  gayety  was  gone,  and 
he  felt  uncomfortable. 

After  tea  he  went  out  into  the  anteroom  to  give 
orders  about  harnessing  the  horses  ;  and  when  he  came 
in  he  found  Darya  Aleksandrovna  in  great  disturbance, 
with  flushed  face,  and  tears  in  her  eyes.  During  his 
short  absence  an  occurrence  had  ruthlessly  destroyed 
all  the  pleasure  and  pride  that  she  took  in  her  children. 
Grisha  and  Tania  had  quarreled  about  a  ball.  Darya 
Aleksandrovna,  hearing  their  cries,  ran  to  them,  and 
found  them  in  a  frightful  state.  Tania  was  pulling  her 
brother's  hair  ;  and  he,  with  face  distorted  with  rage, 
was  pounding  his  sister  with  all  his  might.  When 
Darya  Aleksandrovna  saw  it,  something  seemed  to 
snap  in  her  heart.  A  black  cloud,  as  it  were,  came 
down  on  her  life.  She  saw  that  these  children  of  hers, 
of  whom  she  was  so  proud,  were  not  only  ordinary  and 
ill-trained,  but  were  even  bad,  and  inclined  to  the  most 
evil  and  tempestuous  passions. 

This  thought  troubled  her  so  that  she  could  not  speak 
or  think,  or  even  explain  her  sorrow  to  Levin. 

Levin  saw  that  she  was  unhappy,  and  he  did  his  best 
to  comfort  her,  saying  that  this  was  not  so  very  terrible, 
after  all,  and  that  all  children  quarreled ;  but  in  his 
heart  he  said,  "  No,  I  will  not  bother  myself  to  speak 
French  with  my  children.  I  shall  not  have  such  chil- 
dren. There  is  no  need  of  spoiling  them,  and  making 
them  unnatural ;  and  they  will  be  charming.  No !  my 
children  shall  not  be  like  these." 

He  took  his  leave,  and  rode  away ;  and  she  did  not 
try  to  keep  him  longer. 


CHAPTER   XI 

Toward  the  end  of  July,  Levin  received  a  visit  from 
the  starosta  of  his  sister's  estate,  situated  about  twenty 
versts  from  Pokrovskoye.  He  brought  the  report  about 
the  progress  of  affairs,  and  about  the  haymaking. 


48  ANNA   KARENINA 

The  chief  income  from  his  sister's  estate  came  from 
the  meadows  inundated  in  the  spring.  In  former  years 
the  muzhiks  rented  these  hayfields  at  the  rate  of  twenty 
rubles  a  desyatin.^  But  when  Levin  undertook  the 
management  of  this  estate,  and  examined  the  hay- 
crops,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  rent  was  too 
low,  and  he  raised  it  to  the  rate  of  twenty-five  rubles 
a  desyatin.  The  muzhiks  refused  to  pay  this,  and,  as 
Levin  suspected,  drove  away  other  lessees.  Then  Levin 
himself  went  there,  and  arranged  to  have  the  meadows 
mowed  partly  by  day  laborers,  partly  on  shares.  His 
muzhiks  were  greatly  discontented  with  this  new  plan, 
and  did  their  best  to  thwart  it ;  but  it  was  attended  with 
success,  and  even  the  very  first  year  the  yield  from  the 
meadows  was  nearly  doubled.  The  opposition  of  the 
peasantry  continued  through  the  second  and  third  sum- 
mers, and  the  haymaking  was  conducted  on  the  same 
conditions. 

But  this  year  they  had  mowed  the  meadows  on  thirds, 
and  now  the  starosta  had  come  to  announce  that  the 
work  was  done,  and  that  he,  fearing  it  was  going  to 
rain,  had  summoned  the  bookkeeper  and  made  the  divis- 
ion in  his  presence,  and  turned  over  the  eighteen  hay- 
ricks which  were  the  proprietor's  share. 

By  the  unsatisfactory  answer  to  his  question,  how 
much  hay  had  been  secured  from  the  largest  meadow, 
by  the  starosta's  haste  in  making  the  division  without 
orders,  by  the  man's  whole  manner,  Levin  was  induced 
to  think  there  was  something  crooked  in  the  division  of 
the  hay,  and  he  concluded  that  it  would  be  wise  to  go 
and  look  into  it. 

Levin  reached  the  estate  just  at  dinner-time;  and, 
leaving  his  horse  at  the  house  of  his  old  friend,  the 
husband  of  his  brother's  former  nurse,  he  went  to  find 
the  old  man  at  the  apiary,  hoping  to  obtain  from  him 
some  light  on  the  question  of  the  hay-crop. 

The  loquacious,  beautiful-looking  old  man,  whose 
name  was  Parmenuitch,  was  delighted  to  see  Levin, 
showed  him  all  about  his  husbandry,  and  told  him  all 

^  About  six  dollars  an  acre. 


ANNA   KARENINA  49 

the  particulars  about  his  bees,  and  how  they  swarmed 
this  year;  but  when  Levin  asked  him  about  the  hay,  he 
gave  vague  and  unsatisfactory  answers.  This  still  more 
confirmed  Levin  in  his  suspicions. 

He  went  to  the  meadows,  and,  on  examination  of  the 
hayricks,  found  that  they  could  not  contain  fifty  loads 
each,  as  the  muzhiks  said.  So  in  order  to  give  the  peas- 
ants a  lesson  he  had  one  of  the  carts  which  they  had 
used  as  a  measure  to  be  brought,  and  ordered  all  the 
hay  from  one  of  the  ricks  to  be  carried  into  the  shed. 

The  hayrick  was  found  to  contain  only  thirty-two 
loads.  Notwithstanding  the  starosta's  protestations 
that  the  hay  was  measured  right,  and  that  it  must 
have  got  pressed  down  in  the  cart ;  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  he  called  God  to  witness  that  it  was  all 
done  in  the  most  godly  manner,  —  Levin  insisted  on  it 
that,  as  the  division  had  been  made  without  his  orders, 
he  would  not  accept  the  hayricks  as  equivalent  to  fifty 
loads  each. 

After  long  parleys,  it  was  decided  that  the  muzhiks 
should  take  eleven  of  these  hayricks  for  their  share, 
but  that  the  master's  should  be  measured  over  again. 
The  colloquy  and  the  division  of  the  hayricks  lasted 
until  the  mid-afternoon  luncheon  hour.  When  the  last 
of  the  hay  had  been  divided.  Levin,  confiding  the  care 
of  the  work  to  the  bookkeeper,  sat  down  on  one  of  the 
hayricks  which  was  marked  by  a  laburnum  stake,  and 
enjoyed  the  spectacle  of  the  meadows  alive  with  the 
busy  peasantry. 

Before  him,  at  the  bend  of  the  river  beyond  the  marsh, 
he  saw  the  peasant  women  in  a  variegated  line,  and 
heard  their  ringing  voices  as  they  gossiped  together, 
while  raking  into  long  brown  ramparts  the  hay  scattered 
over  the  bright  green  aftermath.  Behind  the  women 
came  the  men  with  pitchforks  turning  the  windrows 
into  wide,  high-swelling  hayricks. 

Toward  the  left  across  the  meadow,  already  cleared 
of  the  hay,  came  the  creaking  telyegas,  or  peasant  carts, 
and  one  by  one,  as  the  hayricks  were  lifted  on  the  point 
of  monstrous  forks,  disappeared,  and  their  places  were 

VOL.  II. — 4 


50  ANNA   KARENINA 

taken  by  the  horse-wagons  filled  to  overflowing  with 
the  fragrant  hay  which  almost  hid  the  rumps  of  the 
horses. 

"  Splendid  hay-weather  !  It  '11  soon  be  all  in,"  said 
Parmenuitch,  as  he  sat  down  near  Levin.  "Tea,  not 
hay !  It  scatters  like  seed  for  the  ducks  when  they 
pitch  it  up."  Then,  pointing  to  a  hayrick  which  the 
men  were  demoHshing,  the  old  man  went  on  :  "  Since 
dinner,  pitched  up  a  good  half  of  it.  —  Is  that  the  last  .'*  " 
he  shouted  to  a  young  fellow  who,  standing  on  the  pole 
of  a  cart,  and  shaking  the  ends  of  his  hempen  reins,  was 
driving  by. 

"  The  last,  batyushka,"  shouted  back  the  young  fellow, 
pulling  in  his  horse.  Then  he  looked  down  with  a  smile 
on  a  happy-looking,  rosy-faced  woman  who  was  sitting 
on  the  hay  in  the  telyega,  and  whipped  up  his  steed 
again. 

"  Who  is  that  ?  your  son  ?  "  asked  Levin. 

"  My  youngest,"  said  the  elder,  with  an  expression 
of  pride. 

"  What  a  fine  fellow !  " 

"Not  bad." 

"  Married  yet  ? " 

**  Yes,  three  years  come  next  Filippovok."  * 

"  So  .''     And  are  there  children  ?  " 

"  How  ?  children  .-*  For  a  whole  year  I  have  n't  heard 
anything  about  it !  and  it's  a  shame,"  said  the  old  man, 
"Well,  this  is  hay!  Just  tea!"  he  repeated,  wishing  to 
change  the  subject. 

Levin  looked  with  interest  at  Vanka  Parmenof  and 
his  wife.  They  were  loading  on  a  hayrick  near  by. 
Ivan  Parmenof  was  standing  on  the  wagon,  arranging, 
storing,  and  pressing  down  the  fragrant  hay  which  the 
handsome  goodwife  handed  up  to  him  in  great  loads, 
first  in  armfuls,  then  with  the  fork.  The  young  woman 
worked  gayly,  industriously,  and  skilfully.  P'irst  she 
armnged  it  with  her  fork;  then,  with  elastic  and  agile 
motions,  she  exerted  all  her  strength  upon  it ;  and,  stoop- 
ing over,  she  lifted  up  the  great  armful,  and  standing 

^  St,  Philip's  Day,  November  14, 


ANNA    KARENINA  51 

straight,  with  full  bosom  under  the  white  chemise 
gathered  with  a  red  girdle,  she  piled  it  high  upon  the 
load. 

Ivan,  working  as  rapidly  as  he  could,  so  as  to  relieve 
her  of  every  moment  of  extra  work,  stretched  out  his 
arms  wide,  and  caught  up  the  load  which  she  extended, 
and  trampled  it  down  into  the  wagon.  Then,  raking  up 
what  was  left,  the  woman  shook  off  the  hay  that  had  got 
into  her  neck,  and,  tying  a  red  handkerchief  around  her 
broad  white  brow,  she  crept  under  the  cart  to  fasten 
down  the  load.  Vanka  showed  her  how  the  ropes 
should  be  tied,  and  at  some  remark  that  she  made  burst 
into  a  roar  of  laughter.  In  the  expression  on  the  faces 
of  both  of  them  could  be  seen  strong  young  love  recently 
awakened. 

CHAPTER   XII 

The  load  was  complete,  and  Ivan,  jumping  down, 
took  his  gentle  fat  horse  by  the  bridle,  and  joined  the 
file  of  telyegas  going  to  the  village.  The  young  woman 
threw  her  rake  on  top  of  the  load,  and,  swinging  her 
arms,  joined  the  other  women,  who  had  collected  in  a 
group  to  sing.  These  women,  with  rakes  on  their 
shoulders  and  dressed  in  bright  colors,  suddenly  burst 
forth  into  song  with  loud  happy  voices  as  they  followed 
the  carts.  One  wild  untrained  voice  would  sing  a  verse 
of  the  Pyesna,  or  folk-song,  and  when  she  had  reached 
the  refrain,  fifty  other  young,  fresh,  and  powerful  voices 
would  take  it  up  simultaneously  and  repeat  it  to  the 
end. 

The  peasant  women,  singing  their  folk-song,  came 
toward  Levin ;  and  it  seemed  to  him  that  a  cloud, 
freighted  with  the  thunder  of  gayety,  was  moving  down 
upon  him.  The  thunder-cloud  drew  nearer,  it  took 
possession  of  him,  —  and  the  haycock  on  which  he 
was  reclining  and  the  other  haycocks  and  the  carts 
and  the  whole  meadow  and  the  far-off  field  moved 
and  swayed  to  the  rhythm  of  this  wild  song,  with  its 
accompaniment  of  whistles  and  shrill  cries  and  clapping 


52  ANNA    KARENINA 

of  hands.  This  wholesome  gayety  filled  him  with  envy; 
he  would  have  liked  to  take  part  in  this  expression  of 
joyous  life;  but  nothing  of  the  sort  could  he  do,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  lie  still  and  look  and  listen.  When  the 
throng  with  their  song  had  passed  out  of  sight  and 
hearing,  an  oppressive  feeling  of  melancholy  came  over 
him  at  the  thought  of  his  loneliness,  of  his  physical 
indolence,  of  the  hostility  which  existed  between  him 
and  this  alien  world. 

Some  of  these  very  muzhiks,  even  those  who  had 
quarreled  with  him  about  the  hay,  or  those  whom  he 
had  injured,  or  those  who  had  intended  to  cheat  him, 
saluted  him  gayly  as  they  passed,  and  evidently  did  not 
and  could  not  bear  him  any  malice,  or  feel  any  remorse, 
or  even  remembrance  that  they  had  tried  to  defraud 
him.  All  was  swallowed  up  and  forgotten  in  this  sea 
of  joyous,  universal  labor.  God  gave  the  day,  God  gave 
the  strength ;  and  the  day  and  the  strength  consecrated 
the  labor,  and  yielded  their  own  reward.  For  whom 
was  the  work.-'  What  would  be  the  fruits  of  the  work  ? 
These  were  secondary,  unimportant  considerations. 

Levin  had  often  looked  with  interest  at  this  life,  had 
often  experienced  a  feeling  of  envy  of  the  people  that 
lived  this  life;  but  to-day,  for  the  first  time,  especially 
under  the  impression  of  what  he  had  seen  in  the  bear- 
ing of  Ivan  Parmenof  toward  his  young  wife,  he  had 
clearly  realized  that  it  depended  on  himself  whether  he 
would  exchange  the  burdensome,  idle,  artificial,  selfish 
existence  which  he  led,  for  the  laborious,  simple,  pure, 
and  delightful  life  of  the  peasantry. 

The  elder  who  had  been  sitting  with  him  had  already 
gone  home;  the  people  were  scattered;  the  neighbor- 
ing villagers  had  already  .  reached  their  houses,  but 
those  who  lived  at  a  distance  were  preparing  to  spend 
the  night  in  the  meadow,  and  were  getting  ready  for 
supper. 

Levin,  without  being  noticed  by  the  people,  still  re- 
clined on  the  haycock,  looking,  listening,  and  thinking. 
The  peasantry  gathered  in  the  meadow  scarcely  slept 
throughout  the  short  summer  night.     At  first  gay  gos- 


ANNA   KARENINA  S3 

sip  and  laughter  were  heard  while  they  were  eating; 
then  followed  songs  and  jests  again. 

No  trace  of  all  the  long,  laborious  day  was  left  upon 
them,  except  of  its  happiness.  Just  before  the  dawn 
there  was  silence  everywhere.  Nothing  could  be  heard 
but  the  nocturnal  sounds  of  the  frogs  ceaselessly  croak- 
ing in  the  marsh,  and  the  horses  whinnying  as  they 
waited  in  the  mist  that  rose  before  the  dawn.  Coming 
to  himself.  Levin  got  up  from  the  haycock,  and,  looking 
at  the  stars,  saw  that  the  night  had  gone. 

"Well!  what  am  I  going  to  do  ?  How  am  I  going  to 
do  this  ?  "  he  asked  himself,  trying  to  give  a  shape  to 
the  thoughts  and  feelings  that  had  occupied  him  during 
this  short  night.  All  that  he  had  thought  and  felt  had 
taken  three  separate  directions.  First,  it  seemed  to  him 
that  he  must  renounce  his  former  mode  of  life,  which 
was  useful  neither  to  himself  nor  to  any  one  else.  This 
renunciation  seemed  to  him  very  attractive  and  was  easy 
and  simple. 

The  second  direction  that  his  thoughts  and  feelings 
took  referred  especially  to  the  new  life  which  he  longed 
to  lead.  He  clearly  realized  the  simplicity,  purity,  and 
regularity  of  this  new  life,  and  he  was  convinced  that 
he  should  find  in  it  that  satisfaction,  that  calmness  and 
mental  freedom,  which  he  now  felt  the  lack  of  so  pain- 
fully. The  third  line  of  thought  brought  him  to  the 
question  how  he  should  effect  the  transition  from  the 
old  life  to  the  new,  and  in  this  regard  nothing  clear 
presented  itself  to  his  mind. 

"  I  must  have  a  wife.  I  must  engage  in  work,  and 
have  the  absolute  necessity  of  work.  Shall  I  abandon  Po- 
krovskoye  ?  buy  land  .■'  join  the  commune  ?  marry  a  peas- 
ant woman  .-*  How  can  I  do  all  this  .''  "  he  again  asked 
himself,  and  no  answer  came.  "  However,"  he  went 
on,  in  his  self-communings,  "  I  have  not  slept  all  night, 
and  my  ideas  are  not  very  clear.  I  shall  reduce  them 
to  order  by  and  by.  One  thing  is  certain;  this  night 
has  settled  my  fate.  All  my  former  dreams  of  family 
existence  were  rubbish,  but  this  —  all  this  is  vastl)/ 
simpler  and  better."  .... 


54  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  How  lovely  !  "  he  thought,  as  he  gazed  at  the  delicate 
white  curly  clouds,  colored  like  mother-of-pearl,  which 
floated  in  the  sky  above  him.  "  How  charming  every, 
thing  has  been  this  lovely  night !  And  when  did  that 
shell  have  time  to  form.-*  I  have  been  looking  this  long 
time  at  the  sky,  and  nothing  was  to  be  seen  —  only  two 
white  streaks.  Yes !  thus,  without  my  knowing  it,  my 
views  about  life  have  been  changed." 

He  left  the  meadow,  and  walked  along  the  highway 
that  led  to  the  village.  A  cool  breeze  began  to  blow, 
and  it  became  gray  and  melancholy.  The  somber  mo- 
ment was  at  hand  which  generally  precedes  the  dawn, 
the  perfect  triumph  of  light  over  the  darkness. 

Shivering  with  the  chill,  Levin  walked  fast,  looking 
at  the  ground. 

"  What  is  that  .-*  Who  is  coming  .-•  "  he  asked  himself, 
hearing  the  sound  of  bells.  He  raised  his  head.  About 
forty  paces  from  him  he  saw,  coming  toward  him  on 
the  highway,  on  the  grassy  edge  where  he  himself  was 
walking,  a  traveling  carriage,  drawn  by  four  horses. 
The  pole-horses,  to  avoid  the  ruts,  pressed  close  against 
the  pole ;  but  the  skilful  postilion,  seated  on  one  side  of 
the  box,  kept  the  pole  directly  over  the  rut,  so  that  the 
wheels  kept  only  on  the  smooth  surface  of  the  road. 

Levin  was  so  interested  in  this  that,  without  thinking 
who  might  be  coming,  he  only  glanced  heedlessly  at  the 
carriage. 

In  one  corner  of  the  carriage  an  elderly  lady  was 
asleep ;  and  by  the  window  sat  a  young  girl,  evidently 
only  just  awake,  holding  with  both  hands  the  ribbons 
of  her  white  bonnet.  Serene  and  thoughtful,  filled  with 
a  lofty,  complex  life  which  Levin  could  not  understand, 
she  was  gazing  beyond  him  at  the  glow  of  the  morning 
sky. 

At  the  very  instant  that  this  vision  flashed  by  him  he 
caught  a  glimpse  of  her  frank  eyes.  She  recognized 
him,  and  a  gleam  of  joy,  mingled  with  wonder,  lighted 
up  her  face. 

He  could  not  be  mistaken.  Only  she  in  all  the  world 
had  such  eyes.     In  all  the  world  there  was  but  one 


ANNA    KARENINA  55 

being  who  could  concentrate  for  him  all  the  light  and 
meaning  of  life.  It  was  she  ;  it  was  Kitty.  He  judged 
that  she  was  on  her  way  from  the  railway  station  to 
Yergushovo. 

And  all  the  thoughts  that  had  occupied  Levin  through 
his  sleepless  night,  all  the  resolutions  that  he  had  made, 
vanished  in  a  twinkling.  Horror  seized  him  as  he  re- 
membered his  dream  of  marrying  a  krestyanka  —  a 
peasant  wife !  In  that  carriage  which  flashed  by  him 
on  the  other  side  of  the  road,  and  disappeared,  was  the 
only  possible  answer  to  his  life's  enigma  which  had 
tormented  and  puzzled  him  so  long. 

She  was  now  out  of  sight ;  the  rumble  of  the  wheels 
had  ceased,  and  scarcely  could  he  hear  the  bells.  The 
barking  of  the  dogs  told  him  that  the  carriage  was 
passing  through  the  village.  And  now  there  remained 
only  the  empty  fields,  the  distant  village,  and  himself, 
an  alien  and  a  stranger  to  everything,  walking  solitary 
on  the  deserted  highway. 

He  looked  at  the  sky,  hoping  to  find  there  still  the 
sea-shell  cloud  which  he  had  admired,  and  which  per- 
sonified for  him  the  movement  of  his  thoughts  and 
feelings  during  the  night.  But  in  the  sky  there  was 
nothing  that  resembled  the  shell.  There,  at  immeasur- 
able heights,  that  mysterious  change  had  already  taken 
place.  There  was  no  trace  of  the  shell,  but  in  its  place 
there  extended  over  a  good  half  of  the  heavens  a  carpet 
of  cirrus  clouds  sweeping  on  and  sweeping  on.  The 
sky  was  growing  blue  and  luminous,  and  with  the  same 
tenderness  and  also  with  the  same  unsatisfactoriness  it 
answered  his  questioning  look. 

"  No,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  however  good  this  simple 
and  laborious  life  may  be,  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  it 
I  love  her.'' 


S6  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XIII 

No  one  except  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch's  most  in- 
timate friends  suspected  that  this  apparently  cold  and 
sober-minded  man  had  one  weakness  absolutely  con- 
tradictory to  the  general  consistency  of  his  character. 
He  could  not  look  with  indifference  at  a  child  or  a 
woman  who  was  weeping.  The  sight  of  tears  caused 
him  to  lose  his  self-control,  and  destroyed  for  him  his 
reasoning  faculties.  The  manager  of  his  chancelry  and 
his  secretary  understood  this,  and  warned  women  who 
came  to  present  petitions  not  to  allow  their  feelings 
to  overcome  them  unless  they  wanted  to  injure  their 
prospects. 

"He  will  fly  into  a  passion,  and  will  not  listen  to 
you,"  they  said.  And  it  was  a  fact  that  the  trouble 
which  the  sight  of  weeping  caused  Aleksel  Aleksandro- 
vitch  was  expressed  by  hasty  irritation.  "  I  cannot,  I 
cannot  do  anything  for  you.  Please  leave  me,"  he 
would  exclaim,  as  a  general  thing,  in  such  cases. 

When,  on  their  way  back  from  the  races,  Anna  con- 
fessed her  relations  with  Vronsky,  and,  immediately 
afterwards  covering  her  face  with  her  hands,  burst  into 
tears,  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  in  spite  of  his  anger 
against  his  wife,  was  conscious  at  the  same  time  of  that 
deep,  soul-felt  emotion  welling  up  which  the  sight  of 
tears  always  caused  him.  Knowing  this,  and  knowing 
that  any  expression  of  it  would  be  incompatible  with 
the  situation,  he  endeavored  to  restrain  any  sign  of 
agitation,  and  therefore  he  neither  moved  nor  looked 
at  her;  hence  arose  that  strange  appearance  of  death- 
like rigidity  in  his  face  which  so  impressed  Anna. 

When  they  reached  home,  he  helped  her  from  the  car- 
riage ;  and,  having  made  a  great  effort,  he  left  her  with 
ordinary  politeness,  saying  only  those  words  which  would 
not  oblige  him  to  follow  any  course.  He  simply  said 
that  on  the  morrow  he  would  let  her  know  his  decision. 

His  wife's  words,  confirming  his  worst  suspicions, 
caused   a  keen   pain   in  his  heart ;  and  this  pain  was 


ANNA    KARENINA  57 

made  still  keener  by  the  strange  sensation  of  physical 
pity  for  her,  caused  by  the  sight  of  her  tears.  Yet,  as 
he  sat  alone  in  his  carriage,  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch,  to 
his  surprise  and  pleasure,  was  conscious  of  an  absolute 
freedom,  not  only  from  that  sense  of  pity,  but  also  from 
the  doubts  and  the  pangs  of  jealousy  which  had  of  late 
been  tormenting  him. 

He  experienced  the  feelings  of  a  man  who  has  been 
suffering  for  a  long  time  from  the  toothache.  After 
one  terrible  moment  of  agony,  and  the  sensation  of 
something  enormous  —  greater  than  the  head  itself  — 
which  is  wrenched  out  of  the  jaw,  the  patient,  hardly 
able  to  believe  in  his  good  fortune,  suddenly  discovers 
that  the  pain  that  has  been  poisoning  his  life  so  long 
has  ceased,  and  that  he  can  live  and  think  and  interest 
himself  in  something  besides  his  aching  tooth. 

This  feeling  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  now  experi- 
enced. The  pain  had  been  strange  and  terrible.  But 
now  it  was  over.  He  felt  that  he  could  live  again,  and 
think  of  something  besides  his  wife. 

"Without  honor,  without  heart,  without  religion,  an 
abandoned  woman !  I  have  always  known  this  and  I 
have  always  seen  it,  though  out  of  pity  for  her  I  tried 
to  shut  my  eyes  to  it,"  he  said  to  himself. 

And  it  really  seemed  to  him  that  he  had  always  seen 
this.  He  recalled  many  details  of  their  past  lives ;  and 
things  which  had  once  seemed  innocent  in  his  eyes,  now 
clearly  came  up  as  proofs  that  she  had  always  been 
corrupt. 

"  I  made  a  mistake  when  I  joined  my  life  to  hers  ;  but 
my  mistake  was  not  my  fault,  and  therefore  I  ought  not 
to  be  unhappy.  I  am  not  the  guilty  one,"  said  he, 
"  but  she  is.  But  I  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  her. 
She  does  not  exist  for  me.".... 

All  that  would  befall  her  as  well  as  his  son,  toward 
whom  also  his  feelings  underwent  a  similar  change,  now 
ceased  to  occupy  him.  The  only  thing  that  did  occupy 
him  now  was  the  question  how  to  make  his  escape  from 
this  wretched  crisis  in  a  manner  at  once  wise,  correct, 
and  honorable  for  himself,  and  having  cleared  himself 


58  ANNA   KARENINA 

from  the  mud  with  which  she  had  spattered  him  by  her 
fall,  how  he  would  henceforth  pursue  his  own  path  of 
honorable,  active,  and  useful  life. 

"  Must  I  make  myself  wretched  because  a  wretched 
woman  has  committed  a  crime  ?  All  I  want  is  to  find 
the  best  way  out  from  this  situation  to  which  she  has 
brought  me.  And  I  will  find  it,"  he  added,  getting 
more  and  more  indignant.  "  I  am  not  the  first,  nor  the 
last." 

And  not  speaking  of  the  historical  examples,  begin- 
ning with  La  Belle  Helene  of  Menelaus,  which  had 
recently  been  brought  to  all  their  memories  by  Offen- 
bach's opera,  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  went  over  in  his 
mind  a  whole  series  of  contemporary  episodes,  where 
husbands  of  the  highest  position  had  been  obliged  to 
mourn  the  faithlessness  of  their  wives. 

"  Daryalof,  Poltavsky,  Prince  Karibanof,  Count  Pa- 
skudin,  Dramm, ....  yes,  even  Dramm,  honorable,  indus- 
trious man  as  he  is,  ....  Semenof,  Chagin,  Sigonin. 
Admit  that  they  cast  unjust  ridicule  on  these  men ;  as 
for  me,  I  never  saw  anything  except  their  misfortune, 
and  I  always  pitied  them,"  said  Alekseif  Aleksandro- 
vitch to  himself,  although  this  was  not  so,  and  he  had 
never  sympathized  with  misfortune  of  this  sort,  and  had 
only  plumed  himself  the  more  as  he  had  heard  of  wives 
deceiving  their  husbands. 

"  This  is  a  misfortune  which  is  likely  to  strike  any 
one,  and  now  it  has  struck  me.  The  only  thing  is  to 
know  how  to  find  the  best  way  of  settling  the  difficulty." 

And  he  began  to  recall  the  different  ways  in  which 
these  men,  finding  themselves  in  such  a  position  as  he 
was,  had  behaved. 

"  Daryalof  fought  a  duel ....  " 

Dueling  had  often  been  a  subject  of  consideration 
to  Alekset  Aleksandrovitch  when  he  was  a  young  man, 
and  for  the  reason  that  physically  he  was  a  timid  man 
and  he  knew  it.  He  could  not  think  without  a  shudder 
of  having  a  pistol  leveled  at  him,  and  never  in  his  life 
had  he  practised  with  firearms.  This  instinctive  horror 
had  in  early  life  caused  him  often  to  think  about  duel* 


ANNA    KARENINA  59 

ing  and  to  imagine  himself  obliged  to  expose  his  life  to 
this  danger. 

Afterward,  when  he  had  attained  success  and  a  high 
social  position,  he  had  got  out  of  the  way  of  such 
thoughts;  but  his  habit  of  mind  now  reasserted  itself, 
and  his  timidity,  owing  to  his  cowardice,  was  so  great 
that  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  long  deliberated  about 
the  matter,  turning  it  over  on  all  sides,  and  questioning 
the  expediency  of  a  duel,  although  he  knew  perfectly 
well  that  in  any  case  he  would  never  fight. 

"  Undoubtedly  the  state  of  our  society  is  still  so  sav- 
age," he  said,  —  "though  it  is  not  so  in  England, — 
that  very  many ....  " 

And  in  these  many,  to  whom  such  a  solution  was  sat- 
isfactory, there  were  some  for  whose  opinions  Alekseif 
Aleksandrovitch  had  the  very  highest  regard.  "  Look- 
ing at  the  duel  from  its  good  side,  to  what  result  does  it 
lead  .''     Let  us  suppose  that  I  send  a  challenge !  " 

And  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  went  on  to  draw  a 
vivid  picture  of  the  night  that  he  would  spend  after  the 
challenge ;  and  he  imagined  the  pistol  aimed  at  him, 
and  shuddered,  and  realized  that  he  could  never  do 
such  a  thing, 

"  Let  us  suppose  that  I  challenge  him  to  a  duel ;  let  us 
suppose  that  I  learn  how  to  shoot,"  he  forced  himself 
to  think,  "  that  I  am  standing,  that  I  pull  the  trigger," 
he  said  to  himself,  shutting  his  eyes,  "  and  it  happens 
that  I  kill  him  ; "  and  he  shook  his  head,  to  drive  away 
these  absurd  notions. 

"  What  sense  would  there  be  in  causing  a  man's  death, 
in  order  to  settle  my  relations  to  a  sinful  woman  and  her 
son }  Even  then  I  should  have  to  decide  what  I  ought 
to  do  with  her.  But  suppose  —  and  this  is  vastly  more 
likely  to  happen  —  that  I  am  the  one  killed  or  wounded. 
I,  an  innocent  man,  the  victim,  killed  or  wounded .?  Still 
more  absurd !  But,  moreover,  would  not  the  challenge 
to  a  duel  on  my  part  be  a  dishonorable  action,  certain  as 
I  am  beforehand  that  my  friends  would  never  allow  me 
to  fight  a  duel .-'  would  never  permit  the  life  of  a  gov- 
ernment official,  who  is  so  indispensable  to  Russia,  to 


6o  ANNA   KARENINA 

be  exposed  to  danger  ?  What  would  happen  ?  This 
would  happen,  that  I,  knowing  in  advance  that  the 
matter  would  never  result  in  any  danger,  should  seem 
to  people  to  be  anxious  to  win  notoriety  by  a  challenge. 
It  would  be  dishonorable,  it  would  be  false,  it  would  be 
an  act  of  deception  to  others  and  to  myself.  A  duel  is 
not  to  be  thought  of,  and  no  one  expects  it  of  me.  My 
sole  aim  should  be  to  preserve  my  reputation,  and  not 
to  suffer  any  unnecessary  interruption  of  my  activity." 

The  service  of  the  State,  always  important  in  the  eyes 
of  Alekseit  Aleksandrovitch,  now  appeared  to  him  of 
extraordinary  importance. 

Having  decided  against  the  duel,  Aleksei  Aleksandro- 
vitch began  to  discuss  the  question  of  divorce  —  a  second 
expedient  which  had  been  employed  by  several  of  the 
men  whom  he  had  in  mind.  Calling  to  mind  all  the 
well-known  examples  of  divorce  —  and  there  had  been 
many  in  the  very  highest  circles  of  society,  as  he  well 
knew  —  he  could  not  name  a  single  case  where  the  aim 
of  the  divorce  had  been  such  as  he  proposed.  The 
husband  in  each  case  had  sold  or  given  up  the  faithless 
wife  ;  and  the  guilty  party,  who  had  no  right  to  a  second 
marriage,  had  entered  into  relations,  imagined  to  be 
sanctioned,  with  a  new  husband. 

Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  saw  that,  in  his  case  at  least, 
legal  divorce,  whereby  the  faithless  wife  would  be  re- 
pudiated, was  impossible.  He  saw  that  the  complicated 
conditions  of  his  life  precluded  the  possibility  of  those 
coarse  proofs  which  the  law  demanded  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  wife's  guilt;  he  saw  that  the  distinguished 
refinement  of  his  life  precluded  the  public  use  of  such 
proofs,  even  if  they  existed,  and  that  the  public  use  of 
these  proofs  would  cause  him  to  fall  lower  in  public 
opinion  than  the  guilty  wife. 

Divorce  could  only  end  in  a  scandalous  lawsuit,  which 
would  be  a  godsend  to  his  enemies  and  to  lovers  of 
gossip,  and  would  degrade  him  from  his  high  position 
in  society.  His  principal  object,  the  determination  of 
his  position  with  the  least  possible  confusion,  would  not 
be  attained  by  a  divorce. 


ANNA    KARENINA  6i 

Divorce,  moreover,  broke  off  all  intercourse  between 
wife  and  husband,  and  united  her  to  her  paramour. 
Now  in  AlckseY  Aleksandrovitch's  heart,  in  spite  of  the 
scornful  indifference  which  he  affected  to  feel  toward 
his  wife,  there  still  remained  one  very  keen  sentiment, 
and  that  was  his  unwillingness  for  her,  unhindered,  to 
unite  her  lot  with  Vronsky,  so  that  her  fault  would  turn 
out  to  her  advantage. 

This  possible  contingency  was  so  painful  to  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch  that,  merely  at  the  thought  of  it,  he 
bellowed  with  mental  pain  ;  and  he  got  up  from  his 
seat,  changed  his  place  in  the  carriage,  and  for  a  long 
time,  darkly  scowling,  wrapped  his  woolly  plaid  around 
his  thin  and  chilly  legs. 

"  Besides  formal  divorce,"  he  said  to  himself,  as, 
growing  a  little  calmer,  he  continued  his  deliberations, 
"  it  would  be  possible  to  act  as  Karibanof,  Paskudin, 
and  that  gentle  Dramm  have  done  ;  that  is  to  say,  I 
could  separate  from  my  wife."  But  this  measure  had 
almost  the  same  disadvantages  as  the  other :  it  was 
practically  to  throw  his  wife  into  Vronsky's  arms. 

"No;  it  is  impossible  —  impossible,"  he  said  aloud, 
again  trying  to  wrap  himself  up  in  his  plaid.  "  I  cannot 
be  unhappy,  but  neither  she  nor  he  ought  to  be  happy." 

The  feeling  of  jealousy  which  had  tormented  him 
while  he  was  still  ignorant  had  passed  away  when  by 
his  wife's  words  the  aching  tooth  had  been  pulled  ;  but 
this  feeling  was  replaced  by  a  different  one,  — the  desire 
not  only  that  she  should  not  triumph,  but  that  she  should 
receive  the  reward  for  her  sin.  He  did  not  express  it, 
but  in  the  depths  of  his  soul  he  desired  that  she  should 
be  punished  for  the  way  in  which  she  had  destroyed  his 
peace  and  honor. 

After  once  more  passing  in  review  the  conditions  of 
the  duel,  the  divorce,  and  the  separation,  and  once  more 
rejecting  them,  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  there  was  only  one  way  to  escape  from 
his  trouble,  and  that  was  to  keep  his  wife  under  his  pro- 
tection, shielding  his  misfortune  from  the  eyes  of  the 
world,  employing  all  possible  means  to  break  off   the 


62  ANNA    KARENINA 

illicit  relationship,  and,  above  all  —  though  he  did  not 
avow  it  to  himself  —  punishing  his  wife's  fault. 

"  I  must  let  her  know  that,  in  the  cruel  situation  into 
which  she  has  brought  our  family,  I  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  status  quo  is  the  only  way  that  seems 
advisable  for  both  sides,  and  that  I  will  agree  to  pre- 
serve it  under  the  strenuous  condition  that  she  on  her 
part  fulfil  my  will,  and  break  off  all  relations  with  her 
paramour." 

For  the  bolstering  of  this  resolution  when  once  he 
had  finally  adopted  it,  Alekself  Aleksandrovitch  brought 
up  one  convincing  argument :  "  Only  by  acting  in  this 
manner  do  I  conform  absolutely  with  the  law  of  reli- 
gion," said  he  to  himself ;  "  only  by  this  reasoning  do 
I  refuse  to  send  away  the  adulterous  woman  ;  and  I 
give  her  the  chance  of  amending  her  ways,  and  likewise, 

—  painful  as  it  will  be  to  me,  —  I  consecrate  a  part  of 
my  powers  to  her  regeneration  and  salvation." 

Though  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  knew  that  he  could 
have  no  moral  influence  over  his  wife,  and  that  the 
attempts  which  he  should  make  to  reform  his  wife  would 
have  no  other  outcome  than  falsehood  ;  although  during 
the  trying  moments  that  he  had  been  living,  he  had  not 
for  an  instant  thought  of  finding  his  guidance  in  religion, 

—  yet  now,  when  he  felt  that  his  determination  was  in 
accordance  with  religion,  this  religious  sanction  of  his 
resolution  gave  him  full  comfort  and  a  certain  share  of 
satisfaction.  He  was  consoled  with  the  thought  that  in 
such  a  trying  period  of  his  life  no  one  would  have  the 
right  to  say  that  he  had  not  acted  in  conformity  to  the 
religion  whose  banner  he  bore  aloft  in  the  midst  of  cool- 
ness and  indifference. 

As  he  went  over  in  his  mind  the  remotest  contingen- 
cies, Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  even  saw  no  reason  why 
his  relations  with  his  wife  should  not  remain  pretty 
much  as  they  had  always  been.  Of  course,  it  would  be 
impossible  for  him  to  feel  great  confidence  in  her ;  but 
he  saw  no  reason  why  he  should  ruin  his  whole  life,  and 
suffer  personally,  because  she  was  a  bad  and  faithless 
wife. 


ANNA    KARENINA  ^3 

"Yes,  time  will  pass,"  he  said  to  himself,  "time  which 
solves  all  problems ;  and  our  relations  will  be  brought 
into  the  old  order,  so  that  I  shall  not  feel  the  disorder 
that  has  broken  up  the  current  of  my  life.  She  must 
be  unhappy,  but  I  am  not  to  blame,  and  so  I  do  not  see 
why  I  must  be  unhappy  too." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Alekse'i  Aleksandrovitch  during  his  drive  back  to 
Petersburg  not  only  fully  decided  on  the  line  of  conduct 
which  he  should  adopt,  but  even  composed  in  his  head 
a  letter  to  be  sent  to  his  wife.  When  he  reached  his 
Switzer's  room,  he  glanced  at  the  official  papers  and 
letters  which  had  been  brought  from  the  ministry,  and 
ordered  them  to  be  brought  into  the  library. 

"  Shut  the  door,  and  let  no  one  in,"  said  he  in  reply  to 
a  question  of  the  Swiss,  emphasizing  the  last  words  — 
nye  prinimaf — let  no  one  in  —  with  some  satisfaction, 
which  was  an  evident  sign  that  he  was  in  a  better  state 
of  mind. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  walked  up  and  down  the 
library  once  or  twice,  and  then,  coming  to  his  huge 
writing-table,  on  which  his  lackey,  before  going  out, 
had  placed  six  lighted  candles,  he  cracked  his  fingers 
and  sat  down,  and  began  to  examine  his  writing-mate- 
rials. Then,  leaning  his  elbow  on  the  table,  he  bent  his 
head  to  one  side,  and  after  a  moment  of  reflection  he 
began  to  write  without  the  slightest  hesitancy.  He 
wrote  in  French  without  addressing  her  by  name,  em- 
ploying the  pronoun  vous,  which  has  less  coldness  than 
the  corresponding  Russian  word,  vtii,  has.    He  wrote :  — 

At  our  recent  interview,  I  expressed  the  intention  of  com- 
municating to  you  my  resolution  concerning  the  subject  of  our 
conversation.  Having  carefully  taken  everything  into  considera- 
tion, I  am  writing  now  with  the  view  of  fulfilling  my  promise. 
This  is  my  decision  :  whatever  your  conduct  may  have  been, 
I  do  not  acknowledge  that  I  have  the  right  to  break  the  bonds 
which  a  Power  Supreme  has  consecrated.     The  family  cannot 


64  ANNA   KARENINA 

be  broken  up  through  a  caprice,  an  arbitrary  act,  even  through 
the  crime  of  one  of  the  parties  ;  and  our  Hves  must  remain 
unchanged.  This  must  be  so  for  my  sake,  for  your  sake,  for  the 
sake  of  our  son.  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  you  have  been  re- 
pentant, that  you  still  feel  repentant  for  the  deed  that  obliges 
me  to  write  you  ;  that  you  will  cooperate  with  me  in  destroy- 
ing root  and  branch  the  cause  of  our  estrangement  and  in 
forgetting  the  past. 

In  case  this  be  not  so,  you  yourself  must  understand  what 
awaits  you  and  your  son.  In  regard  to  all  this  I  hope  to  have 
a  more  specific  conversation  at  a  personal  interview.  As  the 
summer  season  is  nearly  over,  I  beg  of  you  to  come  back  to 
Petersburg  as  soon  as  possible  —  certainly  not  later  than  Tues- 
day. All  the  necessary  measures  for  your  return  hither  will  be 
taken.  I  beg  you  to  take  notice  that  I  attach  a  very  particu- 
lar importance  to  your  attention  to  my  request. 

A.  Karenin. 

P.S.  I  inclose  in  this  letter  money,  which  you  may  need 
at  this  particular  time. 

He  reread  his  letter,  and  was  satisfied  vi'ith  it  —  espe- 
cially with  the  fact  that  he  had  thought  of  sending  the 
money.  There  was  not  an  angry  word,  not  a  reproach, 
neither  was  there  any  condescension  in  it.  The  essen- 
tial thing  was  the  golden  bridge  for  their  reconciliation. 
He  folded  his  letter,  smoothed  it  with  a  huge  paper- 
cutter  of  massive  ivory,  inclosed  it  in  an  envelop  to- 
gether with  the  money,  and  rang  the  bell,  feeling  that 
sense  of  satisfaction  which  the  use  of  his  well-ordered, 
perfect  epistolary  arrangements  always  gave  him. 

"  Give  this  letter  to  the  courier  for  delivery  to  Anna 
Arkady evna  at  the  datcha  to-morrow,"  said  he,  and  arose. 

"  I  will  obey  your  excellency.^  Will  you  have  tea 
here  in  the  library  .''  " 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  ordered  tea  brought  to  him 
in  the  library ;  and  then,  still  playing  with  the  paper- 
cutter,  he  went  toward  his  arm-chair,  near  which  were  a 
shaded  lamp  and  a  French  work  on  cuneiform  inscrip- 
tions which  he  had  begun. 

^  VasAe  prevaskhodityelstvo. 


ANNA    KARENINA  65 

Above  the  chair,  in  an  oval  gilt  frame,  hung  a  por- 
trait of  Anna,  the  excellent  work  of  a  distinguished 
painter.  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  looked  at  it.  The 
eyes,  as  inscrutable  as  they  had  been  on  the  evening  of 
their  attempted  explanation,  looked  down  at  him  ironi- 
cally and  insolently.  Everything  about  this  remarkable 
portrait  seemed  to  AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch  insupport- 
ably  insolent  and  provoking,  from  the  black  lace  on  her 
head  and  her  dark  hair,  to  the  white,  beautiful  hand 
and  the  ring-finger  covered  with  jeweled  rings. 

After  gazing  at  this  portrait  for  a  moment,  Aleksei 
Aleksandrovitch  shuddered,  his  lips  trembled,  and  with 
a  "  brr"  he  turned  away.  Hastily  sitting  down  in  his 
arm-chair,  he  opened  his  book.  He  tried  to  read,  but  he 
could  not  regain  the  keen  interest  which  he  had  felt  be- 
fore in  the  cuneiform  inscriptions.  His  eyes  looked  at 
the  book,  but  his  thoughts  were  elsewhere.  He  was 
thinking,  not  of  his  wife,  but  of  a  complication  which 
had  recently  arisen  in  important  matters  connected  with 
his  official  activity,  and  which  at  present  formed  the 
chief  interest  of  his  service.  He  felt  that  he  was  more 
deeply  than  ever  plunged  into  this  complicated  affair, 
and  that  he  could  without  self-conceit  claim  that  the 
idea  which  had  originated  in  his  brain  was  bound  to 
disentangle  the  whole  difficulty,  to  confirm  him  in  his 
official  career,  put  down  his  enemies,  and  thus  enable 
him  to  do  a  signal  service  to  the  State.  As  soon  as  his 
servant  had  brought  his  tea,  and  left  the  room,  AlekseK 
Aleksandrovitch  got  up  and  went  to  his  writing-table. 
Pushing  to  the  center  of  it  a  portfolio  which  contained 
papers  relating  to  this  affair,  he  seized  a  pencil  from 
the  stand,  and,  with  a  faintly  sarcastic  smile  of  self-sat- 
isfaction, buried  himself  in  the  perusal  of  the  documents 
relative  to  the  complicated  business  under  considera- 
tion. 

The  complication  was  as  follows:  The  distinguish- 
ing trait  of  Alekser  Aleksandrovitch  as  a  government 
official, — the  one  characteristic  trait  peculiar  to  him 
alone,  though  it  must  mark  every  progressive  chinov- 
nik,  —  the  trait  which  had  contributed  to  his  success 

VOL.  II.  —  5 


66  ANNA    KARENINA 

no  less  than  his  eager  ambition,  his  moderation,  his 
uprightness,  and  his  self-confidence,  was  his  detesta- 
tion of  "red  tape,"  and  his  sincere  desire  to  avoid, 
as  far  as  he  could,  unnecessary  writing,  and  to  go 
straight  on  in  accomplishing  needful  business  with  all 
expedition  and  economy.  It  happened  that,  in  the 
famous  Commission  of  the  14th  of  June,  a  project  was 
mooted  for  the  irrigation  of  the  fields  in  the  government 
of  Zarai,  which  formed  a  part  of  Aleksei"  Aleksandro- 
vitch's  jurisdiction ;  and  this  project  offered  a  striking 
example  of  the  few  results  obtained  by  official  corre- 
spondence and  expenditure. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  knew  that  it  was  a  worthy 
object.  The  matter  of  the  irrigation  of  the  fields  in  the 
government  of  Zaraif  had  come  to  him  by  inheritance 
from  his  predecessor  in  the  ministry,  and,  in  fact,  had  al- 
ready cost  much  money  and  brought  no  results.  When 
Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  entered  the  ministry,  he  had 
perceived  this,  and  had  wanted  immediately  to  put  his 
hand  to  this  work ;  but  at  first  he  did  not  feel  himself 
strong  enough  and  perceived  that  it  touched  too  many 
interests  and  was  imprudent,  and  afterward,  having 
become  involved  in  other  matters,  he  entirely  forgot 
about  it. 

The  fertilization  of  the  ZaraY  fields,  like  all  things, 
went  in  its  own  way  by  force  of  inertia.  Many  people 
got  their  living  through  it,  and  one  family  in  particu- 
lar, a  very  agreeable  and  musical  family  —  all  of  the 
daughters  of  which  played  on  stringed  instruments. 
Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  knew  this  family,  and  had 
been  nuptial  godfather  ^  when  one  of  the  elder  daugh- 
ters was  married. 

The  opposition  to  this  affair,  raised  by  his  enemies  in 
another  branch  of  the  ministry,  was  unjust,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  because  in  every  min- 
istry there  are  similar  cases  which  by  a  well-known  rule 
of  official  etiquette  no  one  ever  bothers  himself  about. 
But  now,  since  they  had  thrown  down  the  gauntlet,  he 

1  Posazhonnui  otyets,  —  a  man  who  takes  the  father's  place  in  the  Rus- 
sian wedding  ceremuny. 


ANNA    KARENINA  67 

had  boldly  accepted  the  challenge  and  asked  for  the 
appointment  of  a  special  commission  for  examining  and 
verifying  the  labors  of  the  commissioners  on  the  fertili- 
zation of  the  Zarai'  fields ;  and  this  did  not  prevent  him 
from  also  keeping  these  gentlemen  busy  in  other  ways. 
He  had  also  demanded  a  special  commission  for  in- 
vestigating the  status  and  organization  of  the  foreign 
populations. 

This  last  question  had  likewise  been  raised  by  the 
Commission  of  June  14,  and  was  energetically  supported 
by  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  on  the  ground  that  no  de- 
lay should  be  allowed  in  relieving  the  deplorable  situa- 
tion of  these  alien  tribes. 

In  committee  this  matter  gave  rise  to  the  most  lively 
discussions  among  the  ministries.  The  ministry  hostile 
to  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  proved  that  the  position  of 
the  foreign  populations  was  perfectly  flourishing;  that 
to  meddle  with  them  would  be  to  injure  their  well-being; 
and  that,  if  any  fault  could  be  found  in  regard  to  the 
matter,  it  was  due  to  the  neglect  of  Aleksei  Aleksandro- 
vitch and  his  ministry,  in  not  carrying  out  the  measures 
prescribed  by  law. 

Now  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  had  made  up  his  mind 
to  demand :  first,  the  appointment  of  a  new  committee, 
whose  duty  should  be  to  study  on  the  spot  the  condi- 
tion of  the  foreign  populations ;  secondly,  in  case  their 
condition  should  be  found  such  as  the  official  data  in 
the  hands  of  the  committee  represented,  that  a  new 
scientific  commission  should  be  sent  to  study  into  the 
causes  of  this  sad  state  of  things,  with  the  aim  of  set- 
tling it  from  the  (a)  political,  (d)  administrative,  (c) 
economical,  (d)  ethnographical,  (e)  physical,  and  (/') 
religious  point  of  view ;  thirdly,  that  the  hostile  min- 
istry should  be  required  to  furnish  the  particulars  in 
regard  to  the  measures  taken  during  the  last  ten  years 
to  relieve  the  wretched  situation  in  which  these  tribes 
were  placed ;  and  fourthly  and  finally,  that  this  minis- 
try should  explain  the  fact  that  they  had  acted  in 
absolute  contradiction  to  the  fundamental  and  organic 
law,  Volume  T,  page  18,  with  reference  to  Article  36, 


68  ANNA    KARENINA 

as  was  proved  by  an  act  of  the  committee  under  num- 
bers 17,015  and  18,308  of  the  17th  of  December,  1863, 
and  the  19th  of  June,  1864. 

A  flush  of  animation  covered  Aleksei  Aleksandro- 
vitch's  face  as  he  rapidly  wrote  down  for  his  own  use 
a  digest  of  these  thoughts.  After  he  had  covered  a 
sheet  of  paper,  he  rang  a  bell,  and  sent  a  messenger 
to  the  director  of  the  chancelry,  asking  for  a  few  data 
which  were  missing.  Then  he  got  up,  and  began  to 
walk  up  and  down  the  room,  looking  again  at  the 
portrait  with  a  frown  and  a  scornful  smile.  Then  he 
resumed  his  book  about  the  cuneiform  inscriptions,  and 
found  that  his  interest  of  the  evening  before  had  come 
back  to  him.  He  went  to  bed  about  eleven  o'clock ; 
and  as  he  lay,  still  awake,  he  passed  in  review  the  affair 
with  his  wife,  and  it  no  longer  appeared  to  him  in  the 
same  gloomy  aspect. 


CHAPTER   XV 

Though  Anna  had  obstinately  and  angrily  contra- 
dicted Vronsky  when  he  told  her  that  her  position  was 
impossible,  yet  in  the  bottom  of  her  heart  she  felt  that 
it  was  false  and  dishonorable,  and  she  longed  with  all 
her  soul  to  escape  from  it.  When,  in  a  moment  of  agi- 
tation, she  avowed  all  to  her  husband  as  they  were  re- 
turning from  the  races,  notwithstanding  the  pain  which 
it  cost  her,  she  felt  glad.  After  Aleksei"  Aleksandro- 
vitch  left  her,  she  kept  repeating  to  herself  that  she 
was  glad,  that  now  all  was  explained,  and  that  hence- 
forth there  would  be  at  least  no  more  need  of  falsehood 
and  deception.  It  seemed  to  her  indubitable  that  now 
her  position  would  be  henceforth  determined.  It  might 
be  bad,  but  it  would  be  definite,  and  there  would  be  an 
end  to  lying  and  equivocation.  The  pain  which  her 
words  had  cost  her  husband  and  herself  would  have 
its  compensation,  she  thought,  in  the  fact  that  now  all 
would  be  definite. 

That  very  evening  Vronsky  came  to  see  her,  but  she 


ANNA    KARENINA  69 

did  not  tell  him  what  had  taken  place  between  her  hus- 
band and  herself,  although  it  was  needful  to  tell  him,  in 
order  that  the  affair  might  be  definitely  settled. 

The  next  morning,  when  she  awoke,  her  first  memory 
was  of  the  words  that  she  had  spoken  to  her  husband ; 
and  they  seemed  to  her  so  odious,  that  she  could  not  im- 
agine now  how  she  could  have  brought  herself  to  say 
such  strange  brutal  words,  and  she  could  not  conceive 
what  the  result  of  them  would  be.  But  the  words  were 
irrevocable,  and  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  had  departed 
without  replying. 

"  I  have  seen  Vronsky  since,  and  I  did  not  tell  him. 
Even  at  the  moment  he  went  away,  I  wanted  to  hold 
him  back  and  to  tell  him ;  but  I  postponed  it  because  I 
felt  how  strange  it  was  that  I  did  not  tell  him  at  the 
first  moment.  Why  did  I  have  the  desire,  and  yet  not 
speak  .-* " 

And,  in  reply  to  this  question,  the  hot  flush  of  shame 
kindled  in  her  face.  She  realized  that  it  was  shame  that 
kept  her  from  speaking.  Her  position,  which  the  even- 
ing before  had  seemed  to  her  so  clear,  suddenly  pre- 
sented itself  as  very  far  from  clear,  as  inextricable.  She 
began  to  fear  the  dishonor  about  which  she  had  not 
thought  before.  When  she  considered  what  her  hus- 
band might  do  to  her,  the  most  terrible  ideas  came  to 
her  mind.  It  occurred  to  her  that  at  any  instant  the 
steward  ^  might  appear  to  drive  her  out  of  house  and 
home,  and  that  her  shame  might  be  proclaimed  to  all 
the  world.  She  asked  herself  where  she  could  go  if 
they  drove  her  from  home,  and  she  found  no  answer. 

When  she  thought  of  Vronsky,  she  imagined  that  he 
did  not  love  her,  and  that  he  was  already  beginning  to 
tire  of  her,  and  that  she  could  not  impose  herself  on 
him,  and  she  felt  angry  with  him.  It  seemed  to  her 
that  the  words  which  she  spoke  to  her  husband,  and 
which  she  incessantly  repeated  to  herself,  were  spoken 
so  that  everybody  could  hear  them,  and  had  heard  them. 
She  could  not  bring  herself  to  look  in  the  faces  of  those 
with  whom  she  lived.     She  could  not  bring  herself  to 

^  Upravlyayushchy. 


70  ANNA    KARENINA 

ring  for  her  maid,  and  still  less  to  go  down  and  meet 
her  son  and  his  governess. 

The  maid  came,  and  stood  long  at  the  door,  listening ; 
finally  she  decided  to  go  to  her  without  a  summons.  Anna 
looked  at  her  questioningly,  and  in  her  terror  she  blushed. 
The  maid  apologized  for  coming,  saying  that  she  thought 
she  heard  the  bell.  She  brought  a  gown  and  a  note. 
The  note  was  from  Betsy.  Betsy  reminded  her  that 
Liza  Merkalova  and  the  Baroness  Stolz  with  their 
adorers,  Kaluzhsky  and  the  old  man  Stremof ,  were  com- 
ing to  her  house  that  morning  for  a  game  of  croquet. 
"  Come  and  look  on,  please,  as  a  study  of  manners.  I 
shall  expect  you,"  was  the  conclusion  of  the  note. 

Anna  read  the  letter,  and  sighed  profoundly. 

"  Nothing,  nothing,  I  need  nothing,"  said  she  to  An- 
nushka,  who  was  arranging  the  brushes  and  toilet  articles 
on  her  dressing-table.  "  Go  away.  I  will  dress  myself 
immediately,  and  come  down.     I  need  nothing." 

Annushka  went  out ;  yet  Anna  did  not  begin  to  dress, 
but  sat  in  the  same  attitude,  with  bent  head  and  folded 
hands ;  and  occasionally  she  would  shiver,  and  begin  to 
make  some  gesture,  to  say  something,  and  then  fall  back 
into  Hstlessness  again.  She  kept  saying,  '■'■  Bozhe  moi ! 
Bozhe  moi' /"^  hut  the  words  had  no  meaning  in  her 
mind.  The  thought  of  seeking  a  refuge  from  her  situa- 
tion in  religion,  although  she  never  doubted  the  faith  in 
which  she  had  been  trained,  seemed  to  her  as  strange  as 
to  go  and  ask  help  of  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  him- 
self. She  knew  beforehand  that  the  refuge  offered  by 
religion  was  possible  only  by  the  absolute  renunciation 
of  all  that  constituted  for  her  the  meaning  of  life.  She 
suffered,  and  was  frightened  besides,  by  a  sensation  that 
was  new  to  her  experience  hitherto,  and  which  seemed 
to  her  to  take  possession  of  her  inmost  soul.  She  seemed 
to  feel  double,  just  as  sometimes  eyes,  when  weary,  see 
double.  She  knew  not  what  she  feared,  what  she  de- 
sired. She  knew  not  whether  she  feared  and  desired 
what  had  passed  or  what  was  to  come,  and  what  she 
desired  she  did  not  know. 

1  Literally,  «  My  God." 


ANNA    KARENINA  71 

"  Oh  !  what  am  I  doing  ? "  she  cried,  suddenly  feel- 
ing a  pain  in  both  temples ;  and  she  discovered  that 
she  had  taken  her  hair  in  her  two  hands,  and  was  pull- 
ing it.     She  got  up,  and  began  to  walk  the  floor. 

'•  The  coffee  is  served,  and  Mavizel  and  Serozha  are 
waiting,"  said  Annushka,  coming  in  again,  and  finding 
her  mistress  in  the  same  condition  as  before. 

"  Serozha .''  what  is  Serozha  doing,"  suddenly  asked 
Anna,  remembering,  for  the  first  time  that  morning,  the 
existence  of  her  son, 

"  He  has  been  naughty,  I  think,"  said  Annushka, 
with  a  smile. 

"  How  naughty  .-'  " 

"You  had  some  peaches  in  the  corner  cupboard;  he 
took  one,  and  ate  it  on  the  sly,  it  seems." 

The  thought  of  her  son  suddenly  called  Anna  from 
the  impassive  state  in  which  she  had  been  sunk.  She 
remembered  the  partly  sincere,  though  somewhat  ex- 
aggerated, role  of  devoted  mother,  which  she  had  taken 
on  herself  for  a  number  of  years,  and  she  felt  with  joy 
that  in  this  relationship  she  had  a  standpoint  indepen- 
dent of  her  relation  to  her  husband  and  Vronsky. 
This  standpoint  was  —  her  son.  In  whatever  situation 
she  might  be  placed,  she  could  not  give  him  up.  Her 
husband  might  drive  her  from  him,  and  put  her  to 
shame ;  Vronsky  might  turn  his  back  on '  her,  and 
resume  his  former  independent  life,  —  and  here  again 
she  thought  of  him  with  a  feeling  of  anger  and  reproach, 
—  but  she  could  not  leave  her  son.  She  had  an  aim 
in  life ;  and  she  must  act,  act  so  as  to  safeguard  this 
relation  toward  her  son,  so  that  they  could  not  take 
him  from  her.  She  must  act  as  speedily  as  possible 
before  they  took  him  from  her.  She  must  take  her 
son  and  go  off.  That  was  the  one  thing  which  she 
now  had  to  do.  She  must  calm  herself,  and  get  away 
from  this  tormenting  situation.  The  very  thought  of 
an  action  having  reference  to  her  son,  and  of  going 
away  with  him  anywhere,  anywhere,  already  gave  her 
consolation. 

She  dressed  in  haste,  went  down-stairs,  and  with  firm 


72  ANNA    KARENINA 

steps  entered  the  drawing-room,  where,  as  usual,  she 
found  lunch  ready,  and  Serozha  and  the  governess  wait- 
ing for  her.  Serozha,  all  in  white,  was  standing  near 
a  table  under  the  mirror,  with  the  expression  of  con- 
centrated attention  which  she  knew  so  well,  and  in 
which  he  resembled  his  father.  Bending  over,  he  was 
busy  with  some  flowers  which  he  had  brought  in. 

The  governess  had  a  very  stern  expression.  Serozha, 
as  soon  as  he  saw  his  mother,  uttered  a  sharp  cry, 
which  was  a  frequent  custom  of  his,  —  "  Ah,  mamma  !  " 
Then  he  stopped,  undecided  whether  to  throw  down 
the  flowers  and  run  to  his  mother,  and  let  the  flowers 
go,  or  to  finish  his  bouquet  and  take  it  to  her. 

The  governess  bowed,  and  began  a  long  and  circum- 
stantial account  of  the  naughtiness  that  Serozha  had 
committed ;  but  Anna  did  not  hear  her.  She  was 
thinking  whether  she  should  take  her  with  them. 

"  No,  I  will  not,"  she  decided;  "I  will  go  alone  with 
my  son." 

"Yes,  that  was  very  naughty,"  said  Anna;  and,  tak- 
ing the  boy  by  the  shoulder,  she  looked  with  a  gentle, 
not  angry,  face  at  the  confused  but  happy  boy,  and 
kissed  him.  "  Leave  him  with  me,"  said  she  to  the 
wondering  governess ;  and,  not  letting  go  his  arm,  she 
sat  down  at  the  table  where  the  coffee  was  waiting. 

"  Mamnia  ....  I  ....  I  ....  did  n't ...."  stammered  Serozha, 
trying  to  judge  by  his  mother's  expression  what  fate  was 
in  store  for  him  for  having  pilfered  the  peach. 

"Serozha,"  she  said,  as  soon  as  the  governess  had 
left  the  room,  "  that  was  naughty.  You  will  not  do  it 
again,  will  you .-'....  Do  you  love  me  .-*  " 

She  felt  that  the  tears  were  standing  in  her  eyes. 
"  Why  can  I  not  love  him  ? "  she  asked  herself,  study- 
ing the  boy's  frightened  and  yet  happy  face.  "  And 
can  he  join  with  his  father  to  punish  me  ?  Will  he  not 
have  pity  on  me  .-•  " 

The  tears  began  to  course  down  her  face ;  and,  in 
order  to  hide  them,  she  rose  up  quickly,  and  hastened, 
almost  ran,  to  the  terrace. 

Clear,  cool  weather  had  succeeded  the  stormy  rains 


ANNA    KARENINA  73 

of  the  last  few  days.  In  spite  of  the  warm  sun  which 
shone  on  the  thick  foliage  of  the  trees,  it  was  cool  in 
the  shade. 

She  shivered  both  from  the  coolness  and  from  the 
sentiment  of  fear  which  in  the  cool  air  seized  her  with 
new  force. 

"Go,  go  and  find  Mariette,"  said  she  to  Serozha,  who 
had  followed  her ;  and  then  she  began  to  walk  up  and 
down  on  the  straw  carpet  which  covered  the  terrace. 
"  Will  they  not  forgive  me  .'* "  she  asked  herself.  "Will 
they  not  understand  that  all  this  could  not  possibly  have 
been  otherwise  .-* " 

As  she  stopped  and  looked  at  the  top  of  the  aspens 
waving  in  the  wind,  with  their  freshly  washed  leaves 
glittering  brightly  in  the  cool  sunbeams,  it  seemed  to 
her  that  they  would  not  forgive  her,  that  all,  that  every- 
thing, would  be  as  pitiless  toward  her  as  that  sky  and 
that  foliage.  And  again  she  felt  that  mysterious  sense 
in  her  inmost  soul  that  she  was  in  a  dual  state. 

"  I  must  not,  must  not  think,"  she  said  to  herself. 
"  I  must  have  courage.  Where  shall  .1  go  }  When  ? 
Whom  shall  I  take .-'  Yes  !  to  Moscow  by  the  evening 
train,  with  Annushka  and  Serozha  and  only  the  most 
necessary  things.     But  first  I  must  write  to  them  both." 

She  hurried  back  into  the  house  to  her  boudoir,  sat 
down  at  the  table,  and  wrote  her  husband :  — 

After  what  has  passed,  I  cannot  longer  remain  in  your  house. 
I  am  going  away,  and  I  shall  take  my  son.  I  do  not  know  the 
laws,  and  so  I  do  not  know  with  which  of  his  parents  the  child 
should  remain ;  but  I  take  him  with  me,  because  I  cannot  live 
without  him.     Be  magnanimous  ;  let  me  have  him. 

Up  to  this  point  she  wrote  rapidly  and  naturally ; 
but  this  appeal  to  a  magnanimity  which  she  had  never 
seen  in  him,  and  the  need  of  ending  her  letter  with 
something  affecting,  brought  her  to  a  halt. 

"  I  cannot  speak  of  my  fault  and  my  repentance, 
because ....  "  Again  she  stopped,  unable  to  find  the 
right  words  to  express  her  thoughts.  "  No,"  she  said, 
"  nothing   more   is   necessary ; "    and,  tearing   up    this 


74  ANNA    KARENINA 

letter,  she  began  another,  from  which  she  left  out  any 
appeal  to  his  generosity,  and  sealed  it. 

She  had  to  write  a  second  letter,  to  Vronsky. 

"  I  have  confessed  to  my  husband,"  she  began ;  and 
she  sat  long  wrapped  in  thought,  without  being  able  to 
write  more.  That  was  so  coarse,  so  unfeminine  !  "  And 
then,  what  can  I  write  to  him.-'"  she  asked  herself. 
Again  the  crimson  of  shame  mantled  her  face  as  she 
remembered  how  calm  he  was,  and  she  felt  so  vexed 
with  him  that  she  tore  the  sheet  of  paper  with  its  one 
phrase  into  little  bits.  "  I  cannot  write,"  she  said  to 
herself ;  and,  closing  her  desk,  she  went  up-stairs,  told 
the  governess  and  the  domestics  that  she  was  going  to 
Moscow  that  evening,  and  instantly  began  to  make  her 
preparations. 

CHAPTER   XVI 

In  all  the  rooms  of  the  villa,  the  men-servants,  the 
gardeners,  the  lackeys,  were  hurrying  about  laden  with 
various  things.  Cupboards  and  commodes  were  cleared 
of  their  contents.  Twice  they  had  gone  to  the  shop  for 
packing-cord ;  on  the  floor  lay  piles  of  newspapers. 
Two  trunks,  traveling-bags,  and  a  bundle  of  plaids 
had  been  carried  into  the  anteroom.  A  carriage  and 
two  cabs  were  waiting  at  the  front  door.  Anna,  who  in 
the  haste  of  packing  had  somewhat  forgotten  her  in- 
ward anguish,  was  standing  by  her  table  in  her  boudoir 
and  packing  her  bag,  when  Annushka  called  her  atten- 
tion to  the  rumble  of  a  carriage  approaching  the  house. 

Anna  looked  out  of  the  window,  and  saw  on  the 
steps  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch's  messenger-boy  ringing 
the  front-door  bell. 

"  Go  and  see  what  it  is,"  said  she,  and  then  sat  down 
in  her  chair  and,  folding  her  hands  on  her  knees, 
waited  with  calm  resignation.  A  lackey  brought  her 
a  fat  packet  directed  in  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch's 
handwriting. 

"The  messenger  was  ordered  to  wait  an  answer," 
said  he. 


ANNA   KARENINA  ^5 

"Very  well,"  she  replied;  and  as  soon  as  he  left  the 
room  she  opened  the  packet  with  trembling  fingers.  A 
roll  of  fresh,  new  bank-notes,  in  a  wrapper,  fell  out  first. 
She  unfolded  the  letter  and  began  to  read  it  at  the  end. 
"  All  the   necessary  measures   for   your   return  hither 

will  be  taken I  attach  a  very  particular  importance 

to  your  attention  to  my  request,"  she  read. 

She  ran  it  through  hastily  backwards,  a  second  time, 
read  it  all  through,  and  then  she  read  it  again  from 
beginning  to  end.  When  she  had  finished  it,  she  felt 
chilled,  and  had  the  consciousness  that  some  terrible 
and  unexpected  misfortune  was  crushing  her. 

That  very  morning  she  had  regretted  her  confession 
to  her  husband,  and  desired  nothing  so  much  as  that  she 
had  not  spoken  those  words.  And  this  letter  treated 
her  words  as  if  they  had  not  been  spoken,  gave  her 
what  she  desired.  And  yet  it  seemed  to  her  more 
cruel  than  anything  that  she  could  have  imagined. 

"  Right,  he  is  right ! "  she  murmured.  "  Of  course 
he  is  always  right ;  he  is  a  Christian,  he  is  magnani- 
mous !  Yes,  the  low,  vile  man  !  No  one  understands, 
no  one  knows  him  but  me ;  and  I  cannot  explain  it. 
People  say,  '  He  is  a  religious,  moral,  honorable,  intel- 
lectual man.'  But  they  have  not  seen  what  I  have 
seen ;  they  do  not  know  how  for  eight  years  he  has 
crushed  my  life,  crushed  everything  that  was  vital  in 
me ;  how  he  has  never  once  thought  of  me  as  a  living 
woman  who  needed  love.  They  don't  know  how  at 
every  step  he  has  insulted  me,  and  yet  remained  self- 
satisfied.  Have  I  not  striven,  striven  with  all  my 
powers,  to  find  a  justification  of  my  life .-'  Have  I  not 
done  my  best  to  love  him,  to  love  his  son  when  I  could 
not  love  my  husband .-"  But  the  time  came  when  I 
found  I  could  no  longer  deceive  myself,  that  I  am  a 
living  being,  that  I  am  not  to  blame,  that  God  has 
made  me  so,  that  I  must  love  and  live.  And  now  what  ? 
He  might  kill  me,  he  might  kill  /nm,  and  I  could  endure 
it,  I  could  forgive  it.     But  no,  he.... 

"  Why  should  I  not  have  foreseen  what  he  would  do  ? 
He  does  exactly  in  accordance  with  his  despicable  char- 


76  ANNA    KARENINA 

acter ;  he  stands  on  his  rights.  But  I,  poor  unfortunate, 
am  sunk  lower  and  more  irreclaimably  than  ever  toward 
ruin.  '  Yo?i  may  stinnise  tvJiat  awaits  you  and  your  son,'  " 
she  repeated  to  herself,  remembering  a  sentence  in  his 
letter.  "  It  is  a  threat  that  he  means  to  rob  me  of  my 
son,  and  doubtless  their  wretched  laws  allow  it.  But, 
do  I  not  see  why  he  said  that  ?  He  has  no  belief  in  my 
love  for  my  son  ;  or  else  he  is  deriding,  —  as  he  always 
does,  in  his  sarcastic  manner,  —  is  deriding  this  feeling 
of  mine,  for  he  knows  that  I  will  not  abandon  my  son  — 
I  cannot  abandon  him;  that  without  my  son,  life  would 
be  unsupportable,  even  with  him  whom  I  love  ;  and  that 
to  abandon  my  son,  and  leave  him,  I  should  fall  like  the 
worst  of  women.  This  he  knows,  and  knows  that  I 
should  never  have  the  power  to  do  so. 

"  *  Our  lives  must  remain  tinchanged,'  "  she  continued, 
remembering  another  sentence  in  the  letter.  "This 
life  was  a  torture  before  ;  but  of  late  it  has  grown  worse 
than  ever.  What  will  it  be  now .-'  And  he  knows  all 
this,  —  knows  that  I  cannot  repent  because  I  breathe, 
because  I  love;  he  knows  that  nothing  except  falsehood 
and  deceit  can  result  from  this :  but  he  must  needs  pro- 
long my  torture.  I  know  him,  and  I  know  that  he 
swims  in  perjury  like  a  fish  in  water.  But  no;  I  will 
not  give  him  this  pleasure.  I  will  break  this  network  of 
lies  in  which  he  wants  to  enwrap  me.  Come  what  may, 
anything  is  better  than  lies  and  deception. 

"  But  how  .''  Bozhe  mof !  Bozhe  moif !  Was  there 
ever  woman  so  unhappy  as  I  ? .... 

"  No,  I  will  break  it !  I  will  break  it ! "  she  cried, 
springing  to  her  feet  and  striving  to  keep  back  the  tears. 
And  she  went  to  her  writing-table  to  begin  another 
letter  to  him.  But  in  the  lowest  depths  of  her  soul  she 
felt  that  she  had  not  the  power  to  break  the  network  of 
circumstances,  —  that  she  had  not  the  power  to  escape 
from  the  situation  in  which  she  was  placed,  false  and 
dishonorable  though  it  was. 

She  sat  down  at  the  table  ;  but,  instead  of  writing, 
she  folded  her  arms  on  the  table,  and  bowed  her  head 
on  them,  and  began  to  weep  like  a  child,  with  heaving 


ANNA   KARENINA  77 

breast  and  convulsive  sobs.  She  wept  because  her 
visions  about  an  explanation,  about  a  settlement  of  her 
position,  had  vanished  forever.  She  knew  that  now  all 
things  would  go  on  as  before,  and  even  worse  than  be- 
fore. She  felt  that  her  position  in  society,  which  she 
had  slighted,  and  even  that  morning  counted  as  dross, 
was  dear  to  her ;  that  she  should  never  have  the 
strength  to  abandon  it  for  the  shameful  position  of  a 
woman  who  has  deserted  her  husband  and  son  and 
joined  her  lover ;  she  felt  that  in  spite  of  all  her  efforts 
she  should  never  be  stronger  than  herself.  She  never 
would  know  what  freedom  to  love  meant,  but  would  be 
always  a  guilty  woman,  constantly  under  the  threat  of 
detection,  deceiving  her  husband  for  the  disgraceful  so- 
ciety of  an  independent  stranger,  with  whose  life  she 
could  never  join  hers.  She  knew  that  this  would  be  so, 
and  yet  at  the  same  time  it  was  so  terrible  that  she  could 
not  acknowledge,  even  to  herself,  how  it  would  end. 
And  she  wept,  unrestrainedly  as  a  child  who  has  been 
punished  sobs. 

The  steps  of  a  lackey  approaching  brought  her  to 
herself;  and,  hiding  from  him  her  face,  she  pretended 
to  be  writing. 

"  The  courier  would  like  his  answer,"  said  the 
lackey. 

"  His  answer  ?  Oh,  yes !  "  said  Anna.  "  Let  him 
wait.     I  will  ring." 

"What  can  I  write.'"'  she  asked  herself  "How 
decide  by  myself  alone  ?  What  do  I  know  ?  What  do 
I  want  ?     Whom  do  I  love  ?  " 

Again  it  seemed  to  her  that  in  her  soul  she  felt  the 
dual  nature.  She  was  alarmed  at  this  feeling,  and 
seized  on  the  first  pretext  for  activity  that  presented 
itself  so  that  she  might  be  freed  from  thoughts  about 
herself. 

"  I  must  see  AlekseY "  (thus  in  thought  she  called 
Vronsky) ;  "  he  alone  can  tell  me  what  I  must  do.  I 
will  go  to  Betsy's.     Perhaps  I  shall  find  him  there." 

She  completely  forgot  that  on  the  evening  before, 
when  she  told  him  that  she  was  not  going  to  the  Prin- 


f9.  ANNA   KARENINA 

cess  Tverskaya's,  he  said  that  in  that  case  he  should 
not  go  there  either. 

She  went  to  the  table  again,  and  wrote  her  husband:  — 

I  have  received  your  letter. 

A. 

She  rang,  and  gave  it  to  the  lackey. 

"  We  are  not  going,"  said  she  to  Annushka,  who  was 
just  coming  in. 

"  Not  going  at  all  ?  " 

"No;  but  don't  unpack  before  to-morrow,  and  have 
the  carriage  wait.     I  am  going  to  the  princess's." 

"  What  gown  shall  you  wear  ?  " 


CHAPTER   XVII 

The  croquet  party  to  which  the  Princess  Tverskaya 
invited  Anna  was  to  consist  of  two  ladies  and  their 
adorers.  These  two  ladies  were  the  leading  represen- 
tatives of  a  new  and  exclusive  Petersburg  clique,  called, 
in  imitation  of  an  imitation,  /es  sept  mei'veilles  dii  monde, 
the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  Both  of  them  be- 
longed to  the  highest  society,  but  to  a  circle  absolutely 
hostile  to  that  in  which  Anna  moved.  Moreover,  old 
Stremof,  one  of  the  influential  men  of  the  city,  and 
Liza  Merkalof's  lover,  was  in  the  service  of  Aleksei 
Alcksandrovitch's  enemies.  From  all  these  considera- 
tions Anna  did  not  care  to  go  to  Betsy's,  and  her  refusal 
called  forth  the  hints  in  the  Princess  Tverskaya's  note ; 
but  now  she  decided  to  go,  hoping  to  find  Vronsky 
there. 

She  reached  the  Princess  Tverskaya's  before  the  other 
guests. 

Just  as  she  arrived  Vronsky's  lackey,  with  his  well- 
combed  side-whiskers,  like  a  kammer-junker,  was  at 
the  door.  Raising  his  cap,  he  stepped  aside  to  let  her 
pass.  Anna  recognized  him  and  only  then  remembered 
that  Vronsky  had  told  her  that  he  was  not  coming. 
Undoubtedly  he  had  sent  him  with  his  excuses. 


ANNA    KARENINA  79 

As  she  was  taking  off  her  wraps  in  the  anteroom 
she  heard  the  lackey,  who  rolled  his  R's  like  a  kam>ner- 
jtinker,  say,  "  From  the  count  to  the  princess,"  at  the 
same  time  he  delivered  his  note. 

She  wanted  to  ask  him  where  his  barin  was.  She 
wanted  to  go  back  and  write  him  a  note,  asking  him  to 
come  to  her,  or  to  go  and  find  him  herself.  But  she 
could  not  follow  out  any  of  these  plans,  for  the  bell 
had  already  announced  her  presence,  and  one  of  the 
princess's  lackeys  was  waiting  at  the  door  to  usher  her 
into  the  rooms  beyond. 

"  The  princess  is  in  the  garden.  Word  has  been  sent 
to  her.  Would  you  not  like  to  step  out  into  the  gar- 
den ?  "  said  a  second  lackey  in  the  second  room. 

Her  position  of  uncertainty,  of  darkness,  was  just  the 
same  as  at  home.  It  was  even  worse,  because  she 
could  not  make  any  decision,  she  could  not  see  Vronsky, 
and  she  was  obliged  to  remain  in  the  midst  of  a  com- 
pany of  strangers  diametrically  opposed  to  her  present 
mood.  But  she  wore  a  toilet  which  she  knew  was  very 
becoming.  She  was  not  alone,  she  was  surrounded  by  that 
solemn  atmosphere  of  indolence  so  familiar;  and  on  the 
whole  it  was  better  to  be  there  than  at  home.  She  was 
not  obliged  to  think  what  she  would  do.  Things  would 
arrange  themselves. 

Betsy  came  to  meet  her  in  a  white  toilet  absolutely 
stunning  in  its  elegance  ;  and  Anna  greeted  her,  as 
usual,  with  a  smile.  The  Princess  Tverskaya  was  ac- 
companied by  Tushkievitch  and  a  young  relative  who, 
to  the  great  delight  of  the  provincial  family  to  which 
she  belonged,  was  spending  the  summer  with  the  famous 
princess. 

Apparently  there  was  something  unnatural  in  Anna's 
appearance,  for  Betsy  immediately  remarked  it. 

"  I  did  not  sleep  well,"  replied  Anna,  looking  furtively 
at  the  lackey,  who  was  coming,  as  she  supposed,  to 
bring  Vronsky's  note  to  the  princess. 

"  How  glad  I  am  that  you  came  !  "  said  Betsy.  "  I 
am  just  up,  and  I  should  like  to  have  a  cup  of  tea  before 
the  others  come.     And  you,"  she  said,  addressing  Tush- 


8o  ANNA    KARENINA 

kievitch,  "  had  better  go  with  Maska  and  try  the  kroket- 
gro-und,  which  has  just  been  cHpped.  You  and  I  will 
have  time  to  have  a  little  confidential  talk  while  taking  our 
tea.  We  '11  have  a  cozy  chat,  won't  we  ?  "  she  added  in 
English,  addressing  Anna  with  a  smile,  and  taking  her 
hand,  in  which  she  held  a  sunshade. 

"  All  the  more  willingly  because  I  cannot  stay  long. 
I  must  call  on  old  Vrede ;  I  have  been  promising  for 
a  hundred  years  to  come  and  see  her,"  said  Anna,  to 
whom  the  lie,  though  contrary  to  her  nature,  seemed 
not  only  simple  and  easy,  but  even  pleasurable.  Why 
she  said  a  thing  which  she  forgot  the  second  after,  she 
herself  could  not  have  told ;  she  said  it  at  haphazard, 
so  that,  in  case  Vronsky  were  not  coming,  she  might 
have  a  way  of  escape,  and  try  to  find  him  elsewhere ; 
and  why  she  happened  to  select  the  name  of  old 
Freilina  Vrede  rather  than  any  other  of  her  acquain- 
tances was  likewise  inexplicable.  But,  as  events  proved, 
out  of  all  the  possible  schemes  for  meeting  Vronsky, 
she  could  not  have  chosen  a  better. 

"  No,  I  shall  not  let  you  go,"  replied  Betsy,  scruti- 
nizing Anna's  face.  "  Indeed,  if  I  were  not  so  fond  of 
you,  I  should  be  tempted  to  be  vexed  with  you ;  any- 
body would  think  that  you  were  afraid  of  my  company 
compromising  you. — Tea  in  the  little  parlor,  if  you 
please,"  said  she  to  the  lackey,  blinking  her  eyes  as 
was  habitual  with  her ;  and,  taking  the  letter  from 
him,  she  began  to  read  it. 

"Aleksei"  disappoints  us,"^  said  she  in  French.  "He 
writes  that  he  cannot  come,"  she  added,  in  a  tone  as 
simple  and  unaffected  as  if  it  had  never  entered  her 
mind  that  Vronsky  was  of  any  more  interest  to  Anna 
than  as  a  possible  partner  in  a  game  of  croquet.  Anna 
knew  that  Betsy  knew  all ;  but,  as  she  heard  Betsy 
speak  of  Vronsky  now,  she  almost  brought  herself  to 
believe  for  a  moment  that  she  knew  nothing. 

"  Ah  !  "  she  said  indifferently,  as  if  it  was  a  detail 
which  did  not  interest  her.  "  How,"  she  continued, 
still  smiling,  "could  your  society  compromise  any  one.-*" 

*  Alexis  nous  fait  faux  bond. 


ANNA    KARENINA  8i 

This  manner  of  playing  with  words,  this  hiding  a 
secret,  had  a  great  charm  for  Anna,  as  it  has  for  all 
women.  And  it  was  not  the  necessity  of  secrecy,  or 
the  reason  for  secrecy,  but  the  process  itself,  that  gave 
the  pleasure. 

"I  cannot  be  more  Catholic  than  the  Pope,"  she  said. 
"  Stremof  and  Liza  Merkalof,  they  are  the  cream  of  the 
cream  of  society.  They  are  received  everywhere.  But 
/"  —  she  laid  special  stress  on  the/ — "/have  never 
been  severe  and  intolerant.  I  simply  have  not  had 
time." 

"  No.  But  perhaps  you  prefer  not  to  meet  Stremof  ? 
Let  him  break  lances  with  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  in 
committee-meetings  ;  that  does  not  concern  us.  But  in 
society  he  is  as  lovely  a  man  as  I  know,  and  a  passion- 
ate lover  of  croquet.  But  you  shall  see  him.  And  you 
must  see  how  admirably  he  conducts  himself  in  his 
ridiculous  position  as  Liza's  aged  lover.  He  is  very 
charming.  Don't  you  know  Safo  Stoltz }  She  is  the 
latest,  absolutely  the  latest  style." 

While  Betsy  was  saying  all  this,  Anna  perceived,  by 
her  joyous,  intelligent  eyes,  that  she  saw  her  embarrass- 
ment and  was  trying  to  put  her  at  her  ease.  They  had 
gone  into  the  little  boudoir. 

"  By  the  way,  I  must  write  a  word  to  AlekseY." 

And  Betsy  sat  down  at  her  writing-table,  hastily 
penned  a  few  lines,  and  inclosed  them  in  an  envelop. 
"  I  wrote  him  to  come  to  dinner.  One  of  the  ladies 
who  is  going  to  be  here  has  no  gentleman.  See  if  I 
am  imperative  enough.  Excuse  me  if  I  leave  you  a 
moment.  Please  seal  it  and  direct  it,"  said  she  at  the 
door,  "  I  have  some  arrangements  to  make." 

Without  a  moment's  hesitation,  Anna  took  Betsy's 
seat  at  the  table,  and,  without  reading  her  note,  added 
these  words  :  — 

I  must  see  you  without  fail.  Come  to  the  Vrede's  Garden. 
I  will  be  there  at  six  o'clock. 

She  sealed  the  letter  ;  and  Betsy,  coming  a  moment 
later,  despatched  it  at  once. 


82  ANNA    KARENINA 

The  two  ladies  took  their  tea  at  a  Httle  table  in  the 
cool  boudoir,  and  had  indeed  a  cozy  chat  as  the  princess 
had  promised,  until  the  arrival  of  her  guests.  They 
expressed  their  judgments  on  them,  beginning  with 
Liza  Merkalof. 

"  She  is  very  charming,  and  she  has  always  been 
congenial  to  me,"  said  Anna. 

"  You  ought  to  like  her.  She  adores  you.  Yesterday 
evening,  after  the  races,  she  came  to  see  me,  and  was 
in  despair  not  to  find  you.  She  says  that  you  are  a 
genuine  heroine  of  a  romance,  and  that  if  she  were 
a  man,  she  would  commit  a  thousand  follies  for  your 
sake.      Stremof  told  her  she  did  that,  even  as  she  was." 

"  But  please  tell  me  one  thing  I  never  could  under- 
stand," said  Anna,  after  a  moment  of  silence,  and  in  a 
tone  which  clearly  showed  that  she  did  not  ask  an  idle 
question  but  that  what  she  wanted  explained  was  more 
important  to  her  than  would  appear.  "  Please  tell  me, 
what  are  the  relations  between  her  and  Prince  Kaluzh- 
sky,  the  man  they  call  Mishka .-'  I  have  rarely  seen 
them  together.     What  are  their  relations  .-'  " 

A  smile  came  into  Betsy's  eyes,  and  she  looked  keenly 
at  Anna. 

"It's  a  new  kind,"  she  replied.  "All  these  ladies 
have  adopted  it.  They  've  thrown  their  caps  behind  the 
mill.     But  there  are  ways  and  ways  of  throwing  them." 

"  Yes,  but  what  are  her  relations  with  Kaluzhsky } " 

Betsy,  to  Anna's  surprise,  broke  into  a  gale  of  irresisti- 
ble laughter,  which  was  an  unusual  thing  with  her. 

"  But  you  are  trespassing  on  the  Princess  Miagkaya's 
province ;  it  is  the  question  of  an  enfant  terrible,''  said 
Betsy,  trying  in  vain  to  restrain  her  gayety,  but  again 
breaking  out  into  that  contagious  laughter  which  is  the 
peculiarity  of  people  who  rarely  laugh.  "  But  you  must 
ask  them,"  she  at  length  managed  to  say,  with  the  tears 
running  down  her  cheeks. 

"  Well !  you  laugh,"  said  Anna,  in  spite  of  herself 
joining  in  her  friend's  amusement;  "but  I  never  could 
understand  it  at  all,  and  I  don't  understand  what  part 
the  husband  plays." 


ANNA   KARENINA  83 

"  The  husband  ?  Liza  Merkalof's  husband  carries 
her  plaid  for  her,  and  is  always  at  her  beck  and  call. 
But  the  real  meaning  of  the  affair  no  one  cares  to  know. 
You  know  that  in  good  society  people  don't  speak  and 
don't  even  think  of  certain  details  of  the  toilet;  well,  it 
is  the  same  here." 

"  Are  you  going  to  Rolandaki's  fite  ?  "  asked  Anna, 
to  change  the  conversation. 

"  I  don't  think  so,"  replied  Betsy ;  and,  not  looking  at 
her  companion,  she  carefully  poured  the  fragrant  tea 
into  little  transparent  cups.  Then,  having  handed  one 
to  Anna,  she  rolled  a  cigarette,  and,  putting  it  into  a 
silver  holder,  she  began  to  smoke. 

"You  see,  I  am  in  a  fortunate  position,"  she  began 
seriously,  holding  her  cup  in  her  hand.  "  I  understand 
you,  and  I  understand  Liza.  Liza  is  one  of  these  nai've, 
childlike  natures,  who  cannot  distinguish  between  ill  and 
good,  —  at  least,  she  was  so  when  she  was  young,  and 
now  she  knows  that  this  simplicity  is  becoming  to  her. 
Now  perhaps  she  purposely  fails  to  understand  the  dis- 
tinction," said  Betsy,  with  a  sly  smile.  "  But  all  the 
same,  it  becomes  her.  You  see,  it  is  quite  possible  to 
look  on  things  from  a  tragic  standpoint,  and  to  get  tor- 
ment out  of  them;  and  it  is  possible  to  look  on  it  sim- 
ply, and  even  gayly.  Possibly  you  are  inclined  to  look 
on  things  too  tragically." 

"  How  I  should  like  to  know  others  as  well  as  I  know 
myself!  "  said  Anna,  with  a  serious  and  pensive  look. 
"Am  I  worse  than  others,  or  better.?     Worse,  I  think." 

"You  are  an  enfant  terrible,  an  enfant  tertible^"  was 
Betsy's  comment.     "  But  here  they  are ! " 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

Steps  were  heard,  and  a  man's  voice,  then  a  woman's 
voice  and  laughter,  and  immediately  after  the  expected 
guests  came  in :  Safo  Stoltz,  and  a  young  man  called 
Vaska,  whose  face  shone  with  exuberant  health.  It  was 
evident  that  rich  blood-making  beef,  burgundy,  and  truffles 


84  ANNA    KARENINA 

had  accomplished  their  work.  Vaska  bowed  to  the  two 
ladies  and  glanced  at  them,  but  only  for  a  second.  He 
followed  Safo  into  the  drawing-room,  and  he  followed 
her  through  the  drawing-room,  as  if  he  had  been  tied  to 
her,  and  he  kept  his  brilliant  eyes  fastened  on  her  as  if 
he  wished  to  devour  her.  Safo  Stoltz  was  a  blond  with 
black  eyes.  She  wore  shoes  with  enormously  high  heels, 
and  she  came  in  with  slow,  vigorous  steps,  and  shook 
hands  with  the  ladies  energetically,  like  a  man. 

Anna  had  never  before  met  with  this  new  celebrity, 
and  was  struck,  not  only  by  her  beauty,  but  by  the  ex- 
travagance of  her  toilet  and  the  boldness  of  her  man- 
ners. On  her  head  was  a  veritable  scaffolding  of  false 
and  natural  hair  of  a  lovely  golden  hue,  and  of  a  height 
corresponding  to  the  mighty  proportions  of  her  protu- 
berant and  very  visible  bosom.  Her  dress  was  so  tightly 
pulled  back,  that  at  every  movement  it  outlined  the 
shape  of  her  knees  and  thighs  ;  and  involuntarily  the 
question  arose :  Where,  under  this  enormous,  tottering 
mountain,  did  her  neat  little  body,  so  exposed  above, 
and  so  tightly  laced  below,  really  end .'' 

Betsy  made  haste  to  introduce  her  to  Anna. 

"  Can  you  imagine  it  ?  We  almost  ran  over  two 
soldiers,"  she  instantly  began  to  relate,  winking,  smiling, 
and  kicking  back  her  train,  which  she  in  turn  threw  too 
far  over  to  the  other  side.  "  I  was  coming  with  Vaska 
....  oh,  yes !  You  are  not  acquainted."  And  she  intro- 
duced the  young  man  by  his  family  name,  laughing 
heartily  at  her  mistake  in  calling  him  Vaska  before 
strangers.  Vaska  bowed  a  second  time  to  Anna,  but 
said  nothing  to  her.     He  turned  to  Safo. 

"The  wager  is  lost.  We  came  first,"  said  he,  smiling. 
"You  must  pay." 

Safo  laughed  still  more  gayly. 

"  Not  now,  though,"  said  she. 

"  All  right ;  I  '11  take  it  by  and  by." 

"  Very  well,  very  well !  Oh,  by  the  way  !  "  she  sud- 
denly cried  out  to  the  hostess.  "  I  ....  forgot  ....stupid 
that  I  was  !     I  bring  you  a  guest ;  here  he  is." 

The  young  guest  whom  Safo  presented,  after  having 


ANNA    KARENINA  85 

forgotten  him,  was  a  guest  of  such  importance  that,  not- 
withstanding his  youth,  all  the  ladies  rose  to  receive  him. 

This  was  Safo's  new  adorer;  and,  just  as  Vaska  did, 
he  followed  her  every  step. 

Immediately  after  came  Prince  Kaluzhsky  and  Liza 
Merkalof  with  Stremof.  Liza  was  a  rather  thin  brunette, 
with  an  Oriental,  indolent  type  of  countenance,  and  with 
ravishing,  and  as  everybody  said,  inscrutable  eyes.  The 
style  of  her  dark  dress  was  absolutely  in  keeping  with 
her  beauty.  Anna  noticed  it,  and  approved.  Liza 
was  as  quiet  and  unpretentious  as  Safo  was  loud  and 
obstreperous. 

But  Liza,  for  Anna's  taste,  was  vastly  more  attractive. 
Betsy,  in  speaking  of  her  to  Anna,  had  ridiculed  her 
affectation  of  the  manner  of  an  innocent  child ;  but 
when  Anna  saw  her,  she "  felt  that  this  was  not  fair. 
Liza  was  really  an  innocent,  gentle,  and  irresponsible 
woman,  a  little  spoiled.  To  be  sure,  her  morals  were 
the  same  as  Safo's.  She  also  had  in  her  train,  as  if 
sewed  to  her,  two  adorers,  one  young,  the  other  old, 
who  devoured  her  with  their  eyes.  But  there  was  some- 
thing about  her  better  than  her  surroundings;  she  was 
like  a  diamond  of  the  purest  water  surrounded  by  glass. 
The  brilliancy  shone  out  of  her  lovely,  enigmatical  eyes. 
The  wearied  and  yet  passionate  look  of  her  eyes,  sur- 
rounded by  dark  circles,  struck  one  by  its  absolute  sin- 
cerity. Any  one  looking  into  their  depths  would  think 
that  he  knew  her  completely ;  and  to  know  her  was  to 
love  her.  At  the  sight  of  Anna,  her  whole  face  sud- 
denly lighted  up  with  a  happy  smile. 

"  Oh !  How  glad  I  am  to  see  you  !  "  she  said,  as  she 
went  up  to  her.  "  Yesterday  afternoon  at  the  races  I 
wanted  to  get  to  you,  but  you  had  just  gone.  I  was  so 
anxious  to  see  you  yesterday  especially !  Too  bad, 
was  n't  it .-' "  S3,id  she,  gazing  at  Anna  with  a  look  which 
seemed  to  disclose  her  whole  soul. 

"  Yes !  I  never  would  have  believed  that  anything 
could  be  so  exciting,"  replied  Anna,  with  some  color. 

The  company  now  began  to  get  ready  to  go  to  the 
lawn. 


86  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  I  am  not  going,"  said  Liza,  sitting  down  near  Anna 
"  You  are  n't  going,  are  you  ?  What  pleasure  can  any 
one  find  in  croquet?" 

"  But  I  am  very  fond  of  it,"  said  Anna. 

"  There  !  how  is  it  that  you  don't  get  ennuy^e  ?  To 
look  at  you  is  a  joy.     You  live,  but  I  vegetate." 

"  How  vegetate  .-'  Why  !  they  say  you  have  the  gay- 
est society  in  Petersburg,"  said  Anna. 

"  Perhaps  those  who  are  not  of  our  circle  are  still 
more  ennuyee.  But  we,  it  seems  to  me,  are  not  happy, 
but  are  bored,  terribly  bored." 

Safo  lighted  a  cigarette,  and  went  to  the  lawn  with 
the  two  young  men.  Betsy  and  Stremof  stayed  at 
the  tea-table. 

"  How  bored } "  asked  Betsy.  "  Safo  says  she  had  a 
delightful  evening  with  you  yesterday." 

"Oh  !  how  unendurable  it  was  !  "  said  Liza.  "They 
all  came  to  my  house  with  me  after  the  races,  and  it 
was  all  so  utterly  monotonous.  It  is  forever  one  and  the 
same  thing.  They  sat  on  the  divans  the  whole  evening. 
How  could  that  be  delightful.?  No;  but  what  do  you 
do  to  keep  from  being  bored  .-*"  she  asked  again  of 
Anna.  "  It  is  enough  to  look  at  you !  You  are  evi- 
dently a  woman  who  can  be  happy  or  unhappy,  but 
never  emiuy/e.     Now  explain  what  you  do." 

"  I  don't  do  anything,"  said  Anna,  confused  by  such 
a  stream  of  questions. 

"That  is  the  best  way,"  said  Stremof,  joining  the 
conversation. 

Stremof  was  a  man  fifty  years  old,  rather  gray,  but 
well  preserved,  very  ugly,  but  with  a  face  full  of  char- 
acter and  intelligence.  Liza  Merkalof  was  his  wife's 
niece,  and  he  spent  with  her  all  his  leisure  time.  Though 
he  was  an  employee  in  the  service  of  Alekser  Aleksandro- 
vitch's  political  enemies,  he  endeavored,  now  that  he  met 
Anna  in  society,  to  act  the  man  of  the  world,  and  be 
exceedingly  amiable  to  his  enemy's  wife. 

"The  very  best  way  is  to  do  nothing,"  he  continued, 
with  his  wise  smile.  "  I  have  been  telling  you  this  long 
time,"  turning  to  Liza  Merkalof,  "that,  if  you  don't  want 


ANNA    KARENINA  87 

to  be  bored,  you  must  not  think  that  it  is  possible  to  be 
bored ;  just  as  one  must  not  be  afraid  of  not  sleeping  if 
he  is  troubled  with  insomnia.  This  is  just  what  Anna 
Arkadyevna  told  you." 

"  I  should  be  very  glad  if  I  had  said  so,"  said  Anna, 
"because  it  is  not  only  clever,  it  is  true." 

"  But  will  you  tell  me  why  it  is  not  hard  to  go  to 
sleep,  and  not  hard  to  be  free  from  ennui  V 

"To  sleep,  you  must  work;  and  to  be  happy,  you 
must  also  work." 

"  But  how  can  I  work  when  my  labor  is  useful  to  no 
one  ?     But  to  make  believe,  —  I  neither  can  nor  will." 

"You  are  incorrigible,"  sajd  he,  not  looking  at  her, 
but  turning  to  Anna  again.  He  rarely  met  her,  and 
could  not  well  speak  to  her  except  in  the  way  of  small 
talk ;  but  he  understood  how  to  say  light  things  grace- 
fully, and  he  asked  her  when  she  was  going  back  to 
Petersburg,  and  whether  she  liked  the  Countess  Lidya 
Ivanovna.  And  he  asked  these  questions  in  a  man- 
ner which  showed  his  desire  to  be  her  friend,  and  to 
express  his  consideration  and  respect. 

Tushkievitch  came  in  just  then  and  explained  that 
the  whole  company  was  waiting  for  the  croquet  players. 

"  No,  don't  go,  I  beg  of  you,"  said  Liza,  when  she 
found  that  Anna  was  not  intending  to  stay.  Stremof 
added  his  persuasions. 

"It  is  too  great  a  contrast,"  said  he,  "between  our 
society  and  old  Vrede's ;  and  then,  you  will  be  for  her 
only  an  object  for  slander,  while  here  you  will  only 
awaken  very  different  sentiments,  quite  the  opposite 
of  slander  and  ill-feeling." 

Anna  remained  for  a  moment  in  uncertainty.  This 
witty  man's  flattering  words,  the  childlike  and  naive 
sympathy  shown  her  by  Liza  Merkalof,  and  all  this 
agreeable  social  atmosphere,  so  opposed  to  what  she 
expected  elsewhere,  caused  her  a  moment  of  hesitation. 
Could  she  not  postpone  the  terrible  moment  of  expla- 
nation }  But  remembering  what  she  had  to  expect 
alone  at  home  if  she  should  not  come  to  some  decision, 
remembering   the   pain   that    she    had    felt   when    she 


88  ANNA    KARENINA 

pulled  her  hair  with  both  hands,  not  knowing  what 
she  did,  so  great  was  her  mental  anguish,  she  took 
leave,  and  went. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Vronsky,  in  spite  of  his  worldly  life  and  his  apparent 
frivolity,  was  a  man  who  detested  confusion.  Once, 
when  still  a  lad  in  the  School  of  Pages,  he  found  him- 
self short  of  money,  and  met  with  a  humiliating  refusal 
when  he  tried  to  borrow.  He  vowed  that  henceforth 
he  would  not  expose  himself  to  such  a  humiliation  again, 
and  he  kept  his  word.  In  order  to  keep  his  affairs  in 
order,  he  made,  more  or  less  often,  according  to  circum- 
stances, but  at  least  five  times  a  year,  an  examination  of 
his  affairs.  He  called  this  "straightening  his  affairs," 
or,  in  French,  faire  sa  lessive. 

The  morning  after  the  races  Vronsky  woke  late,  and 
without  stopping  to  shave,  or  take  his  bath,  put  on  his 
kitel,  or  soldier's  linen  frock,  and,  placing  his  money  and 
bills  and  paper  on  the  table,  proceeded  to  the  work  of 
settling  his  accounts.  Petritsky,  knowing  that  his  com- 
rade was  likely  to  be  irritable  when  engaged  in  such 
occupation,  quietly  got  up,  and  slipped  out  without  dis- 
turbing him. 

Every  man  acquainted,  even  to  the  minutest  details, 
with  all  the  complications  of  his  surroundings,  involun- 
tarily supposes  that  the  complications  and  tribulations  of 
his  life  are  a  personal  and  private  grievance  peculiar  to 
himself,  and  never  thinks  that  others  are  subjected  to 
the  same  complications  of  their  personal  troubles  he  him- 
self is.  Thus  it  seemed  to  Vronsky.  And  not  without 
inward  pride,  and  not  without  reason,  he  felt  that,  until 
the  present  time,  he  had  done  well  in  avoiding  the 
embarrassments  to  which  every  one  else  would  have  suc- 
cumbed. But  he  felt  that  now  it  was  necessary  for  him 
to  examine  into  his  affairs,  so  as  not  to  be  embarrassed. 

First,  because  it  was  the  easiest  to  settle,  Vronsky 
investigated   his   pecuniary  status.      He  wrote   in  his 


ANNA    KARENINA  89 

fluent,  delicate  hand  a  schedule  of  all  his  debts,  and 
adding  them  up  found  that  the  total  amounted  to  seven- 
teen thousand  rubles,  and  some  odd  hundreds,  which  he 
let  go  for  the  sake  of  clearness.  Counting  up  his  ready- 
money  and  his  bank-book,  he  had  only  eighteen  hun- 
dred rubles,  with  no  hope  of  more  until  the  new  year. 
Looking  over  the  schedule  of  his  debts,  Vronsky  classi- 
fied them,  putting  them  into  three  categories:  first,  the 
urgent  debts,  or,  in  other  words,  those  that  required  ready 
money,  so  that,  in  case  of  requisition,  there  might  not  be 
a  moment  of  delay.  These  amounted  to  four  thousand 
rubles,  —  fifteen  hundred  for  his  horse,  and  twenty-five 
hundred  as  a  guaranty  for  his  young  comrade,  Venevsky, 
who  had,  in  Vronsky's  company,  lost  this  amount  in  play- 
ing with  a  sharper.  Vronsky,  at  the  time,  had  wanted 
to  hand  over  the  money,  since  he  had  it  with  him ; 
but  Venevsky  and  Yashvin  insisted  on  paying  it,  rather 
than  Vronsky,  who  had  not  been  playing.  This  was  all 
very  well ;  but  Vronsky  knew  that  in  this  disgraceful 
affair,  in  which  his  only  participation  was  going  as 
Venevsky's  guaranty,  it  was  necessary  to  have  these 
twenty-five  hundred  rubles  ready  to  throw  at  the  rascal's 
head,  and  not  to  have  any  words  with  him.  Thus,  he 
had  to  reckon  the  category  of  urgent  debts  as  four 
thousand  rubles. 

In  the  second  category  were  eight  thousand  rubles 
of  debts,  and  these  were  less  imperative.  These  were 
what  he  owed  on  his  stable  account,  for  oats  and  hay, 
to  his  English  trainer,  and  other  incidentals.  At  a 
pinch,  two  thousand  would  suffice  to  leave  him  perfectly 
easy  in  mind.  The  remaining  debts  were  to  his  tailor, 
and  other  furnishers;  and  they  could  wait.  In  conclu- 
sion, he  found  that  he  needed,  for  immediate  use,  six 
thousand  rubles,  and  he  had  only  eighteen  hundred. 

For  a  man  with  an  income  of  a  hundred  thousand 
rubles,  —  as  people  supposed  Vronsky  to  have, — it  would 
seem  as  if  such  debts  as  these  could  not  be  very  em- 
barrassing ;  but  the  fact  was  that  he  had  not  an  income 
of  a  hundred  thousand  rubles.  The  large  paternal 
estate,  producing  two  hundred  thousand  rubles  a  year, 


90 


ANNA    KARENINA 


had  been  divided  between  the  two  brothers.  But  when 
the  elder  brother,  laden  with  debts,  married  the  Princess 
Varia  Tchirkof,  the  daughter  of  a  Dekabrist,^  who 
brought  him  no  fortune,  Aleksei  yielded  him  his  share 
of  the  inheritance,  reserving  only  an  income  of  twenty- 
five  thousand  rubles.  He  told  his  brother  that  this 
would  be  sufficient  for  him  until  he  married,  which  he 
thought  would  never  happen.  His  brother,  who  was  in 
command  of  one  of  the  most  expensive  regiments  in  the 
service  and  only  just  married,  could  not  refuse  this  gift. 

His  mother,  who  possessed  an  independent  fortune, 
kept  twenty-five  thousand  rubles  for  herself  and  gave 
her  younger  son  a  yearly  allowance  of  twenty  thousand 
rubles ;  and  Aleksef  spent  the  whole  of  it.  Recently 
the  countess,  angry  with  him  on  account  of  his  depar- 
ture from  Moscow  and  his  disgraceful  liaison,  had  ceased 
to  remit  to  him  any  money.  So  that  Vronsky,  who  was 
accustomed  to  living  on  a  forty-five  thousand  ruble  foot- 
ing, and  having  this  year  only  twenty-five  thousand, 
found  himself  in  some  extremity.  He  could  not  apply 
to  his  mother  to  help  him  out  of  his  difficulty,  for  her 
letter  which  he  had  received  the  day  before  angered 
him  by  the  insinuations  which  it  contained :  she  was 
ready,  it  said,  to  help  him  along  in  society,  or  to  advance 
him  in  his  career,  but  not  in  this  present  life  which  was 
scandalizing  all  the  best  people. 

His  mother's  attempt  to  bribe  him  wounded  him  in 
the  tenderest  spot  in  his  heart,  and  he  felt  more  coldly 
towards  her  than  ever. 

He  could  not  retract  his  magnanimous  promise  given 
to  his  brother ;  although  he  felt  now,  in  view  of  his 
rather  uncertain  relationship  with  Madame  Karenin, 
that  his  magnanimous  promise  had  been  given  too  has- 
tily, and  that,  even  though  he  were  not  married,  the 
hundred  thousand  rubles  might  stand  him  in  good  stead. 
But  it  was  impossible  to  retract.  The  impossibility  of 
taking  back  what  he  had  given  was  made  clear  to  him, 
especially  when  he  remembered  his  brother's  wife,  when 

^The  Dekabrists  were  the  revolutionists  of  December,  1825,  who  were 
banished  at  the  time  of  the  accession  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas. 


ANNA    KARENINA  91 

he  remembered  how  this  gentle,  excellent  Varia  had 
always  made  him  understand  that  she  should  not  forget 
his  generosity,  and  never  cease  to  appreciate  it.  It 
would  be  as  impossible  as  to  strike  a  woman,  to  steal, 
or  to  lie. 

There  was  only  one  possible  and  practicable  thing, 
and  Vronsky  adopted  it  without  a  moment's  hesitation : 
to  borrow  ten  thousand  rubles  of  a  usurer,  —  there 
was  no  difficulty  about  this, — to  reduce  his  expenses  as 
much  as  he  could,  and  to  sell  his  race-horses.  Having 
decided  to  do  this,  he  immediately  wrote  a  letter  to  Ro- 
landaki,  who  had  many  times  offered  to  buy  his  stud. 
Then  he  sent  for  his  English  trainer  and  the  usurer,  and 
devoted  the  money  which  he  had  on  hand  to  various 
accounts.  Having  finished  this  business,  he  wrote  a 
cold  and  sharp  reply  to  his  mother ;  and  then,  taking 
from  his  portfolio  Anna's  last  three  letters,  he  re-read 
them,  burned  them,  and,  remembering  his  last  conversa- 
tion with  her,  fell  into  deep  meditation. 


CHAPTER   XX 

Vronsky's  life  had  been  especially  happy,  because  he 
had  a  special  code  of  rules,  which  infallibly  determined 
all  he  ought  to  do  and  ought  not  to  do. 

This  code  embraced  a  very  small  circle  of  duties,  but 
the  rules  allowed  no  manner  of  question,  and  as  Vronsky 
never  had  occasion  to  go  outside  of  this  circle,  he  had 
never  been  obliged  to  hesitate  about  what  he  had  to  do. 
These  rules  prescribed  unfailingly  that  it  was  necessary 
to  pay  gambling  debts,  but  not  his  tailor's  bills ;  that  it 
was  not  permissible  to  tell  lies,  except  to  women ;  that 
it  was  not  right  to  deceive  any  one  except  a  husband ; 
that  insults  could  be  committed,  but  never  pardoned. 

All  these  precepts  might  be  wrong  and  illogical,  but 
they  were  indubitable  ;  and,  in  fulfilling  them,  Vronsky 
felt  that  he  was  calm,  and  had  the  right  to  hold  his  head 
high.  Only  very  recently,  however,  and  during  the 
progress  of  his  intimacy  with  Anna,  Vronsky  began  to 


92 


ANNA    KARENINA 


perceive  that  his  code  did  not  fully  determine  all  condi- 
tions, and  the  future  promised  to  present  difficulties  and 
doubts  through  the  labyrinth  of  which  he  could  not  find 
the  guiding  thread. 

Hitherto  his  relations  with  Anna  and  her  husband 
had  been,  on  his  part,  simple  and  clear ;  they  were  in 
harmony  with  the  code  that  guided  him. 

She  was  a  perfect  lady,  and  she  had  given  him  her 
love ;  he  loved  her,  and  therefore  she  had  a  right  to  his 
respect,  even  more  than  if  she  had  been  his  legal  wife. 
He  would  have  cut  off  his  hand  sooner  than  permit  him- 
self a  word  or  an  allusion  that  might  wound  her,  or  that 
would  seem  to  fail  in  that  respect  on  which,  as  a  woman, 
she  ought  to  count. 

His  relations  with  society  were  also  clear.  All  might 
know  or  suspect  his  relations  with  her,  but  no  one 
should  dare  to  speak  of  it.  At  the  first  hint,  he  was 
prepared  to  cause  the  speaker  to  hold  his  peace,  and  to 
respect  the  non-existent  honor  of  the  woman  whom  he 
loved. 

Still  more  clear  were  his  relations  to  the  husband  : 
from  the  first  moment  when  Anna  gave  him  her  love 
he  considered  his  right  and  his  only  imprescriptible. 
The  husband  was  merely  a  superfluous  and  meddlesome 
person.  Without  doubt,  he  was  in  a  pitiable  position ; 
but  what  could  be  done  about  it  ?  The  only  right  that 
was  left  him  was  to  demand  satisfaction  with  arms  in 
their  hands,  and  for  this  Vronsky  was  wholly  willing. 

In  the  last  few  days,  however,  new  complications  had 
arisen  in  their  relationship,  and  Vronsky  was  alarmed 
at  his  uncertainty.  Only  the  evening  before,  Anna  had 
confessed  that  she  was  pregnant ;  and  he  felt  that  this 
news  and  what  she  expected  from  him  demanded  some- 
thing that  was  not  defined  by  the  code  of  rules  by  which 
he  ruled  his  life.  Indeed,  he  was  taken  unawares,  and 
at  the  first  moment,  when  she  told  him  her  situation, 
his  heart  bade  him  take  her  from  her  husband.  H^ 
said  this,  but  now  on  reflection  he  saw  clearly  that  it 
would  be  better  not  to  do  so ;  but  at  the  same  time  he 
was  alarmed  and  perplexed. 


ANNA    KARENINA  93 

"  If  I  urge  her  to  leave  her  husband,  it  would  mean 
—  unite  her  life  with  mine.  Am  I  ready  for  that  ?  How 
can  I  elope  with  her  when  I  have  no  money  ?     Let  us 

admit  that  I  could  manage  that But  how  can  I  take 

her  away  while  I  am  connected  with  the  service  ?  If  I 
should  decide  upon  this,  I  should  have  to  get  money, 
and  throw  up  my  commission." 

And  he  fell  into  thought.  The  question  of  resigning, 
or  not,  brought  him  face  to  face  with  another  interest  of 
his  life  known  only  to  himself,  though  it  formed  the 
principal  spur  to  his  action. 

Ambition  had  been  the  dream  of  his  childhood  and 
youth,  a  dream  which  he  did  not  confess  even  to  himself, 
but  which  was  nevertheless  a  passion  so  strong  that  now 
it  fought  with  his  love.  His  first  advances  in  society, 
and  in  his  military  career,  had  been  brilliant,  but  two 
years  before  he  had  made  a  serious  blunder.  Wishing 
to  show  his  independence,  and  to  cause  a  sensation,  he 
refused  a  promotion  offered  him,  with  the  hope  that  his 
refusal  would  put  a  still  higher  value  upon  him.  But  it 
seemed  that  he  was  too  confident,  and  since  then  he  had 
been  neglected.  Finding  himself  reduced  nolens  volens 
to  the  position  of  an  independent  man,  he  accepted  it, 
behaving  with  perfect  propriety  and  wisdom,  as  if  he 
had  nothing  to  complain  of,  and  counted  himself 
slighted  by  no  one,  but  asked  only  to  be  left  in  peace 
to  amuse  himself  as  he  pleased. 

In  reality,  as  the  year  went  on,  and  even  before  he 
went  to  Moscow,  this  pleasure  had  begun  to  pall  on  him. 
He  felt  that  this  independent  position  of  a  man  capable 
of  doing  anything,  but  caring  to  do  nothing,  was  begin- 
ning to  grow  tame,  that  many  people  were  beginning  to 
think  that  he  was  incapable  of  doing  anything,  instead 
of  being  a  good,  honorable  young  fellow. 

His  relations  with  Madame  Karenin,  by  making  such 
a  sensation  and  attracting  attention  to  him,  for  a 
time  calmed  the  gnawings  of  the  worm  of  ambition; 
but  lately  this  worm  had  begun  to  gnaw  with  renewed 
energy.  Serpukhovskoi  —  the  friend  of  his  childhood, 
belonging  to  his  own  circle,  a  chum  of  his  in  the  School 


94  ANNA    KARENINA 

of  Pages,  who  had  graduated  with  him,  who  had  been 
his  rival  in  the  class-room  and  in  gymnasium,  in  his 
pranks  and  in  his  dreams  of  ambition  —  had  just  returned 
from  Central  Asia,  where  he  had  been  promoted  two 
tchins  and  won  honors  rarely  given  to  such  a  young 
general. 

He  had  only  just  come  to  Petersburg,  and  people  were 
talking  about  him  as  a  new  rising  star  of  the  first  magni- 
tude. 

Just  Vronsky's  age,  and  his  intimate  friend,  he  was  a 
general,  and  was  expecting  an  appointment  which  would 
give  him  great  influence  in  the  affairs  of  the  country ; 
while  Vronsky,  though  he  was  independent  and  brilliant, 
and  loved  by  a  lovely  woman,  was  only  a  rotniistr,  or 
cavalry  captain,  whom  they  allowed  to  remain  as  inde- 
pendent as  he  pleased. 

"  Of  course,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  I  am  not  envious 
of  Serpukhovskoif  and  could  not  be ;  but  his  promotion 
proves  that  a  man  like  me  needs  only  to  bide  his  time 
in  order  to  make  a  rapid  rise  in  his  profession.  Three 
years  ago  he  was  in  the  same  position  as  I  am  now.  If 
I  left  the  service,  I  should  burn  my  ships.  If  I  stay  in 
the  service,  I  lose  nothing ;  she  herself  told  me  that  she 
did  not  want  to  change  her  position.  And  I,  who  am 
sure  of  her  love,  cannot  be  envious  of  Serpukhovskol." 

And,  slowly  twisting  his  mustache,  he  arose  from  the 
table,  and  began  to  walk  up  and  down  the  room.  His 
eyes  shone  with  extraordinary  brilliancy ;  and  he  was 
conscious  of  that  calm,  even,  and  joyous  state  of  mind 
which  he  always  felt  after  he  had  cleared  up  any  situa- 
tion. All  was  now  clear  and  orderly  as  ever.  He  shaved, 
took  a  cold-water  bath,  dressed,  and  prepared  to  go  out. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

>;    T 

-  •■"il  WAS  coming  for  you,"  said  Petritsky,  entering  the 
room.  "  Your  cleaning  up  took  a  long  time  to-day, 
didn't  it  ?     Are  you  through  }  " 

"All  through,"  said  Vronsky,  smiling  only  with  his 


ANNA    KARENINA  95 

eyes,  and  continuing  to  twist  the  ends  of  his  mustache 
deliberately,  as  if,  after  this  work  of  regulation  were 
accomplished,  any  rash  and  quick,  motion  might  de- 
stroy it. 

"  You  always  come  out  of  this  operation  as  from  a 
bath,"  said  Petritsky,  "I  come  from  Gritska's,"  —  so 
they  called  their  regimental  commander,  —  "they  are 
waiting  for  you." 

Vronsky  looked  at  his  comrade  without  replying;  his 
thoughts  were  elsewhere. 

"  Ah  !  then  that  music  is  at  his  house  .-'  "  he  remarked, 
hearing  the  well-known  sounds  of  waltzes  and  polkas, 
played  by  a  military  band.     "  What  is  the  celebration  .-'  " 

"Serpukhovskoi  has  come." 

"  Ah  ]  "  said  Vronsky,  "  I  did  not  know  it." 

The  smile  in  his  eyes  was  brighter  than  ever. 

Having  once  decided  for  himself  that  he  was  happy 
in  his  love,  he  had  elected  to  sacrifice  his  ambition  to 
his  love.  Having  at  least  taken  on  himself  to  play  this 
part,  he  could  feel  neither  envy  at  Serpukhovskoi,  nor 
vexation  because  he,  returning  to  the  regiment,  had  not 
come  first  to  see  him.  Serpukhovskoi  was  a  good  friend 
of  his,  and  Vronsky  was  glad  for  him. 

"  Ah  !  I  am  very  glad." 

The  regimental  commander,  Demin,  lived  in  a  large 
seignorial  mansion.  All  the  company  had  assembled  on 
the  lower  front  balcony.  What  first  struck  Vronsky's 
eyes  as  he  reached  the  door  were  the  singers  of  the 
regiment,  in  summer  uniform,  grouped  around  a  keg  of 
xTodka,  and  the  healthy,  jovial  face  of  the  regimental 
commander  as  he  stood  surrounded  by  his  officers.  He 
had  come  out  on  the  front  step  of  the  balcony,  and  was 
screaming  louder  than  the  band,  which  was  playing  one 
of  Offenbach's  quadrilles.  He  was  giving  some  orders 
and  gesticulating  to  a  group  of  soldiers  on  one  side. 
A  group  of  soldiers,  the  vakhniistr,  or  sergeant,  and  a 
few  non-commissioned  officers,  reached  the  balcony  at 
the  same  instant  with  Vronsky.  The  regimental  com- 
mander, who  had  been  to  the  table,  returned  with  a  glass 


96  ANNA   KARENINA 

of  champagne  to  the  front  steps,  and  proposed  the 
toast,  — 

"  To  the  health  of  our  old  comrade,  the  brave  general, 
Prince  Serpukhovskot.     Hurrah  !  " 

Behind  the  regimental  commander  came  Serpukhov- 
skoY,  smiling,  with  a  glass  in  his  hand. 

"  You  are  always  young,  Bondarenko,"  said  he  to  the 
sergeant,  a  ruddy-cheeked  soldier,  who  stood  directly  in 
front  of  him. 

Vronsky  had  not  seen  Serpukhovskoi  for  three  years. 
He  had  grown  older,  and  wore  whiskers,  but  he  was  the 
same  well-built  man,  striking  not  so  much  for  his  good 
looks  as  for  the  nobility  and  gentleness  of  his  face  and 
his  whole  bearing.  The  only  change  that  Vronsky 
noted  in  him  was  the  slight  but  constant  radiance 
which  can  generally  be  seen  in  the  faces  of  people  who 
have  succeeded  and  made  everybody  else  believe  in 
their  success.  Vronsky  had  seen  it  in  other  people, 
and  now  he  detected  it  in  SerpukhovskoL 

As  he  descended  the  steps  he  caught  sight  of  Vronsky, 
and  a  smile  of  joy  irradiated  his  face.  He  nodded  to 
him,  lifting  his  wine-cup  as  a  greeting,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  signify  that  first  he  must  drink  with  the  sergeant, 
who,  standing  perfectly  straight,  had  puckered  his  lips 
for  the  kiss. 

"  Well,  here  he  is  !  "  cried  the  regimental  commander  ; 
"  but  Yashvin  was  telling  me  that  you  were  in  one  of 
your  bad  humors." 

Serpukhovskoif,  having  kissed  the  young  sergeant's 
moist,  fresh  lips,  wiped  his  mouth  with  his  handker- 
chief, and  came  to  Vronsky. 

"  Well,  how  glad  I  am !  "  he  said,  shaking  hands,  and 
drawing  him  on  one  side. 

"  Bring  him  along,"  cried  the  regimental  commander 
to  Yashvin,  pointing  to  Vronsky,  and  descending  to  join 
the  soldiers. 

"  Why  were  n't  you  at  the  races  yesterday  .-*  I  ex- 
pected to  see  you,"  said  Vronsky  to  Serpukhovskoif, 
studying  his  face. 

"  I  did   come,  but  too  late.     Excuse  me,"  he  said ; 


ANNA    KARENINA  97 

and,  turning  to  his  aide,  "  Please  have  this  distributed 
with  my  thanks;  only  have  it  get  to  the  men." 

And  he  hurriedly  took  out  of  his  pocket-book  three 
hundred-ruble  notes,  and  the  color  came  into  his  face. 

"  Vronsky,  will  you  have  something  to  eat  or  drink .-'  " 
asked  Yashvin.  "Hey!  bring  something  to  the  count 
here.     There,  now,  drink  this." 

The  feasting  at  the  regimental  commander's  lasted  a 
long  time.  They  drank  a  great  deal.  They  toasted 
Serpukhovskoi,  and  carried  him  on  their  shoulders. 
They  cheered  also  the  regimental  commander.  Then 
the  regimental  commander  and  Petritsky  danced  a  Rus- 
sian dance,  while  the  regimental  singers  made  the  music  ; 
and  when  he  was  tired,  he  sat  down  on  a  bench  in  the 
court,  and  tried  to  prove  to  Yashvin  Russia's  superiority 
over  Prussia,  especially  in  cavalry  charges  ;  and  the  gay- 
ety  calmed  down  for  a  moment.  Serpukhovskoi  went 
into  the  house  to  wash  his  hands,  and  found  Vronsky  in 
the  toilet-room.  Vronsky  was  splashing  the  water.  He 
had  taken  off  his  kitel,  and  was  sousing  his  head  and 
his  handsome  neck  under  the  tap  of  the  basin,  and  rub- 
bing them  with  his  hands.  When  he  had  finished  his 
ablutions,  he  sat  down  by  Serpukhovskoif.  They  sat 
together,  on  a  divanchik,  and  a  conversation  very  inter- 
esting to  both  parties  arose  between  them. 

"ii  have-  learned  all  about  you  through  my  wife," 
said  Serpukhovskoi'.  "  I  am  glad  that  you  see  her  so 
of  Jen." 

*ISne  is  a  friend  of  Varia's,  and  they  are  the  only 
women  in  Petersburg  that  I  care  to  see,"  said  Vronsky, 
with  a  smile.  He  smiled  because  he  foresaw  on  what 
subject  the  conversation  would  turn,  and  it  was  pleasing 
to  him. 

"  The  only  ones  .■*  "  repeated  Serpukhovskoif,  also  smil- 
ing. 

"  Yes ;  and  I,  too,  know  all  about  you,  but  not 
through  your  wife  only,"  said  Vronsky,  cutting  the 
allusion  short  by  the  suddenly  stern  expression  of  his 
face ;  "  and  I  am  very  glad  at  your  success,  but  not  the 
least  surprised.     I  expected  even  more." 

VOL,  11.  —  7 


98  ANNA   KARENINA 

SerpukhovskoY  smiled  again.  This  flattering  opinion 
of  him  pleased  him,  and  he  saw  no  reason  to  hide  it. 

"I,  on  the  contrary,  I  confess  frankly,  expected  less. 
But  I  am  glad,  very  glad.  I  am  ambitious  ;  it  is  my 
weakness,  and  I  confess  it." 

"  Perhaps  you  would  n't  confess  it  if  you  were  n't  suc- 
cessful," suggested  Vronsky. 

"  I  don't  think  so,"  replied  SerpukhovskoV,  smiling 
again.  "  I  will  not  say  that  life  would  not  be  worth 
living  without  it,  but  it  would  be  tiresome.  Of  course 
I  may  be  mistaken,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  I  have  some 
of  the  qualifications  necessary  to  the  sphere  of  activity 
which  I  have  chosen,  and  that  in  my  hands  power  of 
any  sort  soever  would  be  better  placed  than  in  the 
hands  of  many  whom  I  know,"  said  Serpukhovskol, 
with  the  radiant  expression  of  success;  "and  there- 
fore, the  nearer  I  am  to  this,  the  more  contented  I 
feel." 

"  Perhaps  this  is  true  for  you,  but  not  for  everybody. 
I  used  to  think  so,  and  yet  I  live,  and  no  longer  find 
that  ambition  is  the  only  aim  of  existence." 

"  Here  we  have  it !  Here  we  have  it !  "  cried  Serpu- 
khovskoT,  laughing.  "  I  began  by  saying  that  I  heard 
about  you,  about  your  refusal ....  of  course  I  approved 
of  you.  There  is  a  way  for  everything ;  and  I  think 
that  your  action  itself  was  well,  but  you  did'  noj:  do  it 
in  the  right  way."  "J     ; '  •  ;,  .  i 

"What  is  done,  is  done;  and  you  know  I  never'^o 
back  on  what  I  have  done.  Besides,  I  am  very-'Well 
fixed." 

"  Very  well  —  for  a  time.  But  you  will  not  be  con- 
tented so  forever.  I  do  not  refer  to  your  brother.  He 
is  a  very  good  fellow  —  just  like  this  host  of  ours. 
Hark!  hear  that.?"  he  added,  hearing  the  shouts  and 
hurrahs.  "He  may  be  happy,  but  this  will  not  satisfy 
you." 

"  I  don't  say  that  I  am  satisfied." 

"  Well,  this  is  not  the  only  thing.  Such  men  as  you 
are  necessary ! " 

"  To  whom  ? " 


ANNA    KARENINA  99 

"  To  whom  ?  to  society ;  to  Russia.  Russia  needs 
men,  she  needs  a  party ;  otherwise  all  is  going,  and  will 
go,  to  the  dogs." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  —  Bertenef  s  party  against  the 
Russian  communists  ? " 

"  No,"  said  SerpukhovskoT,  with  a  grimace  of  vexa- 
tion that  he  should  be  accused  of  any  such  nonsense. 
"  Tout  ^a  est  une  blague!  —  All  that  is  fudge!  This  al' 
ways  has  been,  and  always  will  be.  There  aren't  any 
communists.  But  intriguing  people  must  needs  invent 
some  malignant  dangerous  party.  It 's  an  old  joke. 
No,  a  powerful  party  is  needed,  of  independent  men, 
like  you  and  me." 

"  But  why," — Vronsky  named  several  influential  men, 
—  "  but  why  are  n't  they  among  the  independents }  " 

"  Simply  because  they  had  not,  through  birth,  an  in^ 
dependent  position,  or  a  name,  and  have  not  lived  near 
the  sun,  as  we  have.  They  can  be  bought  by  money 
or  flattery.  And  to  maintain  themselves,  they  must 
fix  on  a  certain  course,  and  follow  it,  though  they  do 
not  attach  any  importance  to  it,  and  even  though  it 
may  be  bad.  They  have  only  one  object  in  view  — 
the  means  of  securing  a  home  at  the  expense  of  the 
crown  and  certain  salaries.  Cela  nest  pas  plus  fin  que 
qa}  when  you  look  at  their  cards.  Maybe  I  am  worse 
or  more  foolish  than  they,  though  I  don't  see  why  I 
should  be.  But  I  have,  and  you  have,  the  one  inesti- 
mable advantage,  that  it  is  harder  to  buy  us.  And  such 
men  are  more  than  ever  necessary  now." 

Vronsky  listened  attentively,  not  only  because  of  the 
meaning  of  his  words,  but  because  of  their  connection 
with  the  case  of  Serpukhovskoi  himself,  who  was  about 
to  engage  in  the  struggle  with  power,  and  was  entering 
into  that  official  world,  with  its  sympathies  and  antip- 
athies, while  he  was  occupied  only  with  the  interests 
of  his  squadron.  Vronsky  perceived  how  strong  Ser- 
pukhovskoT might  be,  with  his  unfailing  aptitude  for 
invention,  his  quickness  of  comprehension,  his  intellect, 
and  fluent  speech,  so  rarely  met  with  in  the  circle  in 

1  That  is  all  that  it  amounts  to. 


loo  ANNA   KARENINA 

which  he  lived.  And,  though  his  conscience  reproached 
him,  he  felt  a  twinge  of  envy. 

"  All  that  I  need  for  this  is  the  one  essential  thing," 
said  he,  —  "  the  desire  for  power.  I  had  it,  but  it  is 
gone." 

"  Excuse  me ;  I  don't  believe  you,"  said  Serpukhov- 
skof,  smiling. 

"  No,  it  is  true,  true  —  now  —  to  be  frank  with  you," 
persisted  Vronsky. 

"  Yes,  true  now,  —  that  is  another  affair ;  this  now 
will  not  last  forever." 

"  Maybe." 

"You  say  maybe ;  and  I  tell  you  certainly  not,"  con- 
tinued Serpukhovskoif,  as  if  he  divined  his  thought 
"  And  this  is  why  I  wanted  to  see  you.  You  acted  as 
you  felt  was  necessary.  I  understand  that ;  but  it  is 
not  necessary  for  you  to  stick  to  it.^  All  I  ask  of  you 
is  carte  blanche  for  the  future.  I  am  not  your  patron  .... 
and  yet  why  should  I  not  take  you  under  my  protection  .'' 
Have  you  not  often  done  as  much  for  me  ?  I  hope  that 
our  friendship  stands  above  that.  There ! "  said  he, 
smiling  at  him  tenderly,  like  a  woman.  "  Give  me  carte 
blanche.  Come  out  of  your  regiment,  and  I  will  help 
you  along  so  that  it  won't  be  known." 

"  But  understand  that  I  want  nothing,"  said  Vronsky, 
"except  that  all  should  be  as  it  has  been." 

Serpukhovskoif  arose,  and  stood  facing  him. 

"  You  say  that  all  must  be  as  it  has  been.  I  under- 
stand what  you  mean  ;  but  listen  to  me.  We  are  of  the 
same  age ;  maybe  you  have  known  more  women  than 
I."  His  smile  and  his  gesture  told  Vronsky  to  have  no 
fear  that  he  would  not  touch  gently  and  delicately  on 
the  tender  spot.  "  But  I  am  married  ;  and,  believe  me, 
as  some  one  or  other  wrote,  he  who  knows  only  his  wife, 
and  loves  her,  understands  all  women  better  than  if  he 
had  known  a  thousand." 

"We  're  coming  directly,"  cried  Vronsky  to  an  officer 
who  looked  into  the  room  and  said  he  was  sent  by  the 
regimental  commander. 

^  Per  sever  irovat. 


ANNA    KARENINA  loi 

Vronsky  now  felt  curious  to  hear  and  to  know  what 
Serpukhovskoi'  would  say  to  him. 

"  And  this  is  my  idea :  Women  are  the  principal 
stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  a  man's  activity.  It  is 
hard  to  love  a  woman,  and  to  do  anything  else.  There 
is  only  one  way  to  love  with  comfort,  and  without 
hindrance ;  and  that  is,  to  marry.  And  how  can  I  ex- 
plain to  you  what  I  mean,"  continued  Serpukhovskoi', 
who  was  fond  of  metaphors,  —  "wait,  wait !....  yes  ! 
how  can  you  carry  a  burden  and  do  anything  with  your 
hands  until  the  burden  is  tied  on  your  back  ?  And  so 
it  is  with  marriage.  And  I  found  this  out  when  I  mar- 
ried. My  hands  suddenly  became  free.  But  to  carry 
this  fm'dcau  without  marriage,  your  hands  will  be  so  full 
that  you  can't  do  anything.  Look  at  Mazankof,  Krupof. 
They  ruined  their  careers  through  women." 

"  But  what  women  !  "  said  Vronsky,  remembering  the 
Frenchwoman  and  the  actress  for  whom  these  two  men 
had  formed  attachments. 

"The  higher  the  woman  is  in  the  social  scale,  the 
greater  the  difficulty.  It  is  just  the  same  as  —  not  to 
carry  your  fardeaii  in  your  hands,  but  to  tear  it  from 
some  other  man." 

"  You  have  never  loved,"  murmured  Vronsky,  looking 
straight  ahead,  and  thinking  of  Anna. 

"  Perhaps  ;  but  you  think  of  what  I  have  told  you. 
And  one  thing  more  :  women  are  all  more  material  than 
men.  We  make  something  immense  out  of  love,  but 
they  are  all  terre-d-terre  —  of  the  earth,  earthy." 

"  Will  be  there  immediately  !  "  he  said,  addressing  the 
lackey  who  was  coming  into  the  room.  But  the  lackey 
was  not  a  messenger  for  him,  as  he  supposed.  The 
lackey  brought  Vronsky  a  note. 

"  A  man  brought  this  from  the  Princess  Tverskaya." 

Vronsky  hastily  read  the  note,  and  grew  red  in  the  face. 

"  I  have  a  headache.  I  am  going  home,"  said  he  to 
Serpukhovskoi. 

"Well,  then,  proshchai !  farewell;  will  you  give  me 
carte  blanclic  ?  " 

"  We  will  talk  about  it  by  and  by,  I  will  call  on  you 
in  Petersburg." 


lom  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XXII 

It  was  already  six  o'clock;  and  in  order  not  to  miss 
his  appointment,  or  to  go  with  his  own  horses,  which 
everybody  knew,  Vronsky  engaged  Yashvin's  hired  car- 
riage, and  told  the  izvoshchik  to  drive  with  all  speed. 
It  was  a  spacious  old  carriage,  with  room  for  four.  He 
sat  in  one  corner,  stretched  his  legs  out  on  the  empty 
seat,  and  began  to  think. 

The  confused  consciousness  of  the  order  in  which  he 
had  regulated  his  affairs ;  the  confused  recollection  of 
the  friendship  and  flattery  of  SerpukhovskoY,  who 
assured  him  that  he  was  an  indispensable  man  ;  and 
most  of  all,  the  expectation  of  the  coming  interview,  — 
conspired  to  give  him  a  keen  sense  of  the  joy  of  living. 
This  impression  was  so  powerful  that  he  could  not  keep 
from  smiling.  He  stretched  his  legs,  threw  one  knee 
over  the  other,  felt  for  the  contusion  that  his  fall  had 
given  him  the  evening  before,  and  drew  several  long 
breaths  with  full  lungs. 

"  Good,  very  good,"  said  he  to  himself.  Oftentimes 
before  he  had  felt  a  pleasure  in  the  possession  of  his 
body,  but  never  had  he  so  loved  it,  or  loved  himself,  as 
now.  It  was  even  pleasurable  to  feel  the  slight  sore- 
ness in  his  leg,  pleasurable  was  the  mouse-like  sensation 
of  motion  on  his  breast  when  he  breathed. 

This  same  bright,  fresh,  August  day,  which  so  im- 
pressed Anna  with  its  hopelessness,  stimulated,  vitalized 
him,  and  cooled  his  face  and  neck,  which  still  burned 
from  the  reaction  after  his  bath.  The  odor  of  brillian- 
tine  from  his  mustaches  seemed  pleasant  to  him  in  this 
fresh  atmosphere.  Everything  that  he  saw  from  the 
carriage-window  seemed  to  him  in  this  cool,  pure  air,  in 
this  pale  light  of  the  dying  day,  fresh,  joyous,  and  health- 
ful, like  himself.  And  the  housetops  shining  in  the  rays 
of  the  setting  sun,  the  outlines  of  the  fences  and  the 
edifices  along  the  way,  and  the  shapes  of  occasional 
pedestrians  and  carriages  hurrying  hither  and  thither, 
and  the  motionless  green  of  the  trees,  and  the  lawns, 


ANNA    KARENINA  103 

and  the  fields  with  their  straight-cut  rows  of  potato- 
hills,  and  the  oblique  shadows  cast  by  the  houses  and 
the  trees,  and  even  by  the  potato-hills,  —  all  was  as 
beautiful  as  an  exquisite  landscape  just  from  the  mas- 
ter's hand,  and  freshly  varnished. 

"  Make  haste,  make  haste !  "  he  shouted,  pushing  up 
through  the  window  a  three-ruble  note  to  the  driver, 
who  turned  round  and  looked  down  at  him. 

The  izvoshchik's  hand  arranged  something  about  the 
lantern,  then  the  crack  of  the  knout  was  heard,  and  the 
carriage  whirled  rapidly  over  the  even  pavement. 

"  I  need  nothing,  nothing,  but  this  pleasure,"  he 
thought,  as  his  eyes  rested  on  the  knob  of  the  bell, 
fastened  between  the  windows,  and  he  imagined  Anna 
as  she  seemed  when  last  he  saw  her.  "  The  farther  I 
go,  the  more  I  love  her.  —  Ah !  here  is  the  garden  of 
the  Vrede  datcha.  Where  shall  I  find  her,''  How.? 
Why  did  she  make  this  appointment  ?  and  why  did  she 
write  on  Betsy's  note  .-*  " 

This  struck  him  for  the  first  time,  but  he  had  no  time 
to  think  about  it.  He  stopped  the  driver  before  they 
reached  the  driveway,  and,  getting  out  of  the  carriage, 
he  went  up  the  walk  which  led  to  the  house.  There  was 
no  one  on  the  avenue;  but  looking  toward  the  right  he 
saw  her.  Her  face  was  covered  with  a  veil ;  but  with  a 
joyful  glance,  he  recognized  her  immediately,  by  her 
graceful  motion  as  she  walked,  by  the  slope  of  her 
shoulders,  and  the  pose  of  her  head,  and  he  felt  as  if  an 
electric  shock  had  passed  through  him.  With  new 
strength  he  felt  the  joy  of  life  and  of  action,  even  from 
the  movements  of  his  limbs  to  the  involuntary  motion  of 
respiration,  and  something  made  his  lips  twitch. 

When  he  came  near  her,  she  eagerly  seized  his  hand. 

"You  are  not  angry  because  I  asked  you  to  come  .-'  I 
absolutely  needed  to  see  you,"  she  said ;  and  the  serious 
and  stern  closing  of  the  lips,  which  he  saw  under  the 
veil,  quickly  put  an  end  to  his  jubilant  spirits. 

"  I  angry  .''  but  how  did  you  come  .''  when  ?  " 

"  No  matter  about  that,"  said  she,  taking  Vronsky's 
arm.     "Come  ;  I  must  have  a  talk  with  you." 


I04  ANNA    KARENINA 

He  perceived  that  something  had  happened,  and  that 
their  interview  would  not  be  joyful.  While  with  her,  he 
could  not  control  his  will.  Though  he  did  not  know 
what  her  agitation  portended,  yet  he  felt  that  it  had 
taken  possession  of  him  also. 

"  What  is  it  ?  What  is  the  matter  .-• "  he  asked,  press- 
ing her  arm,  and  trying  to  read  her  thoughts  by  her 
face. 

She  went  a  few  steps  in  silence,  so  as  to  get  her 
breath ;  then  she  suddenly  halted. 

"  I  did  not  tell  you  last  evening,"  she  began,  breath- 
ing fast  and  painfully,  "  that,  on  the  way  home  with 
AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch,  I  confessed  to  him  everything 
....I  said  that  I  could  not  be  his  wife ....  that ....  and  I 
told  him  all." 

He  listened,  involuntarily  leaning  toward  her,  as  if  he 
wished  to  lighten  for  her  the  difficulty  of  this  confi- 
dence ;  but  as  soon  as  she  finished  speaking,  he  sud- 
denly drew  himself  up,  and  his  face  assumed  a  haughty 
and  stern  expression. 

"  Yes  !  yes  !  that  was  better,  a  thousand  times  better, 
I  understand  how  hard  it  must  have  been,"  he  said. 

But  she  did  not  heed  his  words,  she  read  his  thoughts 
by  the  expression  of  his  face.  She  could  not  know  that 
the  expression  of  his  face  arose  from  the  first  thought 
that  came  into  his  mind  —  the  thought  that  a  duel  could 
not  now  be  avoided.  Never  had  a  thought  of  a  duel 
entered  her  head,  and  therefore  she  interpreted  the 
momentary  expression  of  sternness  in  a  quite  different 
way. 

Since  the  arrival  of  her  husband's  letter,  she  felt  in 
the  bottom  of  her  heart  that  all  would  remain  as  before ; 
that  she  should  not  have  the  strength  to  sacrifice  her 
position  in  the  world,  to  abandon  her  son  and  join  her 
lover.  The  morning  spent  with  the  Princess  Tverskaya 
confirmed  her  in  this.  But  this  interview  with  Vronsky 
seemed  to  her  to  be  of  vital  importance.  She  hoped  that 
it  might  change  their  relations  and  save  her.  If,  on 
hearing  this  news,  he  had  said  decidedly,  passionately, 
without  a  moment's  hesitation,   "  Leave  all,  and   come 


ANNA    KARENINA  105 

with  me,"  she  would  even  have  abandoned  her  son,  and 
gone  with  him.  But  what  she  told  him  did  not  produce 
on  him  at  all  the  impression  which  she  had  expected; 
he  seemed,  if  anything,  vexed  and  angry. 

"  It  was  not  hard  for  me  at  all.  It  came  of  its  own 
accord,"  she  said,  with  a  touch  of  irritation  ;  "  and  here" 
—  she  drew  her  husband's  letter  from  her  glove. 

"  I  understand,  I  understand,"  interrupted  Vronsky, 
taking  the  letter,  but  not  reading  it,  and  trying  to  calm 
Anna.  "The  one  thing  I  wanted,  the  one  thing  I 
prayed  for  ....to  put  an  end  to  this  situation,  so  that  I 
could  devote  my  whole  life  to  your  happiness." 

"  Why  do  you  say  that  to  me .'' "  she  asked.  "  Can  I 
doubt  it.?     If  I  doubted...." 

"  Who  are  those  coming }  "  asked  Vronsky,  abruptly, 
seeing  two  ladies  coming  in  their  direction.  "  Perhaps 
they  know  us."  And  he  hastily  drew  Anna  with  him 
down  a  side  alley. 

"  Akh  !  it  is  all  the  same  to  me,"  she  said. 

Her  lips  trembled,  and  it  seemed  to  Vronsky  that  her 
eyes  looked  at  him  from  under  her  veil  with  strange 
hatred. 

"  As  I  said,  in  all  this  affair,  I  cannot  doubt  you. 
But  here  is  what  he  wrote  me.     Read  it." 

And  again  she  halted.  Again,  as  when  he  first 
learned  of  Anna's  rupture  with  her  husband,  Vronsky, 
beginning  to  read  this  letter,  involuntarily  abandoned 
himself  to  the  impression  awakened  in  him  by  the 
thought  of  his  relations  to  the  deceived  husband. 
Now  that  he  had  the  letter  in  his  hand,  he  imagined 
the  challenge,  which  he  would  receive  that  day  or  the 
next,  and  the  duel  itself,  at  the  moment  when,  with  the 
same  cool  and  haughty  expression  which  now  set  his 
face,  he  woul5  stand  in  front  of  his  adversary,  and, 
having  discharged  his  weapon  in  the  air,  would  wait 
the  outraged  husband's  shot.  And  at  this  very  instant 
SerpukhovskoY's  words  and  what  he  himself  had  felt 
that  day  flashed  through  his  mind,  "  Better  not  tie 
yourself  down  ; "  and  she  knew  that  he  could  not  ex- 
press his  thought  before  her. 


io6  ANNA    KARENINA 

After  he  read  the  note,  he  raised  his  eyes  to  her,  and 
there  was  indecision  in  his  look.  She  instantly  per- 
ceived that  he  had  thought  this  matter  over  before. 
She  knew  that  whatever  he  said  to  her,  he  would  not 
say  all  that  he  thought.  And  she  realized  that  her  last 
hope  had  vanished.    This  was  not  what  she  had  desired. 

"You  see  what  sort  of  a  man  he  is,"  said  she,  with 
faltering  voice.     "  He ....  " 

"  Excuse  me,  but  I  am  glad  of  this,"  said  Vronsky,  in- 
terrupting. "  For  God's  sake,  let  me  speak,"  he  quickly 
added,  beseeching  her  with  his  look  to  give  him  time  to 
explain  his  words.  "  I  am  glad,  because  this  cannot, 
and  never  could  go  on  as  he  imagines." 

"Why  can't  it.'"'  demanded  Anna,  holding  back  her 
tears,  and  evidently  attaching  no  importance  to  what 
he  said.     She  felt  that  her  fate  was  already  settled. 

Vronsky  meant  that  after  the  duel,  which  he  felt  was 
inevitable,  this  situation  must  be  changed ;  but  he  said 
something  quite  different. 

"  It  cannot  go  on  so.  I  hope  that  now  you  will  leave 
him,  I  hope"  —  he  stumbled  and  grew  red  —  "that 
you  will  allow  me  to  take  charge  of  our  lives,  and  regu- 
late them.     To-morrow  ,...  "  he  began  to  say. 

She  did  not  allow  him  to  finish. 

"And  my  son!"  she  cried.  "Do  you  see  what  he 
writes  ?  I  must  leave  him ;  but  I  cannot  and  I  will 
not  do  that." 

"  But,  for  God's  sake,  which  is  better,  —  to  leave  your 
son,  or  to  continue  this  humiliating  situation  ? " 

"  For  whom  is  it  a  humiliating  situation } " 

"  For  all  of  us,  and  especially  for  you," 

"You  say  humiliating! ....  Don't  say  that.  Forme 
that  word  has  no  meaning,"  said  she,  with  trembhng 
voice.  She  could  not  bear  now  to  have' him  tell  her  a 
falsehood.  Her  love  for  him  was  trembling  in  the  bal- 
ance, and  she  wished  to  love  him.  "You  must  know 
that  for  me,  on  that  day  when  I  first  loved  you,  every- 
thing was  transformed.  For  me  there  was  one  thing, 
and  only  one  thing,  —  your  love.  If  it  is  mine,  then  I 
feel  myself  so  high,  so  firm,  that  nothing  can  be  humili- 


ANNA   KARENINA  io; 

ating  to  me.  I  am  proud  of  my  position,  because .... 
proud  that ....  proud ....  "  She  did  not  say  why  she  was 
proud.  Tears  of  shame  and  despair  choked  her  utter- 
ance.    She  stopped,  and  began  to  sob. 

He  also  felt  that  something  rose  in  his  throat.  For 
the  first  time  in  his  life  he  felt  ready  to  cry.  He  could 
not  have  said  what  affected  him  so.  He  was  sorry  for 
her,  and  he  felt  that  he  could  not  help  her ;  and,  more 
than  all,  he  knew  that  he  was  the  cause  of  her  unhap- 
piness,  that  he  had  done  something  abominable. 

"  Then  a  divorce  is  impossible  ?"  he  asked  gently. 

She  shook  her  head  without  replying.  "  Then,  could 
you  not  take  your  son,  and  leave  him  .''  " 

"  Yes  ;  but  all  this  depends  on  him.  Now  I  must  go 
to  him,"  she  said  dryly.  Her  presentiment  that  all 
would  be  as  before  was  verified. 

"  I  shall  be  in  Petersburg  Tuesday,  and  everything 
will  be  decided." 

"  Yes,"  she  repeated.  "  But  we  shall  not  speak  any 
more  about  that." 

Anna's  carriage,  which  she  sent  away  with  the  order 
to  come  back  for  her  at  the  railing  of  the  Vrede  Garden, 
was  approaching.  Anna  took  leave  of  Vronsky,  and 
went  home. 


CHAPTER   XXni 

The  Commission  of  the  2d  of  June  usually  held  its 
sittings  on  Monday. 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  entered  the  committee-room, 
bowed  to  the  members  and  the  president  as  usual,  and 
took  his  place,  laying  his  hand  on  the  papers  made  ready 
for  him.  Among  the  number  were  the  data  which  he 
needed,  and  the  outline  of  the  proposition  that  he  in- 
tended to  make.  These  notes,  however,  were  not  neces- 
sary. His  grasp  of  the  subject  was  complete,  and  he 
did  not  need  to  refresh  his  memory  as  to  what  he  was 
going  to  say.  He  knew  that  when  the  time  came,  and 
he  should  see  his  adversary  vainly  endeavoring  to  put 


io8  ANNA    KARENINA 

on  an  expression  of  indifference,  his  speech  would  come 
of  itself  in  better  shape  than  he  could  now  determine. 
He  felt  that  the  meaning  of  his  speech  was  so  great  that 
every  word  would  have  its  importance.  Meantime,  as 
he  listened  to  the  reading  of  the  report,  he  had  a  most 
innocent  and  inoffensive  expression.  No  one,  seeing 
his  white  hands,  with  their  swollen  veins,  his  delicate, 
long  fingers  doubling  up  the  two  ends  of  the  sheet  of 
white  paper  lying  before  him,  and  his  expression  of 
weariness,  as  he  sat  with  head  on  one  side,  would  have 
believed  it  possible  that,  in  a  few  moments,  from  his 
lips  would  proceed  a  speech  which  would  raise  a  terrible 
tempest,  cause  the  members  of  the  Commission  to  outdo 
one  another  in  screaming,  and  oblige  the  president  to 
call  them  to  order. 

When  the  report  was  finished,  Alekseif  Aleksandro- 
vitch,  in  his  weak,  shrill  voice,  said  that  he  had  a  few 
observations  to  make  in  regard  to  the  situation  of  the 
foreign  tribes.  Attention  was  concentrated  on  him. 
Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  cleared  his  throat,  and,  not 
looking  at  his  adversary,  but,  as  he  always  did  at  the 
beginning  of  his  speeches,  addressing  the  person  who 
sat  nearest  in  front  of  him,  who  happened  to  be  a  little, 
meek  old  man,  without  the  slightest  importance  in  the 
Commission,  began  to  deliver  his  views. 

When  he  reached  the  matter  of  the  fundamental  and 
organic  law,  his  adversary  leaped  to  his  feet,  and  began 
to  reply.  Stremof,  who  was  also  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mission, and  also  touched  to  the  quick,  arose  to  defend 
himself  ;  and  the  session  proved  to  be  excessively  stormy. 
But  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  triumphed,  and  his  propo- 
sition was  accepted.  The  three  new  commissions  were 
appointed,  and  the  next  day  in  a  certain  Petersburg  cir- 
cle this  session  formed  the  staple  topic  of  conversation. 
Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch's  success  far  outstripped  his 
anticipations. 

The  next  morning,  which  was  Tuesday,  Alekseif  Alek- 
sandrovitch, on  awaking,  recalled  with  pleasure  his  vic- 
tory of  the  day  before  ;  and  he  could  not  repress  a  smile, 
although  he  wanted  to  appear  indifferent,  when  the  di- 


ANNA    KARENINA  109 

rector  of  the  chancelry,  wishing  to  flatter  him,  told  him 
of  the  rumors  which  had  reached  his  ears  in  regard  to 
the  proceedings  of  the  Commission. 

Occupied  as  he  was  with  the  director  of  the  chancelry, 
Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  absolutely  forgot  that  the  day 
was  Tuesday,  the  day  set  by  him  for  Anna  Arkadyevna's 
return  ;  and  he  was  surprised  and  disagreeably  impressed 
when  a  domestic  came  to  announce  that  she  had 
come. 

Anna  reached  Petersburg  early  in  the  morning.  A 
carriage  had  been  sent  for  her  in  response  to  her  tele- 
gram, and  so  Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch  might  have  known 
of  her  coming.  But  when  she  came,  he  did  not  go  to 
receive  her.  She  was  told  that  he  had  not  yet  gone  out, 
but  was  busy  with  the  director  of  the  chancelry.  She 
bade  the  servant  announce  her  arrival,  and  then  went  to 
her  boudoir,  and  began  to  unpack  her  things,  expecting 
that  he  would  come  to  her.  But  an  hour  passed,  and  he 
did  not  appear.  She  went  to  the  dining-room,  under 
the  pretext  of  giving  some  orders,  and  spoke  unusually 
loud,  thinking  that  he  would  join  her  there.  But  still 
he  did  not  come,  though  she  heard  him  come  to  the  door 
of  his  library,  accompanying  the  director  of  the  chan- 
celry. She  knew  that  it  was  his  habit  about  this  time 
to  go  to  his  office ;  and  she  wanted  to  see  him  before 
that,  so  that  their  plan  of  action  might  be  decided. 

She  passed  through  the  "  hall,"  and,  finally  making  up 
her  mind,  went  to  him.  She  stepped  into  the  library. 
Dressed  in  his  uniform,  apparently  ready  to  take  his 
departure,  he  was  sitting  at  a  little  table,  leaning  his 
elbows  on  it,  and  wrapped  in  melancholy  thought.  She 
saw  him  before  he  noticed  her,  and  she  knew  that  he 
was  thinking  of  her. 

When  he  caught  sight  of  her,  he  started  to  get  up, 
hesitated,  and  then,  for  the  first  time  since  Anna  had 
known  him,  he  blushed.  Then,  quickly  rising,  he  ad- 
vanced toward  her,  not  looking  at  her  eyes,  but  at  her 
forehead  and  hair.  He  came  to  her,  took  her  by  the 
hand,  and  invited  her  to  sit  down. 

"  I  am  very  glad  that  you  have  come,"  he  stammered, 


no  ANNA    KARENINA 

sitting  down  near  her,  and  evidently  desiring  to  talk  with 
her.     Several  times  he  began  to  speak,  but  hesitated. 

Although  she  was  prepared  for  this  interview,  and  had 
made  up  her  mind  to  defend  herself,  and  accuse  him,  she 
did  not  know  what  to  say  to  him,  and  she  felt  sorry  for 
him.     And  so  the  silence  lasted  some  little  time. 

"  Is  Serozha  well  ?  "  at  length  he  asked ;  and,  without 
waiting  for  an  answer,  he  added,  "  I  shall  not  dine  at 
home  to-day;  I  have  to  leave  immediately." 

"  I  intended  to  start  for  Moscow,"  said  Anna. 

"  No ;  you  did  very,  very  well  to  come  home,"  he 
replied,  and  again  was  silent. 

Seeing  that  it  was  beyond  his  strength  to  begin  the 
conversation,  she  herself  began  :  — 

*'  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch,"  said  she,  looking  at  him, 
and  not  dropping  her  eyes  under  his  gaze,  which  was 
still  concentrated  on  her  head-dress,  "  I  am  a  guilty 
woman ;  I  am  a  wicked  woman  ;  but  I  am  what  I  have 
been,  —  what  I  told  you  I  was,  — •  and  I  have  come  to 
tell  you  that  I  cannot  change." 

"  I  did  not  ask  you  about  this,"  he  replied  instantly, 
with  sudden  resolution,  and,  with  an  expression  of  hate, 
looking  straight  into  her  eyes.  "  I  presuppose  that," 
Under  the  influence  of  anger,  he  apparently  regained 
control  of  all  his  faculties.  "  But  as  I  told  you  then, 
and  wrote  you,"  —  he  spoke  in  a  sharp,  shrill  voice, — 
"  I  now  repeat,  that  I  am  not  obliged  to  know  this.  I 
ignore  it.  Not  all  women  are  so  good  as  you  are,  to 
hasten  to  give  their  husbands  such  ^oxy  pleasant  news." 
He  laid  a  special  stress  on  the  word  priyattioye,  "  pleas- 
ant." "  I  will  ignore  it  for  the  present,  as  long  as  the 
wdrld  does  not  know,  —  as  long  as  my  name  is  not  dis- 
honored. I,  therefore,  only  warn  you  that  our  relations 
must  remain  as  they  always  have  been,  and  that  only  in 
case  of  your  compro^nising  yourself,  shall  I  be  forced  to 
take  measures  to  protect  my  honor." 

"  But  our  relations  cannot  remain  as  they  have  been," 
she  said  with  timid  accents,  looking  at  him  in  terror. 

As  she  once  more  saw  his  undemonstrative  gestures, 
heard  his  mocking  voice  with  its.  sharp,  childish  tones, 


ANNA    KARENINA  iii 

all  the  pity  that  she  had  begun  to  feel  for  him  was  driven 
away  by  the  aversion  that  he  inspired,  and  she  had  only 
a  feeling  of  fear,  which  arose  from  the  fact  that  she  did 
not  see  any  light  in  regard  to  their  relations. 

"  I  cannot  be  your  wife,  when  I ....  "  she  began. 

He  laughed  with  a  cold  and  wicked  laugh. 

"  It  must  needs  be  that  the  manner  of  life  which  you 
have  chosen  is  reflected  in  your  ideas.  I  have  too  much 
esteem  or  contempt....  or  rather  I  esteem  your  past,  and 
despise  your  present....  too  much  for  me  to  accept  the 
interpretation  which  you  put  on  my  words." 

Anna  sighed,  and  bowed  her  head. 

"  Besides,  I  do  not  understand  how  you,  having  so 
much  independence,"  he  continued,  growing  excited, 
"  and  telling  your  husband  up  and  down  of  your  in- 
fidelity, and  not  finding  anything  blameworthy  in  it,  as 
it  seems,  how  you  can  find  anything  blameworthy  either 
in  the  fulfilment  of  a  wife's  duties  to  her  husband." 

"  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  !  What  do  you  require  of 
me .?  " 

"  I  require  that  I  may  never  meet  this  man  here,  and 
that  you  comport  yourself  so  that  neither  the  world  nor 
our  seri'ants  can  accuse  you  ....  that  you  do  not  see  him. 
It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  little.  And  in  doing  this, 
you  will  enjoy  the  rights  of  an  honorable  wife,  though 
you  do  not  fulfil  the  obligations.  This  is  all  that  I  have 
to  say  to  you.  Now  it  is  time  for  me  to  go.  I  shall  not 
dine  at  home." 

He  got  up,  and  went  to  the  door.  Anna  also  arose. 
He  silently  bowed,  and  allowed  her  to  pass. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

The  night  spent  by  Levin  on  the  hayrick  was  not 
without  its  lesson.  His  way  of  farming  became  repug- 
nant to  him,  and  entirely  lost  its  interest.  Notwith- 
standing the  excellent  crops,  never,  or  at  least  it  seemed 
to  him  that  never,  had  there  been  such  failure,  and  such 
unfriendly  relations  between  him  and  the  muzhiks,  as 


112  ANNA    KARENINA 

this  year ;  and  now  the  reasons  for  this  failure,  and  this 
animosity,  were  perfectly  clear  to  him.  The  pleasure 
which  he  found  in  work  itself,  the  resulting  acquaintance 
with  the  muzhiks,  the  envy  which  seized  him  when  he 
saw  them  and  their  lives,  the  desire  to  lead  such  a  life 
himself,  which  on  that  night  had  been  not  visionary  but 
real,  now  that  he  had  thought  over  all  the  details  neces- 
sary to  carry  out  his  desire,  —  all  this  taken  together  had 
so  changed  his  views  in  regard  to  the  management  of  his 
estate,  that  he  could  not  take  the  same  interest  in  it  as 
before,  and  he  could  not  help  seeing  how  these  un- 
pleasant relations  with  the  laborers  met  him  at  every 
new  undertaking. 

The  herd  of  improved  cows,  like  Pava ;  all  the  fertil- 
ized lands  plowed  with  European  plows ;  nine  equal 
fields  set  round  with  young  trees ;  the  ninety  desyatins, 
covered  with  dressing  well  plowed  in  ;  the  deep  drills 
and  other  improvements,  —  all  was  excellent  as  far  as 
it  concerned  only  himself  or  himself  and  the  people  who 
were  in  sympathy  with  him. 

But  now  he  clearly  saw  —  and  his  work,  his  treatise 
on  rural  economy,  in  which  the  principal  element  was 
found  to  be  the  laborer,  helped  him  to  this  conclusion 

—  that  his  present  way  of  carrying  on  his  estate  was 
only  a  cruel  and  wicked  struggle  between  him  and  the 
laborers,  in  which  on  one  side,  on  his  side,  was  a  con- 
stant effort  to  change  everything  to  what  he  thought  a 
better  model,  while  on  the  other  side  was  the  natural 
order  of  things. 

In  this  struggle,  he  saw  that  on  his  side  there  were 
effort  and  lofty  purpose,  and  on  the  other  no  effort  or 
purpose,  and  that  the  result  was  that  the  estate  went 
from  bad  to  worse ;  beautiful  tools  were  destroyed, 
beautiful  cattle  and  lands  ruined.  The  principal  ob- 
jection was  the  energy  absolutely  wasted  in  this  mat- 
ter ;  but  he  could  not  help  thinking  now,  when  his 
thought  was  laid  bare,  that  the  aim  of  his  energies 
was  itself  unworthy.  In  reality,  where  lay  this  quar- 
rel .''     He  insisted  on  having  every  penny  of  his  own, 

—  and  he  could  not  help  insisting  on  it,  because  he  was 


ANNA   KARENINA  113 

obliged  to  use  his  energies  to  the  utmost,  otherwise  he 
would  not  have  wherewithal  to  pay  his  laborers,  —  and 
they  insisted  on  working  lazily  and  comfortably,  in  other 
words,  as  they  had  always  done. 

It  was  for  his  interests  that  every  laborer  should  do 
his  very  best ;  above  all,  should  strive  not  to  break  the 
winnowing-machines,  the  horse-rakes,  the  threshing- 
machines,  so  that  he  might  accomplish  what  he  was 
doing. 

But  the  laborer  wanted  to  do  his  work  as  easily 
as  possible,  with  long  breathing-spaces,  with  plenty 
of  time  for  resting,  and  —  what  was  more  —  without 
being  bothered  to  think. 

This  year  Levin  had  this  experience  at  every  step. 
He  sent  men  to  mow  the  clover-fields,  selecting  the 
poorer  portions  to  be  done  first,  where  the  intermix- 
ture of  grass  and  wormwood  made  the  crop  unfit  for 
seed  ;  and  they  mowed  his  best  fields,  —  those  reserved 
for  seed,  —  justifying  themselves  by  saying  that  they 
had  done  what  the  overseer  ordered,  and  trying  to  con- 
sole him  with  the  assurance  that  it  would  make  splen- 
did fodder.  But  he  knew  that  they  did  this  because 
these  fields  were  the  easiest  ones  to  mow. 

He  sent  out  the  hay-making  machine,  but  the  muzhiks 
broke  it  on  the  first  few  rows  because  the  driver,  sitting 
on  the  box-seat,  disliked  having  the  arms  of  the  machine 
waving  over  his  head ;  and  they  tried  to  console  him 
by  saying :  — 

"  Oh,  it 's  all  right ;  the  women  will  do  the  work 
easy  enough." 

The  new  plows  were  condemned  as  good  for  nothing, 
because  the  muzhik  did  not  think  to  raise  the  blade 
on  turning  a  corner,  but  wrenched  it  round  through 
the  soil,  thus  tearing  up  the  land  and  straining  the 
horses.  And  here  again  they  urged  Levin  to  have 
patience  with  them. 

The  horses  strayed  into  the  wheat,  for  the  reason 
that  no  one  would  act  regularly  as  night  watchman, 
the  muzhiks,  in  spite  of  strict  orders  to  the  contrary, 
insisting  on  taking  the  duty  in  turns ;  and  Vanka,  who 


114  ANNA    KARENINA 

had  been  at  work  all  day,  fell  asleep  during  his  watch. 
When  accused,  he  acknowledged  his  fault  and  only 
said :  "  Do  what  you  please  with  me." 

Three  of  the  best  calves  were  poisoned.  They  were 
allowed  to  get  into  the  clover  aftermath  without  giving 
them  water  ;  the  result  was  that  they  were  blown  out 
and  died.  But  the  muzhiks  would  not  believe  that  it 
was  the  clover  that  did  the  harm;  and  they  tried  to 
console  Levin  by  informing  him  that  one  of  his  neigh- 
bors had  lost  one  hundred  and  twelve  head  within  three 
days  in  the  same  way. 

All  these  mishaps  took  place,  not  because  any  one 
wished  ill  either  to  Levin  or  to  his  estate ;  on  the  con- 
trary, he  knew  that  the  muzhiks  loved  him,  and  called  him 
"  a  simple-minded  gentleman,"  — prostoi  barin,  —  which 
was  the  highest  praise.  But  these  mishaps  happened 
simply  because  the  muzhiks  liked  to  work  merrily  and 
carelessly ;  and  his  interests  were  not  only  strange  and 
incomprehensible  to  them,  but  even  fatally  clashed  with 
what  they  thought  their  own  true  interests. 

For  a  long  time  Levin  had  felt  that  there  was  some- 
thing unsatisfactory  in  his  methods.  He  saw  that  his 
canoe  was  leaking,  but  he  could  not  find  the  leaks ; 
and  he  did  not  search  for  them,  perhaps  on  purpose 
to  deceive  himself.  Nothing  would  be  left  him  if  he 
should  allow  his  illusions  to  perish.  But  now  he  could 
no  longer  deceive  himself.  Not  only  had  his  system 
of  management  become  uninteresting,  but  had  begun 
actually  to  disgust  him,  and  he  felt  he  could  no  longer 
continue  it. 

Besides  all  this,  Kitty  Shcherbatsky  was  within  thirty 
versts  of  hira,  and  he  wanted  to  see  her,  and  could 
not.  .Miij.r:     :■' 

Darya  Alek^androvna  Oblonskaya,  when  he  called  on 
her,  invited  him  to  come:  —  to  come  with  the  express 
purpose  of  renewing  his  offer  to  her  sister,  who,  as  she 
pretended  to  think,  now  cared  for  him.  Levin  himself, 
after  he  caught  the  ghmpse  of  Kitty  Shcherbatsky,  felt 
that  he  had  not  ceased  to  love  her ;  but  he  could  not 
go  to  the  Oblonskys',  because  he  knew  that  she  was 


ANNA    KARENINA  U5 

there.  The  fact  that  he  had  offered  himself,  and  she 
had  refused  him,  put  an  unsurmountable  barrier  between 
them. 

"  I  cannot  ask  her  to  be  my  wife  simply  because  she 
cannot  be  the  wife  of  the  man  she  wanted,"  he  said  to 
himself. 

The  thought  of  this  made  him  cold  and  hostile  toward 
her. 

"  I  have  not  the  strength  to  go  and  talk  with  her  with- 
out a  sense  of  reproach,  to  look  at  her  without  angry 
feelings  ;  and  she  would  feel  even  more  incensed  against 
me,  and  justly  so.  And  besides,  how  can  I  go  there 
now,  after  what  Dar)'^a  Aleksandrovna  told  me  ?  How 
can  I  help  showing  that  I  know  what  she  told  me  ? 
That  I  go  with  magnanimity,  —  to  pardon  her,  to  be 
reconciled  to  her !  I,  in  her  presence,  play  the  ro/e  of  a 
pardoning  and  honor-conferring  lover  to  her!  —  Why 
did  Darya  Aleksandrovna  tell  me  that  ?  If  I  had  met 
her  accidentally,  then  perhaps  everything  might  have 
been  arranged  of  itself ;  but  now  it  is  impossible,  impos- 
sible!" 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  sent  him  a  note,  asking  the 
loan  of  a  side-saddle  for  Kitty.  "They  tell  me  you 
have  a  saddle,"  she  wrote :  "  I  hope  that  you  will  bring 
it  yourself." 

This  was  too  much  for  him.  How  could  a  sensible 
woman  of  any  delicacy  so  lower  her  sister  ?  He  wrote 
ten  notes,  and  tore  them  all  up,  and  then  sent  the  saddle 
without  any  reply.  To  write  that  he  would  come  was 
impossible,  because  he  could  not  come  :  to  write  that  he 
could  not  come  because  he  was  busy,  or  was  going  away 
somewhere,  w-as  still  worse.  So  he  sent  the  saddle  with- 
out any  reply ;  and,  with  the  consciousness  that  he  was 
doing  something  disgraceful,  on  the  next  day,  leaving 
the  now  disagreeable  charge  of  the  estate  to  the  overseer, 
he  set  off  to  a  distant  district  where  there  were  magnificent 
snipe-marshes  to  see  his  friend  Sviazhsky,  who  had 
lately  invited  him  to  fulfil  an  old  project  of  making  him 
a  visit.  The  snipe-marshes  in  the  district  of  Surof  had 
long  been  an  attraction  to  Levin,  but  on  account  of  his 


ii6  ANNA    KARENINA 

farm-work  he  had  kept  postponing  his  visit  there.  Now 
he  was  glad  to  escape  from  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Shcherbatskys,  and  especially  from  his  estate,  and  to  go 
on  a  hunting-expedition,  which  for  all  his  tribulations  was 
a  sovereign  remedy. 


CHAPTER   XXV 

In  the  district  of  Surof  there  were  neither  railways 
nor  post-roads ;  and  Levin  took  his  own  horses,  and 
went  in  a  tarantas  or  traveling-carriage. 

When  he  was  halfway,  he  stopped  to  get  a  meal  at 
the  house  of  a  rich  muzhik.  The  host,  who  was  a  bald, 
robust  old  man,  with  a  great  red  beard,  growing  gray  on 
the  cheeks,  opened  the  gate,  crowding  up  against  the 
post  to  let  the  troika  enter.  Pointing  the  coachman  to 
a  place  under  the  shed  in  his  large,  neat,  and  orderly 
new  courtyard,  with  charred  sokJias  or  wooden-plows, 
the  old  man  invited  Levin  to  enter  the  room.  A  neatly 
clad  young  girl,  with  galoshes  on  her  bare  feet,  stooping 
down,  was  washing  up  the  floor  in  the  new  entry.  When 
she  saw  Levin's  dog,  she  was  startled,  and  screamed, 
but  immediately  laughed  at  her  own  terror  when  she 
found  that  the  dog  would  not  bite.  With  her  bare  arm 
she  pointed  Levin  to  the  living-room,  then  stooping 
down  again,  she  hid  her  handsome  face,  and  continued 
her  scrubbing. 

"  Will  you  have  the  samovar  .-• "  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  please." 

The  living-room  was  large,  with  a  Dutch  stove  and 
a  partition.  Under  the  sacred  images  stood  a  table 
ornamented  with  colored  designs,  a  bench,  and  two 
chairs.  Near  the  doorway  was  a  cupboard  with  dishes. 
The  window-shutters  were  closed  ;  there  were  few  flies  ; 
and  it  was  so  neat  that  Levin  took  care  that  Laska,  who 
had  been  flying  over  the  road,  and  was  covered  with 
splashes  of  mud,  should  not  soil  the  floor,  and  bade  her 
lie  down  in  the  corner  near  the  door.  After  glancing 
into  the  living-room.  Levin  went  to  the  back  of  the  house. 


ANNA   KARENINA  E17 

A  good-looking  girl  in  galoshes,  swinging  her  empty 
pails  on  the  yoke,  ran  to  get  him  water  from  the 
well. 

"  Lively  there,"  gayly  shouted  the  old  man  to  her ;  and 
then  he  turned  to  Levin.  "  So,  sir,  you  are  going  to  see 
Nikolai  Ivanovitch  Sviazhsky.^*  He  often  stops  with 
us,"  he  began  to  say  in  his  garrulous  style,  as  he  leaned 
on  the  balustrade  of  the  steps.  But  just  as  he  was  in 
the  midst  of  telling  about  his  acquaintance  with  Sviazh- 
sky,  again  the  gate  creaked  on  its  hin^s,  and  the  work- 
men came  in  from  the  fields  with  their  harrows  and 
wooden-plows.  The  horses  attached  to  them  were  fat  and 
in  good  condition.  The  laborers  evidently  belonged  to 
the  family :  two  were  young  fellows,  and  wore  colored 
cotton  shirts,  and  caps.  The  other  two  were  hired  men, 
and  wore  shabby  shirts  :  one  was  an  old  man,  the  other 
middle-aged. 

The  old  peasant,  starting  down  from  the  porch,  went 
to  the  horses  and  began  to  unharness  them. 

"  Where  have  you  been  plowing  .''  " 

"  In  the  potato-fields.     We  've  finished  with    one 

You,  Fyodot,  don't  bring  the  gelding,  but  leave  him 
at  the  trough;  we'll  harness  another." 

"  Say,  batyushka,  shall  I  tell  'em  to  take  out  the  plow- 
shares, or  to  bring  'em?  "  asked  a  big-framed,  healthy- 
looking  lad,  evidently  the  old  peasant's  son. 

"  Put  'em  in  the  drags,"  replied  the  old  man,  coiling 
up  the  reins  and  throwing  them  on  the  ground.  "  Put 
things  in  order  ;  then  we  '11  have  dinner." 

The  handsome  girl  in  galoshes  came  back  to  the  house 
with  her  brimming  pails  swinging  from  her  shoulders. 
Other  women  appeared  from  different  quarters,  —  some 
young  and  comely,  others  old  and  ugly,  with  children 
and  without  children. 

The  samovar  began  to  sing  on  the  stove.  The  work- 
men and  the  men  of  the  household,  having  taken  out 
their  horses,  came  in  to  dinner.  Levin,  sending  for  his 
provisions  from  the  tarantas,  begged  the  old  peasant 
to  take  tea  with  him. 

"Well,  I  have  already  drunk  my  tea,"  said  the  old 


n8  ANNA   KARENINA 

peasant,  evidently  flattered  by  the  invitation.  "  How- 
ever, for  company's  sake...." 

At  tea  Levin  learned  the  whole  history  of  the  old 
man's  domestic  economy.  Ten  years  before,  he  had 
rented  of  a  lady  one  hundred  and  twenty  desyatins,  and 
the  year  before  had  bought  them ;  and  he  had  rented 
three  hundred  more  of  a  neighboring  landowner.  A 
small  portion  of  this  land,  and  that  the  poorest,  he 
sublet ;  but  forty  desyatins  he  himself  worked,  with  the 
help  of  his  sons  ftnd  two  hired  men.  The  old  peasant 
complained  that  all  was  going  bad ;  but  Levin  saw  that 
he  complained  only  for  form's  sake,  and  that  his  affairs 
were  flourishing.  If  they  had  been  bad  he  would  not 
have  bought  land  for  five  hundred  rubles,  or  married 
off  his  three  sons  and  his  nephew,  or  built  twice  after 
his  izba  was  burned,  and  each  time  better.  Notwith- 
standing the  old  peasant's  complaints,  it  was  evident 
that  he  felt  pride  in  his  prosperity,  pride  in  his  sons, 
in  his  nephew,  his  daughters,  his  horses,  his  cows,  and 
especially  in  the  fact  that  he  owned  all  this  domain. 

From  his  conversation  with  the  old  man.  Levin  learned 
that  he  believed  in  modern  improvements.  He  planted 
many  potatoes ;  and  his  potatoes,  which  Levin  saw  in 
the  storehouse,  he  had  already  dug  and  brought  in, 
while  on  Levin's  estate  they  had  only  begun  to  dig 
them.  He  used  the  "  ploog  "  on  the  potato-fields,  as  he 
called  the  plow  which  he  got  from  the  proprietor.  He 
sowed  wheat.  The  little  detail  that  the  old  peasant 
sowed  rye,  and  fed  his  horses  with  it,  especially  struck 
Levin.  How  many  times  Levin,  seeing  this  beautiful 
fodder  going  to  waste  on  his  own  estate,  had  wished 
to  harvest  it ;  but  he  found  it  impossible  to  accomplish 
it.  The  muzhik  used  it,  and  could  not  find  sufficient 
praise  for  it. 

"  How  do  the  women  do  it  ?  " 

**  Oh  I  they  pile  it  up  on  one  side,  and  then  the  cart 
comes  for  it." 

"  But  with  us  proprietors  everything  goes  wrong  with 
the  hired  men,"  said  Levin,  filUng  his  teacup  and  offer- 
ing it  to  him. 


ANNA   KARENINA  D19 

"Thank  you,"  replied  the  old  man,  taking  the  cup, 
but  refusing  the  sugar,  pointing  to  the  lumps  which 
lay  in  front  of  him. 

"  How  can  you  get  along  with  hired  men  ?  "  said  he. 
"  It  is  ruinous.  Here  's  Sviazhsky,  for  example.  We 
know  what  splendid  land.... but  they  don't  get  decent 
crops,  all  from  lack  of  care." 

"  Yes ;  but  how  do  you  do  with  your  workmen  .-'  " 

"  It 's  all  among  ourselves.  We  watch  everything. 
Lazybones,  off  they  go !  We  work  with  our  own 
hands." 

"  Batyushka,  Finogen  wants  you  to  give  him  the  tar- 
water,"  said  the  woman  in  galoshes,  looking  in  through 
the  door. 

"  So  it  is,  sir,"  said  the  old  man,  rising ;  and,  having 
crossed  himself  many  times  before  the  ikons  or  sacred 
pictures,  he  once  more  thanked  Levin,  and  left  the 
room. 

When  Levin  went  into  the  dark  izba  to  give  orders 
to  his  coachman,  he  found  all  the  "  men-folks  "  sitting 
down  to  dinner.  The  peasant  women  were  on  their 
feet  helping.  The  healthy-looking  young  son,  with  his 
mouth  full  of  kas/ia-gruel,  got  off  some  joke,  and  all 
broke  into  loud  guffaws ;  and  more  hilariously  than 
the  others  laughed  the  woman  in  galoshes,  who  was 
pouring  s/ic/ii,  or  cabbage  soup,  into  a  cup. 

It  well  might  be  that  the  jolly  face  of  the  woman 
in  the  galoshes  cooperated  powerfully  with  the  whole 
impression  of  orderliness  which  this  peasant  home  pro- 
duced on  Levin  ;  but  the  impression  was  so  strong  that 
Levin  could  never  get  rid  of  it ;  and  all  the  way  from 
the  old  man's  to  Sviazhsky's,  again  and  again  he 
thought  of  what  he  had  seen  at  the  farm-house  as 
something  deserving  special  attention. 


I20  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

SviAZHSKY  was  predvodityel  or  marshal  of  the  nobilit)) 
in  his  district.  He  was  five  years  older  than  Levin,  and 
had  been  married  some  time.  His  sister-in-law  was  an 
inmate  of  his  family,  and  to  Levin  she  was  a  very  attrac- 
tive young  lady ;  and  Levin  knew  that  Sviazhsky  and 
his  wife  would  be  very  glad  for  him  to  marry  her.  He 
knew  this  infallibly,  as  marriageable  young  men  usually 
know  such  things,  and  he  knew  also  that  though  he 
dreamed  of  marriage,  and  was  sure  that  this  fascinat- 
ing young  lady  would  make  a  charming  wife,  he  would 
sooner  have  been  able  to  fly  to  heaven  than  to  marry 
her,  even  if  he  had  not  been  in  love  with  Kitty  Shcher- 
batsky.  And  this  knowledge  poisoned  his  pleasure  in 
his  prospective  visit. 

On  receiving  Sviazhsky's  letter,  with  its  invitation  to 
go  hunting,  Levin  had  immediately  thought  about  this ; 
but  in  spite  of  it,  decided  that  such  views  in  regard  to 
him  on  the  part  of  Sviazhsky  were  entirely  gratuitous, 
and  he  decided  to  accept  the  invitation.  Moreover  he 
had  in  the  depths  of  his  soul  a  strong  curiosity  to  see 
this  girl  once  more,  and  experiment  on  the  effect  that 
she  would  produce  on  him. 

Sviazhsky's  domestic  life  was  in  the  highest  degree 
pleasant,  and  Sviazhsky  himself  was  the  very  best  type 
of  the  proprietor  devoted  to  the  affairs  of  the  province, 
and  this  fact  always  interested  Levin. 

He  was  one  of  those  men  that  always  excited  Levin's 
amazement,  whose  opinions,  very  logical,  although  never 
self -formed,  take  one  direction,  while  their  lives,  perfectly 
defined  and  confident  in  their  course,  take  another,  abso- 
lutely independent  of  each  other  and  almost  always  in  op- 
position. Sviazhsky  was  a  thorough-going  liberal.  He 
despised  the  nobility,  charged  the  majority  of  the  nobles 
with  secretly,  and  from  motives  of  cowardice,  opposing 
emancipation  ;  and  he  regarded  Russia  as  a  rotten  coun- 
try like  Turkey,  and  its  government  so  wretched  that  he 
did  not  permit  himself  seriously  to  criticize  its  acts ;  and 


ANNA    KARENINA  121 

yet  he  had  accepted  public  office,  and  attended  faithfully 
to  his  duties.  He  never  even  went  out  without  donning 
his  official  cap,  with  its  red  border  and  cockade.  He 
declared  that  human  existence  was  endurable  only 
abroad,  where  he  was  going  to  Hve  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity ;  but  at  the  same  time  he  carried  on  in  Russia  a 
very  complicated  estate  ^  in  the  most  perfect  style,  and 
was  interested  in  all  that  was  going  on  in  Russia,  and 
was  fully  up  with  the  times.  The  Russian  muzhik,  in 
his  eyes,  stood  between  man  and  monkey ;  but,  when 
the  elections  came,  he  gave  his  hand  to  the  peasants  by 
preference,  and  listened  to  them  with  the  utmost  atten- 
tion. He  believed  neither  in  God  nor  in  the  devil ;  but 
he  showed  great  concern  in  the  questions  concerning 
ameliorating  the  condition  of  the  clergy,  and  the  dimi- 
nution of  the  revenues,  and  moreover  he  labored  with 
especial  zeal  to  have  his  village  church  kept  in  repair. 

In  regard  to  the  complete  emancipation  of  woman  and 
especially  her  right  to  work,  he  sided  with  the  most  ex- 
treme supporters  of  this  doctrine,  but  he  lived  with  his 
wife  in  such  perfect  harmony  that  though  they  had  no 
children  every  one  admired  them,  and  he  took  entire 
direction  of  the  family  affairs,  so  that  his  wife  did  noth- 
ing, and  could  do  nothing,  except  in  cooperation  with 
him,  in  order  to  pass  the  time  as  agreeably  as  possible. 

If  Levin  had  not  been  naturally  disposed  to  see  the 
best  side  of  people  the  analysis  of  Sviazhsky's  character 
would  have  caused  him  no  trouble  or  question;  he  would 
have  said  to  himself :  "  Fool  or  Good-for-nothing,"  and 
that  would  have  been  the  end  of  it.  But  he  could  not 
say  fool  —  dnrak  —  because  Sviazhsky  was  undoubtedly 
not  only  very  clever,  but  also  a  very  cultivated  and  an  ex- 
traordinarily simple-hearted  man,  entirely  free  from  con- 
ceit ;  there  was  no  subject  which  he  did  not  know ;  but 
he  displayed  his  knowledge  only  when  it  was  needed. 
Still  less  could  he  say  that  he  was  a  good-for-nothing,  be- 

^  Khozyaistvo  includes  household  economy,  the  outside  interests,  farm- 
ing, mills,  —  everything  connected  with  an  estate.  The  master  of  an 
estate  is  called  khozyatn,  the  mistress  khozyaika,  —  terms  often  used  foi 
host  and  hostess.  ' 


latrr  ANNA    KARENINA 

cause  Sviazhsky  was  unquestionably  an  honorable,  excel- 
lent, sensible  man,  who  was  always  doing  his  work 
cheerfully  and  alertly,  and  had  apparently  never  inten- 
tionally done  anything  wrong  or  could  do  anything 
wrong. 

Levin  tried  to  comprehend  and  could  not  understand 
him  and  always  looked  at  him  and  his  life  as  a  living 
enigma. 

He  and  Levin  had  been  friends  and  therefore  Levin 
allowed  himself  to  study  Sviazhsky,  and  tried  to  trace 
his  view  of  life  to  the  very  source.  But  this  was  always 
an  idle  task.  Every  time  Levin  made  the  effort  to  pene- 
trate a  little  farther  into  the  hidden  chambers  of  Svia- 
zhsky's  mind  he  discovered  that  the  man  was  somewhat 
confused ;  a  sort  of  terror  showed  itself  in  his  eyes,  as 
if  he  feared  that  Levin  was  going  to  entrap  him  ;  and  he 
would  give  him  a  good-natured  and  jolly  rebuff. 

Now,  after  his  disenchantment  on  the  subject  of 
farm  management.  Levin  was  especially  glad  to  be  at 
Sviazhsky's.  To  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  he  was 
always  pleasantly  impressed  by  the  sight  of  these  doves 
so  contented  with  themselves  and  all  they  possessed, 
and  their  comfortable  nest,  he  had  a  great  longing,  now 
that  he  was  so  dissatisfied  with  his  own  life,  to  discover 
the  secret  of  his  having  such  clear,  decided,  and  cheer- 
ful views  of  life.  Moreover,  Levin  knew  that  he  should 
meet  at  Sviazhsky's  the  proprietors  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  he  was  especially  desirous  to  talk  with  them,  to 
hear  about  their  experiences  in  farm  management,  about 
their  crops,  their  ways  of  hiring  service,  and  the  like, 
which,  as  Levin  knew  well,  it  was  the  fashion  to  regard 
as  very  trifling  topics  of  conversation,  but  which  seemed 
to  him  more  important  than  anything  else. 

"  Perhaps  these  things  were  not  important  during  the 
days  of  serfdom  or  in  England.  In  both  those  cases 
conditions  are  definitely  fixed ;  but  with  us  at  the  pres- 
ent time  when  everything  has  been  overturned  and  the 
new  order  is  only  just  begun,  the  question  how  to  regu- 
late these  conditions  is  the  only  important  one  in  Rus- 
sia."    Such  was  Levin's  conviction. 


ANNA    KARENINA  123 

The  hunting  which  Sviazhsky  gave  him  was  poorer 
than  Levin  had  expected  :  the  marshes  were  dry,  and  the 
woodcock  scarce.  Levin  walked  all  day,  and  bagged 
only  three  birds  ;  but  in  compensation  he  brought  back 
with  him  as  always  from  hunting  a  ravenous  appetite, 
capital  spirits,  and  that  intellectual  excitement  which 
violent  physical  exercise  always  gave  him.  Even  while 
he  was  out  hunting,  while,  as  it  would  seem,  his  thoughts 
were  not  busy  about  anything,  he  kept  remembering  the 
old  man  and  his  family,  and  the  impression  remained 
with  him  that  there  was  some  peculiar  tie  between  him- 
self and  that  family. 

In  the  evening,  at  the  tea-table  in  the  company  of 
two  proprietors,  who  had  come  on  some  business  with 
the  marshal,  the  interesting  conversation  that  he  had 
looked  forward  to  soon  began.  At  the  tea-table  Levin 
sat  next  the  hostess  and  had  to  keep  up  a  conversa- 
tion with  her  and  her  sister  who  sat  opposite  him.  His 
hostess  was  a  moon-faced  lady  of  medium  stature  and 
light  complexion,  all  radiant  with  smiles  and  dimples. 
Levin  endeavored,  through  her,  to  unravel  the  enigma 
which  her  husband's  character  offered  him ;  but  he 
could  not  get  full  control  of  his  thoughts,  because  oppo- 
site him  sat  the  pretty  sister-in-law  in  a  gown  worn, 
as  it  seemed  to  him,  for  his  especial  benefit,  with  a 
square  corsage  cut  rather  low  in  front,  and  giving  a 
glimpse  of  a  very  white  bosom.  This  decollete  gown,  in 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  bosom  was  very  white  or  per- 
haps from  the  very  reason  that  it  was  very  white,  stopped 
the  free  flow  of  his  thought.  He  could  not  help  imagin- 
ing, though  of  course  erroneously,  that  this  display  was 
made  for  his  benefit,  and  yet  he  felt  that  he  had  no 
right  to  look  at  it,  and  he  tried  not  to  look  at  it ;  but  he 
was  conscious  of  being  to  blame  for  her  wearing  such 
a  gown.  It  seemed  to  Levin  that  he  was  deceiving  some 
one,  that  he  ought  to  make  some  kind  of  an  explanation, 
but  that  it  was  an  utter  impossibility  to  do  it,  and  so  he 
kept  blushing  and  felt  ill  at  ease,  and  his  constraint  com- 
municated itself  to  the  pretty  young  lady.  But  the  hostess 
seemed  not  to  notice  it,  and  kept  up  a  lively  conversation. 


114  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  You  say  that  my  husband  does  not  take  an  interest 
in  Russian  affairs  ?  "  she  asked.  "  On  the  contrary,  he 
was  happy  when  he  was  abroad,  but  not  so  happy  as  he 
is  here.  Here  he  feels  that  he  is  in  his  sphere.  He 
has  so  much  to  do,  and  he  has  the  faculty  of  interesting 
himself  in  everything.  Oh !  you  have  not  been  to  see 
our  school,  have  you  .-'  " 

"  Yes,  I  have,  —  that  little  house  covered  with  ivy.-*" 

"  Yes ;  that  is  Nastia's  work,"  said  she,  glancing  at 
her  sister. 

"  Do  you  yourself  teach  ? "  asked  Levin,  trying  to 
look  at  Nastia's  face,  but  feeling  that,  in  spite  of  him- 
self, he  would  see  the  low  corsage. 

"  Yes,  I  teach,  and  intend  to  keep  on  teaching ;  but  we 
have  an  excellent  schoolmistress.  And  we  have  gym- 
nastics." 

"  No,  thank  you,  I  will  not  take  any  more  tea,"  said 
Levin.  He  felt  that  he  was  committing  a  solecism;  but 
he  could  not  keep  up  the  conversation,  and  he  rose  in 
confusion.  "I  am  very  much  interested  in  what  they 
are  saying,"  he  added,  and  went  to  the  other  end  of 
the  table,  where  the  host  was  talking  with  the  two 
landed  proprietors.  Sviazhsky  was  sitting  with  his  side 
toward  the  table,  twirling  his  cup  around  with  one  hand, 
and  with  the  other  stroking  his  long  beard,  lifting  it  up 
to  his  nose  and  dropping  it  again  as  if  he  were  smell- 
ing of  it.  His  bright  black  eyes  were  fixed  with  keen 
amusement  on  one  of  the  proprietors,  a  man  with  a 
white  mustache,  who  was  complaining  bitterly  about 
the  peasantry.  Levin  saw  that  Sviazhsky  had  an  an- 
swer ready  for  the  worthy  gentleman's  comical  com- 
plaints, and  could  reduce  his  arguments  to  powder  if 
his  official  position  did  not  compel  him  to  respect  the 
proprietor's. 

The  proprietor  with  the  white  mustache  was  evidently 
a  narrow-minded  country  gentleman,  an  inveterate  op- 
ponent of  the  emancipation,  and  an  old-style  farmer. 
Levin  could  see  the  signs  of  it  in  his  old-fashioned, 
shiny  coat,  in  his  keen,  angry  eyes,  in  his  well-balanced 
Russian  speech,  in  his  authoritative,  slow,  and  studied 


ANNA    KARENINA  125 

manner,  and  his  imperious  gestures  with  his  large, 
handsome,  sunburnt  hands,  on  one  of  which  for  sole 
ornament  was  an  old-fashioned  wedding-ring. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

"  If  it  only  were  n't  a  pity  to  abandon  what  has  been 
done,  —  cost  so  much  labor,  —  it  would  be  better  to  give 
up,  sell  out,  go  abroad,  and  hear  *  La  Belle  H^l^ne,'  like 
Nikolai'  Ivanovitch,"  the  old  proprietor  was  saying,  while 
his  intelligent  face  lighted  up  with  a  pleasant  smile. 

"  There  now !  but  still  you  don't  sell  out,"  said  Niko- 
lai Ivanovitch  Sviazhsky ;  "  so  you  must  be  well  off,  on 
the  whole." 

"  I  am  well  off  in  one  way,  because  I  have  a  home  of 
my  own,  with  board  and  lodging.  Besides,  one  always 
hopes  that  the  peasantry  will  improve.  But  would  you 
believe  it,  —  this  drunkenness,  this  laziness  !  Everything 
goes  to  destruction.  No  horses,  no  cows.  They  starve 
to  death.  But  try  to  help  them,  —  take  them  for  farm- 
hands :  they  manage  to  ruin  you ;  yes,  even  before  a 
justice  of  the  peace !  "  ^ 

"  But  you,  too,  can  complain  to  the  justice  of  the 
peace,"  said  Sviazhsky. 

"  What !  I  complain  ?  Not  for  the  world  !  All  such 
talk  shows  that  complaints  are  idle.  Here,  at  the  mill, 
they  took  their  handsel,  and  went  off.  What  did  the 
justice  of  the  peace  do  ?  Acquitted  them.  Your  only 
chance  is  to  go  to  the  communal  court,  —  to  the  starshina. 
The  starshina  will  have  the  man  thrashed  for  you.  He 
settles  things  in  the  old-fashioned  way.  If  it  were  not 
for  him  you  had  better  sell  out,  fly  to  the  ends  of  the 
world  !  " 

^  In  the  Russian  w/r,  or  commune,  the  starshina,  or  elder,  is  the  chief 
elected  every  three  years.  Before  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs,  in  l86i, 
each  commune  had  its  volostndi  sud,  or  district  court,  the  decisions  of 
which  were  often  very  ridiculous.  Among  the  reforms  instituted  by  the 
Emperor  Alexander  II.  was  the  so-called  mirovoismiya,  justice  or  arbiter 
of  the  peace,  —  more  properly,  judge  of  the  peace,  —  an  innovation  which 
at  first  caused  much  opposition  among  the  peasantry.  See  Wallace's  "  Rus- 
sia "  and  Leroy  Beaulieu's  "  L'Empire  dcs  Tsars."  —  Ed. 


126  ANNA    KARENINA 

The  proprietor  was  evidently  trying  to  tease  Sviazhsky; 
but  Sviazhsky  tiot  only  did  not  lose  his  temper,  but  was 
much  amused. 

"  Well,  we  carry  on  our  estates  without  these  meas- 
ures," said  he,  smiling.     "  I  and  Levin  and  he." 

He  pointed  to  the  other  proprietor. 

"  Yes ;  but  ask  Mikhail  Petrovitch  how  his  affairs  are 
getting  along.  Is  that  a  rational  way  ?  "  ^  demanded  the 
proprietor,  especially  accenting  the  word  "  rational." 

"  My  way  is  very  simple,"  said  Mikhafl  Petrovitch, 
"  thank  the  Lord !  My  whole  business  lies  in  seeing 
that  the  money  is  ready  for  the  autumn  taxes.  The 
muzhiks  come,  and  say,  '  Batyushka,  help  us,  father.' 
Well,  all  these  muzhiks  are  neighbors ;  I  pity  'em. 
Well,  I  advance  'em  the  first  third.  Only  I  say,  '  Re- 
member, children,  I  help  you ;  and  you  must  help  me 
when  I  need  you,  —  sowing  the  oats,  getting  in  the  hay, 
harvesting,'  Now,  I  get  along  with  them  as  with  my 
own  family.  To  be  sure,  there  are  some  among  them 
who  have  n't  any  conscience." 

Levin,  who  knew  of  old  about  these  patriarchal  tra- 
ditions, exchanged  glances  with  Sviazhsky ;  and,  inter- 
rupting Mikhail  Petrovitch,  he  said,  "  How  would  you 
advise .'' "  addressing  the  old  proprietor  with  the  gray 
mustache.  "  How  do  you  think  one's  estate  ought  to  be 
managed .-' " 

"  Well,  manage  it  just  as  Mikhafl  Petrovitch  does,  — 
either  give  half  the  land  to  the  muzhiks,  or  go  shares 
with  them.  That  is  possible ;  but,  all  the  same,  the 
wealth  of  the  country  is  growing  less  and  less.  Places 
on  my  lands  which  in  the  time  of  serfage,  under  good 
management,  produced  ninefold,  now  produce  only  three- 
fold.    Emancipation  has  ruined  Russia," 

Sviazhsky  looked  at  Levin  with  smiling  eyes,  and 
even  made  a.  scarcely  noticeable  gesture  to  express  his 
disdain,  but  Levin  did  not  find  the  old  proprietor's  words 
ridiculous  ;  he  understood  them  better  than  he  under- 
stood Sviazhsky.  Much  that  the  old  man  said  in  his 
complaint,  that  Russia  was  ruined  by  the  emancipation, 

'  Ratsionalnoye  khozydistvo. 


ANNA    KARENINA  127 

seemed  to  him  true  ;  for  him  it  was  novel  and  unanswer- 
able. The  proprietor  evidently  expressed  his  honest 
thought,  —  a  thought  which  arose,  not  from  any  desire 
to  show  an  idle  wit,  but  from  the  conditions  of  his  life, 
which  had  been  spent  in  the  country,  where  he  could 
see  the  question  practically  from  every  side. 

"  The  fact  is,  please  to  acknowledge,"  continued  the 
old  proprietor,  who  evidently  wished  to  show  that  he 
was  not  an  enemy  of  civilization,  "  all  progress  is  accom- 
plished by  force  alone.  Take  the  reforms  of  Peter,  of 
Catherine,  of  Alexander ;  take  European  history  itself  ; 
still  more  so  for  progress  in  agriculture.  The  potato, 
for  instance,  —  to  introduce  potatoes  into  Russia  required 
force.  We  have  not  always  plowed  with  iron  plows ; 
perhaps  they  have  been  introduced  into  our  domains, 
but  it  required  force.  Now,  until  recently,  when  we 
had  control  over  our  serfs,  we  proprietors  could  conduct 
our  affairs  with  all  sorts  of  improvements:  drying-rooms 
and  winnowing-machines  and  dung-carts  —  all  sorts  of 
tools  —  we  could  introduce,  because  we  had  the  power ; 
and  the  muzhiks  at  first  would  oppose,  and  then  would 
imitate  us.  But  now,  by  the  abrogation  of  serfage,  they 
have  taken  away  our  authority  ;  and  so  our  estates,^ 
now  that  everything  is  reduced  to  the  same  level,  must 
necessarily  sink  back  to  the  condition  of  primitive  bar- 
barism.    This  is  my  view  of  it." 

"Yes,  but  why?  If  that  were  rational,  then  you 
could  keep  on  with  your  improvements  by  aid  of  hired 
labor,"  said  Sviazhsky. 

"  We  have  no  power.  How  could  I  ?  allow  me  to 
ask." 

"  This  —  this  is  the  working-force,  the  chief  element 
in  the  problem  before  us,"  thought  Levin. 

"  With  hired  men." 

"  Hired  men  will  not  work  well,  or  work  with  good 
tools.  Our  laborers  know  how  to  do  only  one  thing,  — 
to  drink  like  pigs,  and,  when  they  are  drunk,  to  ruin 
everything  you  intrust  them  with.  They  water  your 
horses  to  death,  destroy  your  best  harnesses,  take  the 

*  Khozyatstvo. 


128  ANNA    KARENINA 

tires  off  your  wheels  and  sell  them  to  get  drink,  and 
stick  bolts  into  your  vvinnowing-machines  so  as  to  render 
them  useless.  Everything  that  is  not  done  in  their 
way  is  nauseous  to  them.  And  thus  the  affairs  of  our 
estates  go  from  bad  to  worse.  The  lands  are  neglected, 
and  go  to  weeds,  or  else  are  abandoned  to  the  muzhiks. 
Instead  of  producing  millions  of  tchetverts  ^  of  wheat, 
you  can  raise  only  a  few  hundred  thousand.  The  pub- 
lic wealth  is  diminishing.  If  they  were  going  to  free 
the  serfs,  they  should  have  done  it  gradually." .... 

And  he  developed  his  own  scheme  of  emancipation 
whereby  all  these  difficulties  would  have  been  avoided. 

This  plan  did  not  interest  Levin,  but  when  the  gen- 
tleman had  finished  he  returned  to  his  first  proposition, 
with  the  hope  of  inducing  Sviazhsky  to  tell  what  he 
seriously  thought  about  it.  He  said,  addressing  Svia- 
zhsky :  — 

"  It  is  very  true  that  the  level  of  our  agriculture  -is 
growing  lower  and  lower,  and  that  in  our  present  rela- 
tions with  the  peasantry,  it  is  impossible  to  carry  on  our 
estates  rationally,"  he  said. 

"  I  am  not  of  that  opinion,"  said  Sviazhsky,  seriously. 
"  I  only  see  that  we  are  not  up  to  the  point  of  manag- 
ing our  estates,  and  that  on  the  contrary,  since  serfage 
was  abolished,  agriculture  has  decayed ;  I  argue  that 
in  those  days  it  was  very  wretched,  and  very  low.  We 
never  had  any  machines,  or  good  oxen  or  decent  super- 
vision. We  did  not  even  know  how  to  make  up  our 
accounts.  Ask  a  proprietor  :  he  could  not  tell  you  what 
a  thing  cost,  or  what  it  would  bring  him." 

"  Italian  book-keeping !  "  said  the  old  proprietor  ironi- 
cally. "  Reckon  all  you  please,  and  get  things  mixed  as 
much  as  you  please,  there  will  be  no  profit  in  it." 

"Why  get  things  mixed  up.'*  Your  miserable  flail, 
your  Russian  topchachek,  will  break  all  to  pieces ;  my 
steam-thresher  will  not  break  to  pieces.  Then  your 
wretched  nags ;  how  are  they  .-"  A  puny  breed  that 
you  can  pull  by  the  tails,  comes  to  nothing  ;  but  our  Per- 
cherons  are  vigorous  horses,  they  are  worth  something. 

1  A  tchetvert  is  5. 775  English  bushels. 


ANNA    KARENINA  129 

And  so  with  everything.  Our  agriculture  always 
needed  to  be  helped  forward." 

"  Yes  !  but  it  would  need  some  power,  NikolaY  Iva- 
nuitch.  Very  well  for  you  ;  but  when  one  has  one  son  at 
the  university,  and  several  others  at  school,  as  I  have, 
he  can't  afford  to  buy  Percherons." 

"  There  are  banks  on  purpose." 

"  To  have  my  last  goods  and  chattels  sold  under  the 
hammer.     No,  thank  you  !  " 

"I  don't  agree  that  it  is  necessary  or  possible  to  lift 
the  level  of  agriculture  much  higher,"  said  Levin.  "  I 
am  much  interested  in  this  question ;  and  I  have  the 
means,  but  I  cannot  do  anything.  And  as  for  banks,  I 
don't  know  whom  they  profit.  Up  to  the  present  time, 
whatever  I  have  spent  on  my  estate,  has  resulted  only 
in  loss.     Cattle — loss;  machines — loss." 

"  That  is  true,"  said  the  old  proprietor  with  the  gray 
mustache,  laughing  with  hearty  satisfaction. 

"  And  I  am  not  the  only  man,"  continued  Levin.  "  I 
call  to  mind  all  those  who  have  made  experiments  in  the 
'rational  manner.'  All,  with  few  exceptions,  have  come 
out  of  it  with  losses.  Will  you  admit  that  your  farming 
is  profitable.'' "  he  asked,  and  at  that  instant  he  detected 
in  Sviazhsky's  face  that  transient  expression  of  embar- 
rassment which  he  noticed  when  he  wanted  to  penetrate 
farther  into  the  inner  chambers  of  Sviazhsky's  mind. 

However,  the  question  was  not  entirely  fair  play  on 
Levin's  part.  His  hostess  had  told  him  at  tea  that  they 
had  just  had  a  German  expert  up  from  Moscow,  who, 
for  five  hundred  rubles'  fee,  agreed  to  put  the  book- 
keeping of  the  estate  in  order ;  and  he  found  that  there 
had  been  a  net  loss  of  more  than  three  thousand  rubles. 
She  could  not  remember  exactly  how  much,  but  the 
German  accountant  had  calculated  it  to  within  forty 
kopeks. 

The  old  proprietor  smiled  when  he  heard  Levin's 
question  about  the  profits  of  Sviazhsky's  management. 
It  was  evident  that  he  knew  about  the  state  of  his 
neighbors'  finances. 

"  Maybe  it  is  unprofitable,"  replied  Sviazhsky.    "  This 

VOL.  II.  —  9 


l^o  ANNA    KARENINA 

only  proves  that  either  I  am  a  poor  manager,  or  I  sink 
my  capital  to  increase  the  revenue." 

"  Oh  !  revenue  !  "  cried  Levin,  with  horror.  "  Maybe 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  revenue  in  Europe,  where  the 
land  is  better  for  the  labor  spent  on  it ;  but  with  us,  the 
more  labor  spent  on  it,  the  worse  it  is  —  that  is  because 
it  exhausts  it —  so  there  is  no  revenue." 

"  How,  no  revenue  ?     It  is  a  law." 

"  Then  we  are  no  exceptions  to  the  law.  The  word 
renfa,  revenue,  has  no  clearness  for  us,  and  explains 
nothing,  but  rather  confuses.  No ;  tell  me  how  the 
doctrine  of  revenue  can  be  .... 

**  Won't  you  have  some  curds  ?  —  Masha,  send  us  some 
curds  or  some  raspberries,"  said  Sviazhsky  to  his  wife. 
'*  Raspberries  have  lasted  unusually  late  this  year." 

And,  with  his  usual  jovial  disposition  of  soul,  Svia- 
zhsky got  up  and  went  out,  evidently  assuming  that  the 
discussion  was  ended,  while  for  Levin  it  seemed  that  it 
had  only  just  begun. 

Levin  was  now  left  with  the  old  proprietor,  and  con- 
tinued to  talk  with  him,  endeavoring  to  prove  to  him 
that  all  the  trouble  arose  from  the  fact  that  we  did  not 
try  to  understand  our  laborers'  habits  and  peculiarities. 
But 'the  old  proprietor,  like  all  people  accustomed  to 
think  alone  and  for  himself,  found  it  difficult  to  enter 
into  the  thought  of  another,  and  clung  firmly  to  his  own 
opinions.  He  declared  that  the  Russian  muzhik  was  a 
pig,  and  loved  swinishness,  and  that  it  needed  force  or 
else  a  stick  to  drive  him  out  of  his  swinishness ;  but  we 
are  such  liberals  that  we  have  suddenly  swapped  off  the 
thousand-year-old  stick  for  these  lawyers  and  jails,  where 
the  good-for-nothing,  stinking  muzhik  gets  fed  on  good 
soup,  and  has  his  pure  air  by  the  cubic  foot. 

'•Why,"  asked  Levin,  wishing  to  get  back  to  the 
question,  "  do  you  think  that  it  is  impossible  to  reach 
an  equilibrium  which  will  utilize  the  forces  of  the  laborer, 
and  render  them  productive .-'  " 

"  That  will  never  come  about  with  the  Russian  peo- 
ple ;  there  is  no  force,"  replied  the  proprietor. 

''  Why  could  not  new  conditions  be  found  ? "  asked 


ANNA   KARENINA  iji 

Sviazhsky,  who  had  been  eating  his  curds,  and  smoking 
a  cigarette,  and  now  approached  the  two  disputants. 
"  All  the  needful  forms  are  ready  for  use,  and  well 
learned.  That  relic  of  barbarism,  the  primitive  com- 
mune where  each  member  is  responsible  for  all,  is  fall- 
ing to  pieces  of  its  own  weight ;  the  right  of  holding 
serfs  has  been  abolished ;  now  there  remains  only  free 
labor,  and  its  forms  are  at  hand,  —  the  day-laborer,  the 
journeyman,  the  ordinary  farmer,  —  and  you  can't  get 
rid  of  this." 

"  But  Europe  is  discontented  with  these  forms." 

"Yes,  and  perhaps  discontent  will  find  new  ones,  and 
will  progress  probably." 

"This  is  all  I  say  about  that,"  said  Levin.  "Why 
should  we  not  seek  for  them  on  our  side  ? " 

"  Because  it  would  be  much  the  same  as  our  pretend- 
ing to  invent  new  methods  of  constructing  railways. 
Our  methods  are  all  ready;  all  we  have  to  do  is  to 
apply  them." 

"  But  if  they  do  not  suit  us  ?  if  they  are  hurtful  ? " 
Levin  insisted. 

And  again  he  saw  the  frightened  look  in  Sviazhsky's 
eyes. 

"  Well !  this  :  we  throw  up  our  caps,  we  follow  wher- 
ever Europe  leads !  All  this  I  know ;  but  tell  me,  are 
you  acquainted  with  all  that  is  going  on  in  Europe 
about  the  organization  of  labor  ?  " 

"  No  ;  I  know  very  little." 

"  This  question  is  now  occupying  the  best  minds  in 
Europe.  Schulze-Delitzsch  ^  and  his  school ....  then  all 
this  prodigious  literature  on  the  labor  question ....  the 
tendencies  of  Lassalle,  the  most  radical  of  all  of  them .... 
the  Miilhausen  organization ....  this  all  is  a  fact,  you 
surely  must  know." 

^  Hermann  Schulze-Delitzsch,  who  founded  the  first  People's  Bank,  and 
in  the  German  Parliament  labored  for  constitutional  reform,  was  born  in 
Prussian  Saxony,  August  29,  1808,  died  at  Potsdam,  April  29,  1883.  At 
the  time  of  his  death  the  United  Bank  Organization  of  which  he  was  man- 
ager had  thirty-five  hundred  branches,  with  fifty  million  dollars'  capital, 
and  about  a  hundred  millions  of  deposits.  He  was  an  opponent  of  Las- 
salle's  socialism.  —  Ed. 


132  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  I  have  an  idea  of  it,  but  it 's  very  vague." 

"  No,  you  only  say  so ;  you  know  all  this  as  well  as  I 
do.  I  don't  set  up  to  be  a  professor  of  social  science, 
but  these  things  interest  me ;  and  I  assure  you,  if  they 
interest  you,  you  should  go  into  them." 

"But  where  do  they  lead  you  ?  "  .... 

"  Beg  pardon."  .... 

The  two  proprietors  got  up  ;  and  Sviazhsky,  again 
arresting  Levin  in  his  disagreeable  habit  of  looking  into 
the  inner  chambers  of  his  mind,  went  out  to  bid  his 
guests  good-by. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

Levin  spent  the  evening  with  the  ladies,  and  found  it 
unendurably  stupid.  His  mind  was  stirred,  as  never 
before,  at  the  thought  that  the  dissatisfaction  he  felt  in 
the  administration  of  his  estate  was  not  peculiar  to  him- 
self, but  was  a  general  condition  into  which  affairs  in 
Russia  had  evolved,  and  that  an  organization  of  labor, 
whereby  the  work  would  be  carried  on  in  such  a  manner 
as  he  saw  at  the  muzhik's  on  the  highway,  was  not  an 
illusion,  but  a  problem  to  be  solved.  And  it  seemed  to 
him  that  he  could  settle  this  problem,  and  that  he  must 
attempt  to  do  it. 

Levin  bade  the  ladies  good-night,  promising  to  go 
with  them  the  following  morning  for  a  ride  to  visit  some 
interesting  spots  in  the  Crown  woods.  Before  going  to 
bed  he  went  to  the  library,  to  get  some  of  the  books  on 
the  labor  question  which  Sviazhsky  had  recommended. 

Sviazhsky's  library  was  an  enormous  room,  lined  with 
book-shelves,  and  having  two  tables,  one  a  massive 
writing-table,  standing  in  the  center  of  the  room,  and 
the  other  a  round  one,  laden  with  recent  numbers  of 
journals  and  reviews,  in  different  languages,  arranged 
about  a  lamp.  Near  the  writing-table  was  a  cabinet, 
sto'ika,  containing  drawers  inscribed  with  gilt  lettering 
for  the  reception  of  various  documents. 


ANNA    KARENINA  133 

Sviazhsky  got  the  volumes,  and  sat  down  in  a  rocking- 
chair. 

"  What  is  that  you  are  looking  at  ? "  he  asked  of 
Levin,  who  was  standing  by  the  round  table,  and  turn- 
ing the  leaves  of  a  review. 

Levin  held  up  the  review. 

"  Oh,  yes !  that  is  a  very  interesting  article  indeed. 
It  argues,"  he  continued  with  gay  animation,  "that  the 
principal  culprit  in  the  partition  of  Poland  was  not 
Frederic  after  all.  It  appears ....  "  and  he  gave  with 
the  clearness  characteristic  of  him  a  digest  of  these 
new  and  important  discoveries.  Although  Levin  was 
now  more  interested  in  the  question  of  farm  manage- 
ment than  in  anything,  he  asked  himself,  as  he  listened 
to  his  friend  :  — 

"  What  is  he  in  reality .-'  and  why,  why  does  the  par- 
tition of  Poland  interest  him  .-'  " 

When  Sviazhsky  had.  finished,  Levin  could  not  help 
saying :  — 

"  Well,  and  what  of  it  ?  " 

But  he  had  nothing  to  say.  It  was  interesting  simply 
from  the  fact  that  it  "argued." 

But  Sviazhsky  did  not  explain,  and  did  not  think  it 
necessary  to  explain,  why  it  was  interesting  to  him. 

"  Well,  but  the  irascible  old  proprietor  interested  me 
very  much,"  said  Levin,  sighing.  "  He  's  sensible,  and 
a  good  deal  of  what  he  says  is  true." 

"  Ah !  don't  speak  of  it !  he  is  a  confirmed  slave' 
holder  at  heart,  like  the  rest  of  them," 

"  With  you  at  their  head  "  .... 

"  Yes,  only  I  am  trying  to  lead  them  in  the  other 
direction,"  replied  Sviazhsky,  laughing. 

"  His  argument  struck  me  very  forcibly,"  said  Levin. 
"  He  is  right  when  he  says  that  our  affairs,  that  is,  the 
'  rational  management,'  ^  cannot  succeed  ;  that  the  only 
kind  that  can  succeed  is  the  money-lending  system  like 
that  of  the  other  proprietor,  or,  in  other  words,  the  one 
that  is  simplest Who  is  to  blame  for  this  ? " 

"  We  ourselves,  of  course.     But  then  it  is  not  true 

^  Ratsionalnoe  khozyatstvo. 


134  ANNA    KARENINA 

that  it  does  not  succeed.  It  succeeds  with  Vasiltchi* 
kof." 

"The  mill....  " 

"  But  still  I  don't  know  what  surprises  you  about  it. 
The  peasantry  stand  on  such  a  low  plane  of  develop- 
ment, both  materially  and  morally,  that  it  is  evident 
they  '11  oppose  everything  that  is  strange  to  them.  In 
Europe  the  '  rational  management '  succeeds  because 
the  people  are  civilized.  In  the  first  place,  we  must 
civilize  our  peasantry, —  that 's  the  point." 

"  But  how  will  you  civilize  them  .-' " 

"  To  civilize  the  people,  three  things  are  necessary,  — 
schools,  schools,  and  schools." 

"  But  you  yourself  say  that  the  peasantry  stand  on  a 
low  plane  of  material  development.  What  good  will 
schools  do  in  that  respect .'' " 

"  Do  you  know,  you  remind  me  of  a  story  of  the 
advice  given  to  a  sick  man :  '  You  had  better  try  a 
purgative.'  He  tried  it ;  he  grew  worse.  '  Apply  leeches.' 
He  applied  them;  he  grew  worse.  'Well,  then,  pray 
to  God.'  He  tried  it ;  he  grew  worse.  So  it  is  with 
you.  I  say  political  economy ;  you  say  you  're  worse 
for  it.  I  suggest  socialism ;  worse  still.  Education ; 
still  worse." 

"  Yes.     But  how  can  schools  help }  " 

"  They  will  create  other  needs." 

"  But  this  is  just  the  very  thing  I  could  never  under- 
stand," replied  Levin,  vehemently.  "  In  what  way  will 
schools  help  the  peasantry  to  better  their  material  con- 
dition .''  You  say  that  schools  —  education  —  will  create 
new  needs.  So  much  the  worse,  because  they  will  not 
have  the  ability  to  satisfy  them ;  and  I  could  never  see 
how  a  knowledge  of  addition  and  subtraction  and  the 
catechism  could  help  them  to  better  themselves  materi- 
ally. Day  before  yesterday  I  met  a  peasant  woman 
with  a  baby  at  the  breast,  and  I  asked  her  where  she 
was  going.  She  said  she  had  been  'to  the  babka's;^ 
the  child  had  a  crying  fit,  and  I  took  him  to  be  cured.' 

^  Babka,  a  peasant  grandmother,  a  popular  name  for  the  midwife.  It 
is  the  diminutive  of  baba,  a  peasant  woman,  especially  a  muzhik's  wife. 


ANNA   KARENINA  135 

I  asked,  '  How  did  the  babka  cure  the  crying  fit  ? '  '  She 
set  him  on  the  hen-roost,  and  muttered  something.'  " 

"  Well  there !  "  cried  Sviazhsky,  laughing  heartily. 
"You  yourself  confess  it.  In  order  to  teach  them  that 
they  can't  cure  children  by  setting  them  on  hen-roosts, 
you  must ....  " 

"  Ah  no !  "  interrupted  Levin,  with  some  vexation. 
"  Your  remedy  of  schools  for  the  people  I  only  com- 
pared to  the  babka's  method  of  curing.  The  peasantry 
are  poor  and  uncivilized  ;  this  we  see  as  plainly  as  the 
woman  saw  her  child's  distress  because  he  was  crying. 
But  that  schools  can  raise  them  from  their  wretched- 
ness is  as  inconceivable  as  the  hen-roost  cure  for  sick 
children.  You  must  first  remedy  the  cause  of  the 
poverty." 

"  Well !  In  this  at  least  you  agree  with  Spencer, 
whom  you  do  not  like.  He  says  that  civilization  can 
result  from  increased  happiness  and  comfort  in  life, 
from  frequent  ablutions,  but  not  by  learning  to  read 
and  cipher."  .... 

"  There  now  !  I  am  very  glad,  or  rather  very  sorry, 
if  I  am  in  accord  with  Spencer.  But  this  I  have  felt 
for  a  long  time :  schools  cannot  help ;  the  only  help  can 
come  from  some  economical  organization,  whereby  the 
peasantry  will  be  richer,  will  have  more  leisure.  Then 
schools  also  will  come." 

"  Nevertheless,  schools  are  obligatory  now  all  over 
Europe." 

"  But  how  would  you  harmonize  this  with  Spencer's 
ideas }  "  asked  Levin. 

But  into  Sviazhsky's  eyes  again  came  the  troubled  ex- 
pression ;  and  he  said  with  a  smile  :  — 

"  No,  this  story  of  the  crying  fit  was  capital !  Is  it 
possible  that  you  heard  it  yourself  }  " 

Levin  saw  that  there  was  no  connection  between  this 
man's  life  and  his  thoughts.  Evidently  it  was  perfectly 
indifferent  to  him  where  his  conclusions  led  him.  Only 
the  process  of  reasoning  was  what  appealed  to  him  ; 
and  it  was  disagreeable  to  him  When  this  process  of 
reasoning  led  him  into  some  stupid,  blind  alley.     This 


136  ANNA    KARENINA 

was  what  he  did  not  like,  and  he  avoided  it  by  leading 
the  conversation  to  some  bright  and  agreeable  topic. 

All  the  impressions  of  this  day,  including  those  which 
arose  from  his  visit  to  the  old  muzhik,  and  which  seemed 
somehow  to  give  a  new  basis  to  his  thoughts,  troubled 
Levin  profoundly.  This  genial  Sviazhsky  who  kept  his 
thoughts  for  general  use  and  evidently  had  entirely 
different  principles  for  the  conduct  of  his  life,  keeping 
them  hidden  from  Levin,  while  at  the  same  time  he  and 
the  majority  of  men  —  the  throng  whose  name  is  legion 
—  seemed  to  be  ruled  by  the  general  consensus  of 
opinions  by  means  of  ideas  strange  to  him ;  the  testy 
old  proprietor,  perfectly  right  in  his  judicious  views  of 
life,  but  wrong  in  despising  one  entire  class  in  Russia, 
and  that  perhaps  the  best ;  his  own  discontent  with  his 
activity,  and  the  confused  hope  of  setting  things  right 
at  last,  —  all  this  excited  and  disturbed  him. 

Levin  retired  to  his  room,  and  lay  down  on  his 
springy  mattress,  which  unexpectedly  exposed  his  arms 
and  legs  every  time  he  moved  ;  but  it  was  long  before  he 
could  get  to  sleep.  His  conversation  with  Sviazhsky, 
though  many  good  things  were  said,  did  not  interest 
him  ;  but  the  old  proprietor's  arguments  haunted  him. 
He  involuntarily  remembered  every  word  that  he  said, 
and  his  imagination  supplied  the  answer. 

"  Yes,  I  ought  to  have  replied  to  him,  '  You  say  that 
our  management  is  not  succeeding  because  the  muzhik 
despises  all  improvements,  and  that  force  must  be  ap- 
plied to  them.  But  if  our  estates  were  not  retrograding, 
even  where  these  improvements  are  not  found,  you 
would  be  right ;  but  advance  is  made  only  where  the 
laborer  works  in  conformity  with  his  own  customs,  as  at 
the  old  man's  by  the  roadside.  Our  general  dissatisfac- 
tion with  our  management  proves  that  either  we  or  the 
laborers  are  at  fault.  We  have  long  been  losing,  both 
by  our  own  methods  and  by  European  methods,  by 
neglecting  the  qualities  of  the  laboring  force.  Let  us 
be  willing  to  acknowledge  that  the  laboring  force  is  not 
ideal  as  a  force,  but  is  the  Russian  muzhik  with  his  in- 
stincts, and  we  shall  then  be  able  to  manage  our  estates 


ANNA    KARENINA  137 

in  conformity  with  this.'  I  should  have  said  to  him  . 
'Imagine  that  you  were  carrying  on  an  estate  like  that 
of  my  old  man  by  the  roadside,  that  you  had  found  a 
way  of  interesting  your  laborers  in  the  success  of  their 
work,  and  had  found  that  by  means  of  improvements 
such  as  they  would  acknowledge  to  be  improvements, 
you  had  succeeded  in  doubling  or  trebling  your  returns 
without  exhausting  the  soil ;  then  suppose  you  make  a 
division  and  give  a  half  to  your  working  force.  The 
residue  which  you  would  have  would  be  larger,  and  that 
which  would  come  to  the  working  force  would  be  larger.' 
But  to  do  this,  there  must  be  a  coming  down  from  any- 
thing like  ideal  management  and  the  laborers  must  be 
interested  in  the  success  of  the  management.  How  can 
it  be  done  ?  This  is  a  question  of  details,  but  there  is 
no  doubt  that  it  is  possible." 

This  idea  kept  Levin  in  a  state  of  agitation.  Half 
the  night  he  did  not  sleep,  thinking  of  the  details  con- 
nected with  carrying  out  his  new  plans  and  schemes. 
He  had  not  intended  to  leave  so  soon,  but  now  he 
decided  to  go  home  on  the  morrow.  Moreover,  the 
memory  of  the  young  lady  with  the  open  dress  came 
over  him  with  a  strange  sense  of  shame  and  disgust. 
But  the  main  thing  that  decided  him  was  his  desire  to 
lay  before  his  muzhiks  his  new  project  before  the  autumn 
harvests,  so  that  they  might  reap  under  the  new  condi 
tions.  He  decided  to  reform  his  whole  method  of  ad 
ministration. 

CHAPTER   XXIX 

The  carrying  out  of  Levin's  plan  offered  many  diffi- 
culties ;  but  he  persevered,  and  finally  succeeded  in 
persuading  himself  without  self-deception  that  the  en- 
terprise was  worth  the  labor  even  though  he  should  not 
succeed  in  doing  all  that  he  wanted  to  do.  One  of  the 
principal  obstacles  which  met  him  was  the  fact  that  his 
estate  was  already  in  running  order,  and  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  come  to  a  sudden  stop  and  begin  anew,  but 
that  he  had  to  remodel  his  machine  while  it  was  going. 


138  ANNA    KARENINA 

When  he  reached  home  in  the  evening,  he  summoned 
his  overseer,  and  explained  to  him  his  plans.  The  over- 
seer received  with  undisguised  satisfaction  all  the  details 
of  this  scheme  as  far  as  they  showed  that  all  that  had 
been  done  hitherto  was  absurd  and  unproductive.  The 
overseer  declared  that  he  had  long  ago  told  him  so,  but 
that  no  one  would  Hsten  to  him.  But  when  it  came  to 
Levin's  proposition  to  share  the  profits  of  the  estate 
with  the  laborers,  on  the  basis  of  an  association,  the 
overseer  put  on  an  expression  of  the  deepest  melan- 
choly, and  immediately  began  to  speak  of  the  necessity 
of  bringing  in  the  last  sheaves  of  wheat,  and  commenc- 
ing the  second  plowing ;  and  Levin  felt  that  now  was 
not  a  propitious  time. 

On  conversing  with  the  muzhiks  about  his  project  of 
dividing  with  them  the  products  of  the  earth,  he  found 
that  here  his  chief  difficulty  lay  in  the  fact  that  they 
were  too  much  occupied  with  their  daily  tasks  to  com- 
prehend the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  his  enter- 
prise. 

A  simple-minded  muzhik,  Ivan  the  herdsman,  seemed 
to  comprehend  and  to  approve  Levin's  proposal  to  share 
with  him  in  the  profits  of  the  cattle ;  but  whenever  Levin 
went  on  to  speak  of  the  advantages  that  would  result, 
Ivan's  face  grew  troubled,  and,  without  waiting  to  hear 
Levin  out,  he  would  hurry  off  to  attend  to  some  work 
that  could  not  be  postponed,  —  either  to  pitch  the  hay 
from  the  pens,  or  to  draw  water,  or  to  clear  away  the 
manure. 

Another  obstacle  consisted  in  the  inveterate  distrust 
of  the  peasants,  who  would  not  believe  that  a  proprietor 
could  have  any  other  aim  than  to  get  all  he  could  out 
of  them.  They  were  firmly  convinced,  in  spite  of  all 
he  could  say,  that  his  real  purpose  was  hidden.  They, 
on  their  side,  in  expressing  their  opinions  had  much 
to  say ;  but  they  carefully  guarded  against  telling  what 
their  actual  object  was. 

Levin  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  irate  proprietor 
was  right  in  saying  that  the  peasants  demanded,  as  the 
first  and  indispensable  condition  for  any  arrangement, 


ANNA    KARENINA  139 

that  they  should  never  be  bound  to  any  of  the  new  agri- 
cultural methods,  or  to  use  the  improved  tools.  They 
agreed  that  the  new-fashioned  plow  worked  better,  that 
the  weed-extirpator  was  more  successful ;  but  they  in- 
vented a  thousand  reasons  why  they  should  not  use 
them ;  and,  although  he  had  made  up  his  mind  that 
there  must  be  a  coming  down  from  anything  like  ideal 
management,  he  felt  deep  regret  to  give  up  improve- 
ments the  advantages  of  which  were  so  evident.  But 
in  spite  of  all  these  difficulties,  he  persevered ;  and  by 
autumn  the  new  arrangement  was  in  working  order,  or 
at  least  seemed  to  be. 

At  first  Levin  intended  to  give  up  his  whole  domain  ^ 
just  as  it  was  to  the  muzhiks  —  the  laborers  —  and  over- 
seer on  the  new  conditions  of  association.  But  very 
soon  he  found  that  this  was  impracticable ;  and  he 
made  up  his  mind  to  divide  the  management  of  the 
estate.  The  cattle,  the  garden,  the  kitchen-garden, 
the  hay-fields,  and  some  lands  fenced  off  into  several 
lots  were  to  be  reckoned  as  special  and  separate  divis- 
ions. 

Ivan,  the  simple-minded  herdsman,  who  seemed  to 
Levin  better  fitted  than  any  one  else,  formed  an  artel, 
or  association,  composed  of  members  of  his  family,  and 
took  charge  of  the  cattle-yard.  A  distant  field,  which 
for  eight  years  had  been  lying  fallow,  was  taken  by  the 
shrewd  carpenter  Feodor  Rezunof,  who  joined  with  him 
seven  families  of  muzhiks ;  and  the  muzhik  Shuraef  en- 
tered into  the  same  arrangements  for  superintending  the 
gardens.  All  the  rest  was  left  as  it  had  been ;  but  these 
three  divisions  constituted  the  beginning  of  the  new  ar- 
rangement, and  they  kept  Levin  very  busy. 

It  was  true  that  matters  were  not  carried  on  in  the 
cattle-yard  any  better  than  before,  and  that  Ivan  was 
obstinate  in  his  opposition  to  giving  the  cows  a  warm 
shelter,  and  to  butter  made  of  sweet  cream,  asserting 
that  cows  kept  in  a  cold  place  required  less  feed,  and 
that  butter  made  of  sour  cream  was  made  quicker ;  and 
he  demanded  his  wages  as  before,  and  he  was  not  at 

^  Kkozyaistvo, 


i4b  ANNA   KARENINA 

all  interested  in  the  fact  that  the  money  that  he  re- 
ceived was  not  his  wages  but  his  share  of  the  profits 
of  the  association. 

It  was  true  that  Rezunof  and  his  associates  did  not 
give  the  field  a  second  plowing,  as  they  had  been  ad- 
vised to  do,  and  excused  themselves  on  the  ground  that 
they  had  no  time.  It  was  true  that  the  muzhiks  of  this 
company,  although  they  had  agreed  to  take  this  work 
under  the  new  conditions,  called  this  land,  not  common 
land,  but  shared  land,  and  the  muzhiks  and  Rezunof 
himself  said  to  Levin  :  "  If  you  would  take  money  for 
the  land  it  would  be  less  bother  to  you  and  that  would 
let  us  out." 

Moreover,  these  muzhiks  kept  putting  off  under  vari- 
ous pretexts  the  building  of  the  cattle-yard  and  barn,  and 
did  not  get  it  done  till  winter,  though  they  had  agreed 
to  build  it  immediately. 

It  was  true  that  Shuraef  tried  to  exchange  for  a  trifle 
with  the  muzhiks  the  products  of  the  gardens  which  he 
had  undertaken  to  manage.  He  evidently  had  a  wrong 
notion  and  a  purposely  wrong  notion  of  the  conditions 
under  which  he  had  taken  the  land. 

It  was  true  that  often  in  talking  with  the  muzhiks 
and  explaining  to  them  all  the  advantages  of  the  under- 
taking. Levin  was  conscious  that  all  they  heard  was  the 
sound  of  his  voice,  that  they  were  firmly  convinced  that 
they  were  too  shrewd  to  let  him  deceive  them.  He 
was  especially  conscious  of  this  when  talking  with  the 
cleverest  of  the  muzhiks,  Rezunof.  He  noticed  in  the 
man's  eye  a  gleam  which  betrayed  evident  scorn  for 
Levin  and  a  firm  conviction  that  if  any  one  was  to  be 
cheated  it  was  not  he  —  Rezunof. 

But,  in  spite  of  all  these  drawbacks,  Levin  felt  that 
he  was  making  progress,  and  that  if  he  rigorously  kept 
his  accounts  and  persevered  he  should  be  able  to  show 
his  associates  at  the  end  of  the  year  that  the  new  order 
of  things  could  bring  excellent  results. 

All  this  -business,  together  with  his  work  in  connec- 
tion with  the  rest  of  his  estate,  which  still  remained  in 
his  own  hands,  and  together  with  his  work  in  the  library 


ANNA    KARENINA  141 

on  his  new  book,  so  filled  his  time  during  the  summer 
that  he  scarcely  ever  went  out,  even  to  hunt. 

Toward  the  end  of  August  he  learned  through  the 
man  that  brought  back  the  saddle  that  the  Oblonskys 
had  returned  to  Moscow.  By  not  having  replied  to 
Darya  Aleksandrovna's  letter,  by  his  rudeness  which  he 
could  not  remember  without  a  flush  of  shame,  he  felt 
that  he  had  burnt  his  ships  and  he  never  again  could 
go  to  them.  In  exactly  the  same  way  he  owed  apolo- 
gies to  Sviazhsky  for  having  left  his  house  without  bid- 
ding him  good-by.  Neither  would  he  again  dare  to 
go  to  Sviazhsky's.  But  now  all  this  was  a  matter  of 
indifference  to  him.  He  was  more  interested  and  ab- 
sorbed in  his  new  scheme  of  managing  his  estate  than 
in  anything  that  he  had  ever  attempted. 

He  finished  the  books  which  Sviazhsky  had  lent  him, 
and  others  on  political  economy  and  socialism,  which 
he  had  sent  for.  In  the  books  on  political  economy, 
in  Mill,  for  example,  which  he  studied  first  with  eager- 
ness, hoping  every  minute  to  find  a  solution  of  the  ques- 
tions which  occupied  him,  he  found  laws  deduced  from 
the  position  of  European  husbandry ;  but  he  could  not 
see  how  these  laws  could  be  profitably  applied  to  Rus- 
sian conditions.  He  found  a  similar  lack  in  the  books 
of  the  socialist  writers.  Either  they  were  beautiful  but 
impracticable  fancies,  such  as  he  dreamed  when  he  was 
a  student,  or  modifications  of  that  situation  of  things 
applicable  to  Europe,  but  offering  no  solution  for  the 
agrarian  question  in  Russia. 

Political  economy  said  that  the  laws  by  which  the 
wealth  of  Europe  was  developed  and  would  develop 
were  universal  and  fixed ;  socialistic  teachings  said  that 
progress  according  to  these  laws  would  lead  to  destruc- 
tion ;  but  neither  school  gave  him  any  answer  or  as 
much  as  a  hint  on  the  means  of  leading  him  and  all  the 
Russian  muzhiks  and  agriculturists,  with  their  millions 
of  hands  and  of  desyatins,  to  more  successful  methods 
of  reaching  prosperity. 

As  he  was  already  involved  in  this  enterprise,  he  con- 
scientiously read  through  everything  that  bore  on  the 


142  ANNA    KARENINA 

subject  and  decided  in  the  autumn  to  go  abroad  and 
study  the  matter  on  the  spot,  so  that  he  might  not 
have  with  this  question  the  experience  that  had  so  often 
met  him  with  various  questions  in  the  past.  How 
many  times  in  a  discussion  he  had  just  begun  to  under- 
stand his  opponent's  thought  and  to  expound  his  own, 
when  suddenly  the  question  would  be  asked :  "  But 
Kaufmann,  Jones,  Du  Bois,  Mitchell  ?  You  have  not 
read  them  ?  Read  them,  they  have  worked  out  this 
question." 

He  saw  clearly  now  that  Kaufmann  and  Mitchell 
could  not  tell  him  anything.  He  knew  what  he  wanted. 
He  saw  that  Russia  possessed  an  admirable  soil  and 
admirable  workmen,  and  that  in  certain  cases,  as  with 
the  muzhik  by  the  roadside,  the  land  and  the  laborers 
could  produce  abundantly,  but  that  in  the  majority  of 
cases  when  capital  was  spent  upon  them  in  the  Eu- 
ropean manner,  they  produced  little,  and  that  this  re- 
sulted entirely  from  the  fact  that  the  laborers  like  to 
work,  and  work  well  only  in  their  own  way,  and  that 
this  contrast  was  not  the  result  of  chance,  but  was  per- 
manent and  based  on  the  very  nature  of  the  people. 
He  thought  that  the  Russian  people,  which  was  des- 
tined to  colonize  and  cultivate  immense  unoccupied 
spaces,  would  consciously,  until  all  these  lands  were 
occupied,  hold  to  these  methods  as  necessary  to  them, 
and  that  these  methods  were  not  so  bad  as  they  were 
generally  considered.  And  he  wanted  to  demonstrate 
this  theoretically  in  his  book,  and  practically  on  his 
estate. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

Toward  the  end  of  September  the  lumber  was 
brought  for  the  construction  of  a  barn  on  the  artel 
land,  and  the  butter  was  sold,  and  showed  a  profit. 
The  new  administration,  on  the  whole,  worked  admi- 
rably in  practice,  or  at  least  it  seemed  so  to  Levin. 

But  in  order  to  explain  the  whole  subject  into  a  clear 


ANNA   KARENINA  143 

Jight  theoretically,  and  to  finish  his  treatise,  which  Levin 
imagined  was  likely  not  only  to  revolutionize  political 
economy,  but  even  to  annihilate  this  science,  and  to 
make  the  beginnings  of  a  new  one,  treating  of  the 
relations  of  the  peasantry  to  the  soil,  he  felt  that  it  was 
necessary  to  go  abroad,  and  to  learn,  from  observation 
on  the  spot,  all  that  was  going  on  in  that  direction,  and 
to  find  conclusive  proofs  that  all  that  was  done  there 
was  not  the  right  thing. 

He  was  only  waiting  for  the  delivery  of  the  wheat  to 
get  his  money,  and  make  the  journey.  But  the  autumn 
rains  set  in,  and  portions  of  the  wheat  and  potatoes 
were  not  as  yet  garnered.  All  work  was  at  a  stand- 
still, and  it  was  impossible  to  deliver  the  wheat.  The 
roads  were  impracticable,  tAVO  mills  were  washed  away 
by  the  freshet,  and  the  weather  kept  growing  worse  and 
worse. 

But  on  the  morning  of  October  12  the  sun  came  out; 
and  Levin,  hoping  for  a  change  in  the  weather,  began 
resolutely  to  prepare  for  his  journey.  He  sent  the 
overseer  to  the  merchant  to  negotiate  for  the  sale  of 
the  wheat,  and  he  himself  went  out  for  a  tour  of  inspec- 
tion of  the  estate,  in  order  to  make  the  last  remaining 
arrangements  for  his  journey. 

Having  accomplished  all  that  he  wished,  he  returned 
at  nightfall,  wet  from  the  rivulets  that  trickled  from  his 
waterproof  down  his  neck  and  inside  his  high  boots, 
but  in  a  happy  and  animated  frame  of  mind.  Toward 
evening  the  storm  increased  ;  the  hail  pelted  so  vio- 
lently the  drenched  horse,  that  she  shook  her  ears  and 
her  head,  and  went  sidewise ;  but  Levin,  protected  by 
his  bashluik,  felt  comfortable  enough,  and  he  cheer- 
fully gazed  around  him,  —  now  at  the  muddy  streams 
running  down  the  wheel-tracks ;  now  at  the  raindrops 
trickling  down  every  bare  twig  ;  now  at  the  white  spots 
where  the  hail  had  not  yet  melted  on  the  planks  of  the 
bridge ;  now  at  the  dry  but  still  pulpy  leaf,  clinging 
with  its  stout  stem  to  the  denuded  elm.  In  spite  of 
the  gloomy  aspect  of  nature,  he  felt  in  particularly 
good  spirits.     His  talks  with  the  peasants  in  a  distant 


144  ANNA    KARENINA 

village  convinced  him  that  they  were  beginning  to  get 
used  to  his  new  arrangements ;  and  an  old  dvornik, 
at  whose  house  he  stopped  to  dry  himself,  evidently 
approved  of  his  plan,  and  wanted  to  join  the  association 
for  the  purchase  of  cattle. 

"  What  is  required  is  to  go  straight  to  my  goal,  and 
I  shall  succeed,"  thought  Levin ;  "  but  the  labor  and 
the  pains  have  an  object.  I  am  not  working  for  my- 
self alone,  but  the  question  concerns  the  good  of  all. 
The  whole  way  of  managing  our  estates,  the  condition  of 
all  the  people,  must  be  absolutely  changed.  Instead 
of  poverty,  universal  well-being,  contentment ;  instead 
of  enmity,  agreement  and  union  of  interests  ;  in  a  word, 
a  bloodless  revolution,  but  a  mighty  revolution^  begin- 
ning in  the  little  circuit  of  our  district,  then  reaching  the 
province,  Russia,  the  whole  world !  The  conception  is 
so  just  that  it  cannot  help  being  fruitful.  Yes,  indeed, 
this  goal  is  worth  working  for.  And  there  is  abso- 
lutely no  significance  in  the  fact  that  I,  Kostia  Levin, 
my  own  self,  a  man  who  went  to  a  ball  in  a  black  neck- 
tie, and  was  rejected  by  a  Shcherbatsky,  am  a  stupid 
and  a  good-for-nothing ;  that  is  neither  here  nor  there. 
I  believe  that  Franklin  felt  that  he  was  just  such 
a  good-for-nothing,  and  had  just  as  little  faith  in  him- 
self, when  he  took  everything  into  account.  And,  prob- 
ably, he  had  his  Agafya  Mikhadovna  also,  to  whom  he 
confided  his  secrets." 

With  such  thoughts.  Levin  reached  home  in  the  dark. 
The  overseer,  who  had  been  to  the  merchant,  came  and 
handed  him  a  part  of  the  money  from  the  wheat.  The 
agreement  with  the  dvornik  was  drawn  up  ;  and  then 
the  overseer  told  how  he  had  seen  wheat  still  standing 
in  the  field  by  the  road,  while  his  one  hundred  and  sixty 
stacks,  not  yet  brought  in,  were  nothing  in  comparison 
to  what  others  had. 

After  supper  Levin  sat  down  in  his  chair,  as  usual, 
with  a  book ;  and  as  he  read  he  began  to  think  of  his 
projected  journey,  especially  in  connection  with  his 
book.  That  evening  the  whole  significance  of  his  un- 
dertaking presented  itself  to  him  with  remarkable  clear- 


ANNA    KARENINA  145 

ness,  and  his  ideas  fell  naturally  into  flowing  periods, 
which  expressed  the  essence  of  his  thought. 

"  I  must  write  this  down,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  It 
must  go  into  a  short  introduction,  though  before  I 
thought  that  was  unnecessary." 

He  got  up  to  go  to  his  writing-table ;  and  Laska,  who 
had  been  lying  at  his  feet,  also  got  up,  and,  stretching 
herself,  looked  at  him,  as  if  asking  where  he  was  going. 
But  he  had  no  time  for  writing ;  for  the  various  super- 
intendents came  for  their  orders,  and  he  had  to  go  to 
meet  them  in  the  anteroom. 

After  giving  them  their  orders,  or  rather,  having 
made  arrangements  for  their  morrow's  work,  and  hav- 
ing received  all  the  muzhiks  who  came  to  consult  with 
him.  Levin  went  back  to  his  library,  and  sat  down  to 
his  work.  Laska  lay  under  the  table ;  Agafya  Mikhaif- 
lovna,  with  her  knitting,  took  her  usual  place. 

After  writing  some  time.  Levin  suddenly  arose,  and 
began  to  walk  up  and  down  the  room.  The  memory 
of  Kitty  and  her  refusal,  and  the  recent  glimpse  of  her, 
came  before  his  imagination  with  extraordinary  vividness. 

"Now,  there's  no  need  of  your  getting  blue,"  said 
Agafya  Mikhailovna.  "  Now  why  do  you  stay  at  home  ? 
You  had  better  go  to  the  warm  springs  if  your  mind  is 
made  up." 

"  I  am  going  day  after  to-morrow,  Agafya  Mikhalf- 
lovna ;  but  I  had  to  finish  up  my  business." 

"  Your  business,  indeed !  Have  n't  you  given  these 
muzhiks  enough  already .-'  And  they  say,  '  Our  barin 
is  trying  to  buy  some  favor  from  the  Tsar  ;  '  and  strange 
it  is  :  why  do  you  bother  yourself  so  about  the  muzhiks  .■• " 

"  I  am  not  bothering  myself  about  them  ;  I  am  doing 
it  for  my  own  good." 

Agafya  Mikhailovna  knew  all  the  details  of  Levin's 
plans,  for  he  had  explained  them  to  her,  and  he  had 
often  had  discussions  with  her  and  had  not  agreed  with 
her  comments ;  but  now  she  entirely  misapprehended 
what  he  said  to  her. 

"  For  your  own  soul  it  is  certainly  important ;  to  think 
of  that  is  above  everything,"  said  she,  with  a  sigh. 
VOL.  II.  — 10 


i46  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Here  is  Parfen  Denisuitch :  although  he  could  not 
read,  yet  may  God  give  us  all  to  die  as  he  did  !  "  said 
she,  referring  to  a  household  servant  who  had  recently 
died.  "They  confessed  him  and  gave  him  extreme 
unction." 

"  I  did  not  mean  that,"  said  he ;  "I  mean  that  I  am 
working  for  my  own  profit.  It  will  be  more  profitable 
to  me  if  the  muzhiks  will  work  better." 

"  There  !  you  will  only  have  your  labor  for  your  pains. 
The  lazy  will  be  lazy  and  always  do  things  over  his  left 
shoulder.  Where  he  has  a  conscience,  he  '11  work ;  if 
not,  nothing  will  be  done." 

"Well,  well!  But  don't  you  yourself  say  that  Ivan 
is  beginning  to  look  out  for  the  cows  better  .''  " 

"  I  say  this  one  thing,"  replied  Agafya  Mikhail ovna, 
evidently  not  at  random  but  with  a  keen  logical  connec- 
tion of  thought :  "  You  must  get  married,  that 's  what." 

Agafya  MikhaVlovna's  observation  about  the  very 
matter  that  preoccupied  him  angered  him  and  insulted 
him.  He  frowned,  and,  without  replying,  sat  down  to 
his  work  again,  repeating  to  himself  all  that  he  had 
thought  about  the  importance  of  his  work.  Occasion- 
ally amid  the  silence  he  noticed  the  clicking  of  Agafya 
MikhaTlovna's  needles;  and,  remembering  what  he  did 
not  wish  to  remember,  he  would  frown. 

At  nine  o'clock  the  sound  of  bells  was  heard,  and  the 
heavy  rumbling  of  a  carriage  on  the  muddy  road. 

"  There !  here  's  some  visitors  coming  to  see  you : 
you  won't  be  bored  any  more,"  said  Agafya  Mikhai'- 
lovna,  rising,  and  going  to  the  door.  But  Levin  stepped 
ahead  of  her.  His  work  did  not  progress  now,  and  he 
was  glad  to  see  any  guest. 


CHAPTER   XXXI 

Before  Levin  got  halfway  down-stairs  he  heard  in 
the  vestibule  the  sound  of  a  familiar  cough  ;  but  the 
sound  was  covered  by  the  noise  of  his  own  footsteps, 
and  he  hoped  that  he  was  mistaken.     Then  he  saw  the 


ANNA   KARENINA  147 

tall  bony  figure  which  he  knew  so  well.  But  even  now, 
when  there  seemed  to  be  no  possibility  of  deception,  he 
still  hoped  that  he  was  mistaken,  and  that  this  tall  man 
who  was  divesting  himself  of  his  shuba,  and  coughing, 
was  not  his  brother  Nikolai'. 

Levin  loved  his  brother,  but  it  was  always  extremely 
disagreeable  to  live  with  him.  Now  especially,  when 
Levin  was  under  the  influence  of  the  thoughts  and 
suggestions  awakened  by  Agafya  MikhaYlovna,  and 
was  in  a  dull  and  melancholy  humor,  the  presence  of 
his  brother  was  indeed  an  affliction.  Instead  of  a  gay, 
healthy  visitor,  —  some  stranger,  who,  he  hoped,  would 
drive  away  his  perplexities,  —  he  was  obliged  to  receive 
his  brother,  who  knew  him  through  and  through,  who 
could  read  his  most  secret  thoughts,  and  who  would 
oblige  him  to  share  them  with  him.  And  this  he  did 
not  like  to  do. 

Angry  with  himself  for  his  unworthy  sentiments, 
Levin  ran  down  into  the  vestibule ;  and,  as  soon  as  he 
saw  his  brother  close  at  hand,  the  feeling  of  personal 
discomfort  instantly  disappeared,  and  was  succeeded  by 
a  feeling  of  pity.  Terrible  as  his  brother  Nikolaif  had 
been  when  he  saw  him  before  by  reason  of  his  emacia- 
tion and  illness,  he  was  now  still  more  emaciated,  still 
more  feeble.     He  was  like  a  skeleton  covered  with  skin. 

He  was  standing  in  the  vestibule  stretching  out  his 
long,  thin  neck  and  unwinding  a  scarf  from  it ;  and  he 
smiled  with  a  strange  melancholy  smile.  When  Levin 
saw  his  brother's  humble  and  pitiful  smile,  he  felt  a 
choking  sensation. 

"Well!  I  have  come  to  you,"  said  Nikolai',  in  a  thick 
voice,  and  not  for  a  second  taking  his  eyes  from  his 
brother's  face,  "  I  have  been  wanting  to  come  for  a  long 
time ;  yes,  I  have,  but  I  have  been  so  ill.  Now  I  am 
very  much  better,"  he  added,  rubbing  his  beard  with  his 
great  bony  hand. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  replied  Levin ;  and  it  was  still  more  ter- 
rible to  him  when,  as  he  touched  his  brother's  shriveled 
cheeks  with  his  lips,  he  felt  his  fever  flush,  and  saw  the 
gleam  of  his  great,  strangely  brilliant  eyes. 


148  ANNA    KARENINA 

Some  time  before  this,  Konstantin  Levin  had  written 
his  brother  that,  having  disposed  of  the  small  portion 
of  their  common  inheritance,  consisting  of  personal 
property,  a  sum  of  two  thousand  rubles  was  due  as  his 
share. 

Nikolaf  said  that  he  had  come  to  get  this  money,  and 
especially  to  see  the  old  nest ;  to  put  his  foot  on  the 
natal  soil,  so  as  to  get  renewed  strength,  like  the  heroes 
of  ancient  times.  Notwithstanding  his  tall  stooping 
form,  notwithstanding  his  frightful  emaciation,  his  move- 
ments were,  as  they  had  always  been,  quick  and  impetu- 
ous.    Levin  took  him  to  his  room. 

Nikolaif  changed  his  dress,  and  took  great  pains  with 
his  toilet,  which  in  former  times  he  neglected.  He 
brushed  his  thin  shaven  hair,  and  went  up-stairs  smiling. 

He  was  in  the  gayest  and  happiest  humor,  just  as 
Konstantin  had  seen  him  when  he  was  a  child.  He 
even  spoke  of  Sergyei'  Ivanovitch  without  bitterness. 
When  he  saw  Agafya  Mikhailovna,  he  jested  with  her, 
and  questioned  her  about  the  old  servants.  The  news 
of  the  death  of  Parfen  Denisuitch  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion on  him.  A  look  of  fear  crossed  his  face,  but  he 
instantly  recovered  himself. 

"  He  was  very  old,  was  he  not  ? "  he  asked,  and 
quickly  changed  the  conversation.  "  Yes,  I  am  going 
to  stay  a  month  or  two  with  you,  and  then  go  back  to 
Moscow.  You  see,  Miagkof  has  promised  me  a  place, 
and  I  shall  enter  the  service.  Now  I  have  turned  over 
a  new  leaf  entirely,"  he  added.  "  You  see,  I  have  sent 
away  that  woman." 

"  Marya  Nikolayevna  ?     How  ?     What  for  ? " 

"  Ah !  she  was  a  wretched  woman  !  She  caused  a 
heap  of  tribulations." 

But  he  did  not  tell  what  the  tribulations  were.  He 
could  not  confess  that  he  had  sent  Marya  Nikolayevna 
away  because  she  made  his  tea  too  weak,  still  less  be- 
cause she  insisted  on  treating  him  as  an  invalid. 

"  Then,  besides,  I  wanted  to  begin  an  entirely  new 
kind  of  life.  Of  course,  I,  like  everybody  else,  have 
committed  follies ;  but  the  present,  —  I  mean  the  last 


ANNA    KARENINA  149 

one,  —  I  don't  regret  it,  provided  only  I  get  better ;  and 
better,  thank  the  Lord !  I  feel  already." 

Levin  listened,  and  tried,  but  tried  in  vain,  to  find 
something  to  say.  Apparently  Nikolai'  had  somewhat 
the  same  feeling  ;  he  began  to  ask  him  about  his  affairs  ; 
and  Konstantin  was  glad  to  speak  about  himself  because 
he  could  speak  without  any  pretense.  He  frankly  re- 
lated his  plans  and  his  experiments. 

Nikolaf  listened,  but  did  not  show  the  least  interest. 

These  two  men  were  so  related  to  each  other,  and 
there  was  such  a  bond  between  them,  that  the  slightest 
motion,  the  sound  of  their  voices,  spoke  more  clearly 
than  all  the  words  that  they  could  say  to  each  other. 

At  this  moment  both  were  thinking  the  same  thought, 
—  Nikolai's  illness  and  approaching  death  —  dwarfiog 
everything  else  into  insignificance.  Neither  of  them 
dared  make  the  least  allusion  to  it,  and  therefore  all  that 
either  of  them  said  failed  to  express  what  really  occu- 
pied their  minds  —  and  was  therefore  false.  Never 
before  had  Levin  been  so  glad  for  an  evening  to  end, 
for  bedtime  to  come.  Never,  even  when  obliged  to  pay 
casual  or  official  visits,  had  he  felt  so  false  and  unnatu- 
ral as  that  evening.  And  the  consciousness  of  this  un- 
naturalness,  and  his  regret,  made  him  more  unnatural 
still.  His  heart  was  breaking  to  see  his  beloved  dying 
brother ;  but  he  was  obliged  to  dissemble,  and  to  talk 
about  various  things  as  if  his  brother  was  going  to 
live. 

As  at  this  time  the  house  was  damp  and  only  his  own 
room  was  warm,  Levin  offered  to  share  it,  with  a  parti- 
rion  between  them,  with  his  brother. 

Nikolai'  went  to  bed,  and  slept  the  uneasy  sleep  of  an 
invalid,  turning  restlessly  from  side  to  side,  and  con- 
stantly coughing.  Sometimes  when  he  could  not  raise 
the  phlegm,  he  would  cry  out,  "  Akh !  Bozhe  mo'f !  " 
Sometimes,  when  the  dampness  choked  him,  he  would 
grow  angry,  and  cry  out,  "  Ah,  the  devil !  " 

Levin  could  not  sleep  as  he  listened  to  him.  His 
thoughts  were  varied,  but  they  always  returned  to  one 
theme,  —  death. 


150  ANNA    KARENINA 

Death,  the  inevitable  end  of  all,  for  the  first  time 
appeared  to  him  with  irresistible  force.  And  death  was 
here,  with  this  beloved  brother,  who  groaned  in  his 
sleep,  and  called  now  upon  God,  now  upon  the  devil. 
It  was  with  him  also :  this  he  felt.  If  not  to-day,  then 
to-morrow ;  if  not  to-morrow,  then  in  thirty  years ;  was 
it  not  all  the  same  ?  And  what  this  inevitable  death 
was,  —  not  only  did  he  not  know,  not  only  had  he  never 
before  thought  about  it,  but  he  had  not  wished,  had  not 
dared,  to  think  about  it. 

"  Here  I  am  working,  wanting  to  accomplish  some- 
thing, but  I  forgot  that  all  must  come  to  an  end,  — 
death." 

He  was  lying  in  bed  in  the  darkness,  curled  up, 
holding  his  knees,  scarcely  able  to  breathe,  so  great  was 
the  tension  of  his  mind.  The  more  he  thought,  the 
more  clearly  he  saw  that  from  his  conception  of  life  he 
had  omitted  nothing  except  this  one  Httle  factor,  death, 
which  would  come  and  end  all,  and  that  there  was  no 
help  against  it  —  not  the  least.  Yes,  this  is  terrible, 
but  so  it  is  ! 

"  Yes,  but  I  am  still  alive.  Now,  what  can  be  done 
about  it  .'*  what  can  be  done  ? "  he  asked  in  despair. 
He  lighted  a  candle,  and  softly  arose,  and  went  to  the 
mirror,  and  began  to  look  at  his  face  and  his  hair. 
Yes !  on  the  temples  a  few  gray  hairs  were  to  be 
seen.  He  opened  his  mouth.  His  back  teeth  showed 
signs  of  decay.  He  doubled  up  his  muscular  arms. 
"  Yes,  there  's  much  strength.  But  this  poor  Niko- 
lenka,  who  is  breathing  so  painfully  with  the  little  that 
is  left  of  his  lungs,  also  had  at  one  time  a  healthy  body." 
And  suddenly  he  remembered  how  when  they  were 
children,  and  were  put  to  bed,  they  would  wait  until 
Feodor  Bogdanuitch  got  out  of  the  door,  and  then  begin 
a  pillow  fight,  and  laugh,  laugh  so  unrestrainedly,  that 
not  even  the  fear  of  Feodor  Bogdanuitch  could  quench 
this  exuberant  and  intoxicating  sense  of  the  gayety  of 
life.  "  But  now  there  he  lies  in  bed  with  his  poor 
hollow  chest  —  and  I  —  ignorant  why,  and  what  will 
become  of  me." .... 


ANNA    KARENINA  151 

"  Kah !  kah !  ah !  what  the  devil  are  you  doing  ? 
Why  don't  you  go  to  sleep  ? "  demanded  his  brother's 
voice. 

"  I  don't  know ;  insomnia,  I  guess." 

*'  But  I  have  been  sleeping  beautifully.  I  have  not 
had  any  sweat  at  all.     Just  feel  —  no  sweat." 

Levin  felt  of  him,  then  he  got  into  bed  again,  put  out 
the  candle,  but  it  was  long  before  he  went  to  sleep. 
Still  in  his  mind  arose  this  new  question,  how  to  live 
so  as  to  be  ready  for  the  inevitable  death .-" 

"  There !  he  is  dying !  Yes !  he  will  die  in  the 
spring.  How  can  I  aid  him  .''  What  can  I  say  to  him  ? 
What  do  I  know  about  it.''  I  had  even  forgotten  that 
there  was  such  a  thing." 

Levin  had  long  before  made  the  observation  that 
often  people  who  surprise  you  by  an  abrupt  transition 
grow  unendurable  by  reason  of  their  gentleness  and 
excessive  humility,  unreasonableness,  and  peremptory 
ways.  He  foresaw  that  this  would  be  the  case  with 
his  brother ;  and,  in  fact,  Nikolai's  sweet  temper  was 
not  of  long  duration.  On  the  very  next  morning  he 
awoke  in  an  extremely  irritable  temper,  and  immediately 
began  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  his  brother  by  touching 
him  on  the  most  tender  points. 

Levin  felt  himself  to  blame,  but  he  could  not  be 
frank.  He  felt  that  if  they  had  not  both  dissimulated 
their  thoughts,  but  had  spoken  from  their  very  hearts, 
they  would  have  looked  into  each  other's  eyes,  and  he 
would  have  said  only  this :  *'  You  are  going  to  die,  you 
are  going  to  die  ; "  and  Nikolai'  would  have  answered 
only  this :  "  I  know  that  I  am  dying,  and  I  am  afraid, 
afraid,  afraid." 

And  they  would  have  said  nothing  more  if  they  had 
spoken  honestly  from  their  hearts.  But  as  this  sincerity 
was  not  possible,  Konstantin  tried  to  do  what  all  his 
life  long  he  had  never  succeeded  in  doing,  though  he 
had  observed  that  many  persons  could  do  it  and  that 
without  doing  it  life  was  almost  impossible,  —  he  tried 
to  talk  about  something  that  was  not  in  his  mind,  and 
he  felt  that  his  brother  divined  his  insincerity,  and  was 


152  ANNA    KARENINA 

therefore  irritated  and  angry,  and  found  fault  with  all 
that  he  said. 

On  the  third  day  NikolaT  began  to  discuss  the  ques- 
tion of  his  brother's  reforms,  and  to  criticize  them,  and 
in  a  spirit  of  contrariety  to  confound  his  scheme  with 
communism. 

"  You  have  only  taken  your  idea  from  some  one  else ; 
and  you  distort  it,  and  want  to  apply  it  to  what  is  not 
suited  to  receive  it." 

"  Yes,  but  I  tell  you  that  the  two  have  nothing  in 
common.  I  have  no  thought  of  copying  communism, 
which  denies  the  right  of  property,  of  capital,  of  inheri- 
tance ;  but  I  do  not  disregard  these  stim7ili."  It  went 
against  Levin's  grain  to  use  these  terms,  but  since  he 
had  begun  his  treatise  he  found  himself,  in  spite  of  him, 
compelled  to  use  non- Russian  words.  "  All  I  want  is 
to  regulate  labor." 

"  In  other  words,  you  borrow  a  foreign  idea ;  you 
take  away  from  it  all  that  gives  it  force,  and  you  pre- 
tend to  make  it  pass  as  new,"  said  Nikolaf,  angrily 
craning  his  neck  in  his  cravat. 

"Yes,  but  my  idea  has  not  the  slightest  resem- 
blance*.... " 

"  This  idea,"  interrupted  NikolaY,  smiling  ironically, 
and  with  an  angry  light  in  his  eyes,  —  "  communism,  — 
has  at  least  one  attractive  feature,  —  and  you  might 
call  it  a  geometrical  one  —  it  has  clearness  and  logical 
certainty.  Maybe  it  is  Utopia.  But  let  us  agree  that 
it  can  make  a  tabula  rasa  of  the  past,  so  that  there 
shall  be  no  property  of  family,  but  only  freedom  of 
labor.     But  you  don't  accept  this ....  " 

"  But  why  do  you  confound  them  ?  I  never  was  a 
communist." 

"  But  I  have  been ;  and  I  believe  that  if  communism 
is  premature,  it  is,  at  least,  reasonable ;  and  it  is  as  sure 
to  succeed  as  Christianity  was  in  the  early  centuries." 

"  And  I  believe  that  labor  must  be  regarded  from  the 
scientific  standpoint ;  in  other  words,  it  must  be  studied. 
Its  constitution  must  be  known  and  ...." 

"  Now,  that  is  absolutely  idle.     This  force  goes  of  it- 


ANNA    KARENINA  153 

self,  and  takes  different  forms,  according  to  the  degrees 
of  its  development.  Everywhere  this  order  has  been 
followed,  —  slaves,  then  metayers,  free  labor,  and,  here 
in  Russia,  we  have  the  farm,  the  arend  or  leasehold,  our 
system  of  apprenticeship.     What  more  do  you  want  .-^  " 

Levin  took  fire  at  these  last  words,  the  more  because 
he  feared  in  his  secret  soul  that  his  brother  was  right  in 
blaming  him  for  wanting  to  discover  a  balance  between 
communism  and  the  existing  forms,  —  a  thing  which  was 
scarcely  possible. 

"  I  am  trying  to  find  a  form  of  labor  which  will  be 
profitable  for  all,  —  for  me  and  the  laborer,"  he  replied 
warmly. 

"  That  is  not  what  you  wish  to  do ;  it  is  simply  this  : 
you  have,  all  your  Hfe  long,  sought  to  be  original ;  and 
you  want  to  prove  that  you  are  not  exploiting  the  muzhik, 
but  are  working  for  a  principle." 

"Well,  since  you  think  so  let's  end  it,"  replied  Kon- 
stantin,  feeling  the  muscles  of  his  right  cheek  twitch  in- 
voluntarily. 

"  You  never  had,  and  you  never  will  have,  any  convic- 
tions, and  you  only  wanted  to  flatter  your  conceit." 

"That  is  very  well  to  say ....  but  let's  end  the  mat- 
ter." 

"  Certainly  I  will.  It  was  time  long  ago.  You  go  to 
the  devil !  and  I  am  very  sorry  that  I  came." 

Levin  tried  in  vain  to  calm  him.  Nikolaf  would  not 
listen  to  a  word,  and  persisted  in  saying  that  they  had 
better  separate  ;  and  Konstantin  saw  that  it  was  not  pos- 
sible to  live  with  him. 

Nikolai  had  already  made  his  preparations  to  depart, 
when  Konstantin  came  to  him,  and  begged  him,  in  a  way 
that  was  not  entirely  natural,  for  forgiveness,  if  he  had 
offended  him. 

"  Ah,  now !  here  's  magnanimity,"  said  Nikolaif,  smil- 
ing. "  If  you  are  very  anxious  to  be  in  the  right,  then 
let  us  agree  that  this  is  sensible.  You  are  right,  but  I 
am  going  all  the  same." 

At  the  last  moment,  however,  as  Nikolai  kissed  his 
brother,  a  strange  look  of  seriousness   came   on   him. 


154  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Kostia,"  he  said,  "  don't  harbor  any  animosity  against 
me."     And  his  voice  trembled. 

These  were  the  only  words  which  were  spoken  sin- 
cerely. Levin  understood  that  they  meant :  "  You  see 
and  know  that  I  am  miserable,  and  we  may  not  meet 
again." 

Levin  understood  this,  and  the  tears  came  into  his 
eyes.  Once  more  he  kissed  his  brother,  but  he  could 
not  find  anything  to  say. 

On  the  third  day  after  his  brother's  departure.  Levin 
went  abroad.  At  the  railway  station  he  met  Shcher- 
batsky,  Kitty's  cousin,  and  astonished  him  greatly  by 
his  melancholy. 

"What  is  the  matter .•*"  asked  Shcherbatsky. 

"Well,  nothing,  except  that  there  is  little  happiness 
in  this  world." 

"  Little  happiness  ?  Just  come  with  me  to  Paris  in- 
stead of  going  to  some  place  like  Mulhouse.  I  '11  show 
you  how  gay  it  is." 

"  No,  I  am  done  for.     I  am  ready  to  die." 

**  What  a  joke  !  "  said  Shcherbatsky,  laughing.  "  I 
am  just  learning  how  to  begin." 

"  I  felt  the  same  a  little  while  ago,  but  now  I  know 
that  my  life  will  be  short." 

Levin  said  what  he  honestly  felt  at  this  time.  All 
that  he  saw  before  him  was  death  or  its  approach.  But 
still  he  was  just  as  much  interested  as  ever  in  his  proj- 
ects of  reform.  It  was  necessary  to  keep  his  life  occu-. 
pied  till  death  should  come.  Darkness  seemed  to  cover 
everything ;  but  by  reason  of  this  darkness  he  felt  that 
the  only  guiding  thread  through  its  labyrinth  was  to  oc- 
cupy himself  with  his  labors  of  reform,  and  he  clung 
:o  them  with  all  the  force  of  his  character. 


PART    FOURTH 


CHAPTER   I 

KAREN  IN  and  his  wife  continued  to  live  in  the 
same  house,  and  to  meet  every  day,  and  yet  they 
remained  entire  strangers  to  each  other.  AlekseY  Alek- 
sandrovitch  made  a  point  every  day  to  be  seen  with  his 
wife  so  that  the  servants  might  not  have  the  right  to 
gossip,  but  he  avoided  dining  at  home.  Vronsky  was 
never  seen  there ;  Anna  met  him  outside,  and  her  hus- 
band knew  it. 

All  three  suffered  from  a  situation  which  would  haVe 
been  intolerable  for  a  single  day  had  not  each  believed 
it  to  be  transitory.  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  expected 
to  see  this  passion,  like  everything  else  in  the  world, 
come  to  an  end  and  thus  his  name  would  not  be  dis- 
honored. Anna,  the  cause  of  all  the  trouble,  and  the 
one  on  whom  the  consequences  weighed  the  most  cruelly, 
accepted  her  position  simply  and  solely  because  she  ex- 
pected— nay,  was  firmly  convinced  —  that  the  matter 
would  soon  be  explained  and  settled.  She  had  not  the 
least  idea  how  it  would  come  about,  but  she  was  certain 
that  it  would  now  come  about  very  speedily. 

Vronsky  in  spite  of  himself,  submitting  to  her  views, 
was  also  awaiting  something  to  happen  independent  of 
himself,  which  should  resolve  all  their  difficulty. 

Toward  the  middle  of  the  winter  Vronsky  had  to 
spend  a  very  tiresome  week.  He  was  delegated  to  show 
a  foreign  prince  about  Petersburg.  Vronsky  himself 
was  a  representative  Russian.  Not  only  was  he  irre- 
proachable in  his  bearing  but  he  was  accustomed  to  the 
society  of  such  exalted  personages ;  therefore  he  was 
given  the  charge  of  the  prince.  But  this  responsibility 
was  very  distasteful  to  him.     The  prince  did  not  want  to 

155 


156  ANNA    KARENINA 

let  anything  pass  concerning  which  he  might  be  asked 
on  his  return,  "Did  you  see  that  in  Russia?"  And 
moreover  he  wanted  to  enjoy  as  far  as  possible  all  the 
pleasures  peculiar  to  the  covmtry.  Vronsky  was  obliged 
to  be  his  guide  in  the  one  and  in  the  other.  In  the  morn- 
ing they  went  out  to  see  the  sights  ;  in  the  evening  they 
took  part  in  the  national  amusements. 

This  prince  enjoyed  exceptionally  good  health,  even 
for  a  prince  ;  and,  owing  to  his  gymnastic  exercises  and 
the  scrupulous  care  he  took  of  himself,  notwithstanding 
the  excesses  to  which  he  let  his  love  for  pleasure  carry 
him,  he  remained  as  fresh  as  a  great,  green,  shiny 
Dutch  cucumber. 

He  had  been  a  great  traveler,  and  had  found  that 
one  of  the  great  advantages  of  easy  modern  communi- 
cation consisted  in  the  fact  that  it  brought  national 
amusements  into  easy  reach.  In  Spain  he  had  given 
serenades,  and  fallen  in  love  with  a  Spanish  girl  who 
played  the  mandolin;  in  Switzerland  he  had  killed  a 
chamois ;  in  England  leaped  ditches  in  a  red  shooting- 
jacket,  and  shot  two  hundred  pheasants  on  a  wager;  in 
Turkey  he  had  penetrated  a  harem ;  in  India  he  had 
ridden  the  elephant ;  and  now  he  wanted  to  taste  the 
special  pleasures  that  Russia  afforded. 

Vronsky,  as  master  of  ceremonies,  arranged,  with  no 
little  difficulty,  a  program  of  amusements  truly  Russian 
in  character.  There  were  races  and  blinui,  or  carnival 
cakes,  and  bear-hunts  and  troika  parties  and  gipsies, 
and  feasts  set  forth  with  Russian  dishes,  and  the  prince 
with  extraordinary  aptitude  entered  into  the  spirit  of 
these  Russian  sports,  broke  his  waiter  of  glasses  with 
the  rest,  took  a  gipsy  girl  on  his  knee,  and  apparently 
asked  himself  if  the  whole  Russian  spirit  consisted  only 
in  this,  without  going  further. 

In  reality,  the  prince  took  more  delight  in  French 
actresses,  ballet-dancers,  and  white-seal  champagne,  than 
in  all  the  other  pleasures  which  the  Russians  could  offer 
him. 

Vronsky  was  accustomed  to  princes,  but  either  be- 
cause he  had  changed  of  late,  or  else  because  he  had 


ANNA    KARENINA  157 

too  close  a  view  of  this  particular  prince,  this  week 
seemed  terribly  burdensome  to  him.  During  the  whole 
week,  without  cessation,  he  experienced  a  feeling  like 
that  of  a  man  placed  in  charge  of  a  dangerous  lunatic, 
who  dreaded  his  patient,  and,  at  the  same  timej  from 
very  force  of  proximity,  feared  for  his  own  reason. 
Vronsky  was  constantly  under  the  necessity  of  keeping 
up  the  strictest  barriers  of  official  reserve  in  order  not  to 
feel  insulted.  The  prince's  behavior  toward  the  very  per- 
sons who,  to  Vronsky's  amazement,  were  ready  to  crawl 
out  of  their  skin  to  give  him  experiences  of  Russian 
amusements,  was  scornful.  His  criticism  on  the  Russian 
women  whom  he  wanted  to  study  more  than  once  made 
Vronsky  grow  red  with  indignation.  What  irritated 
Vronsky  most  violently  about  this  prince  was  that  he 
could  not  help  seeing  himself  in  him.  And  what  he 
saw  in  this  mirror  was  not  flattering  to  his  vanity.  What 
he  saw  there  was  a  very  stupid,  and  a  very  self-confi- 
dent, and  very  healthy,  and  very  fastidious  man,  and 
that  was  all.  He  was  a  getitlemati}  and  Vronsky  could 
not  deny  the  fact.  He  was  smooth  and  frank  with  his 
superiors,  free  and  easy  with  his  equals,  coolly  kind 
toward  his  inferiors.  Vronsky  himself  was  exactly  the 
same,  and  was  proud  of  it ;  but  in  his  relations  to  the 
prince  he  was  the  inferior,  and  this  scornfully  good- 
natured  treatment  of  himself  nettled  him. 

"  Stupid  ox !  Is  it  possible  that  I  am  like  him  } "  he 
thought. 

However  this  may  have  been,  at  the  end  of  the  week, 
when  he  took  leave  of  the  prince,  who  was  on  his  way 
to  Moscow,  he  was  delighted  to  be  delivered  from  this 
inconvenient  situation  and  this  disagreeable  mirror. 
They  went  directly  to  the  station  from  a  bear-hunt, 
which  had  occupied  all  the  night  with  brilliant  exhibi- 
tions of  Russian  daring. 

*  Buil  dzheniPmen, 


158  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER  II 

On  his  return  home,  Vronsky  found  a  note  from 
Anna.     She  wrote  :  — 

I  am  ill  and  unhappy ;  I  cannot  go  out,  and  I  cannot  live 
longer  without  seeing  you.  Come  this  evening.  Aleksei  Alek- 
sandrovitch  will  be  at  the  council  from  seven  o'clock  till  ten. 

This  invitation,  given  in  spite  of  her  husband's  formal 
prohibition,  seemed  strange  to  him ;  but  he  finally  de- 
cided to  go  to  Anna's. 

Since  the  beginning  of  the  winter,  Vronsky  had  been 
promoted  as  colonel ;  he  had  left  the  regiment  and  was 
living  alone.  After  having  finished  his  breakfast,  he 
stretched  himself  out  on  the  divan,  and  in  five  minutes 
the  recollection  of  the  wild  scenes  of  the  preceding  days 
became  curiously  mingled  in  his  mind  with  Anna  and  a 
peasant  whipper-in,  who  had  performed  an  important 
part  in  the  bear-hunt;  finally  he  fell  asleep.  He  awoke; 
night  had  come.  Shivering  with  apprehension,  he  has- 
tily lighted  a  candle.  "  What  has  happened  to  me .-' 
What  terrible  dream  have  I  had  ? "  he  asked  himself. 
"  Yes,  yes,  the  peasant,  a  dirty  little  man,  with  a  dis- 
heveled beard,  bent  something  or  other  up  double,  and 
pronounced  some  strange  words  in  French.  I  did  n't 
dream  anything  else  ;  why  am  I  so  terrified  ? " 

But,  in  recalHng  the  peasant  and  his  incomprehensi- 
ble French  words,  a  sense  of  something  horrible  sent 
a  cold  shiver  down  his  back. 

"What  notisense ! "  he  thought  as  he  looked  at  his 
watch.  It  was  already  half-past  eight ;  he  called  his 
man,  dlressed  quickly,  went  out,  and,  entirely  forgetting 
his  dream,  thought  only  of  being  late. 

As  he  approached  the  Karenins'  house,  he  again 
looked  at  his  watch,  and  saw  that  it  lacked  ten  minutes 
of  nine.  A  high,  narrow  carriage,  drawn  by  two  gray 
horses,  stood  in  front  of  the  door ;  he  recognized  Anna's 
carriage. 

"She  was  coming  to  my  house,"  he  said  to  himself; 


ANNA   KARENINA  159 

"  and  it  would  be  better.  It  is  disagreeable  for  me  to  go 
into  this  hovise,  but  it  makes  no  difference  to  me,  I  can- 
not conceal  myself;"  and,  with  the  manner  of  a  man 
accustomed  from  childhood  to  act  above  board,  he  left 
his  sleigh,  and  mounted  the  steps.  The  door  opened, 
and  the  Swiss,  carrying  a  plaid,  motioned  to  the  carriage 
to  draw  near.  Vronsky,  who  was  not  accustomed  to 
observe  details,  was  struck  by  the  look  of  astonishment 
which  the  Swiss  gave  him.  At  the  door  Vronsky  came 
near  running  into  AlekseV  Aleksandrovitch.  A  gaslight 
placed  at  the  entrance  of  the  vestibule  threw  full  light 
on  his  pale,  worn  face.  He  wore  a  black  hat,  and  a 
white  cravat  showing  under  a  fur  collar.  Karenin's 
gloomy,  dull  eyes  fixed  themselves  on  Vronsky,  who 
bowed.  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch,  drawing  his  lips  to- 
gether, raised  his  hand  to  his  hat,  and  passed.  Vronsky 
saw  him  get  into  his  carriage  without  turning  round, 
take  his  plaid  and  opera-glass,  which  the  Swiss  servant 
handed  through  the  door,  and  disappear. 

Vronsky  went  into  the  anteroom.  His  brows  were 
contracted,  and  his  eyes  flashed  with  anger  and  out- 
raged pride. 

"  What  a  situation  !  "  thought  Vronsky.  "  If  he  would 
fight  to  defend  his  honor,  I  should  know  what  to  do  to 
express  my  sentiments ;  but  this  weakness  or  cowar- 
dice.... He  places  me  in  the  position  of  a  deceiver, 
which  I  never  was  and  never  will  be." 

Since  the  explanation  that  he  had  had  with  Anna  in 
the  Vrede  garden,  Vronsky's  idea  had  greatly  changed. 
Involuntarily  overcome  by  Anna's  weakness,  —  for  she 
had  given  herself  to  him  without  reserve  and  expected 
from  him  only  the  decision  as  to  her  future  fate, — 
Vronsky  had  long  ceased  to  think  that  this  liaison 
might  end  as  he  had  supposed  it  would.  His  ambitious 
plans  had  again  been  relegated  to  the  background, 
and  he,  feeling  that  he  had  definitely  left  that  circle 
of  activity  where  everything  was  determined,  gave  him- 
self up  entirely  to  his  feeling,  and  this  feehng  drew 
him  more  and  more  vigorously  toward  her. 

Even  in  the  reception-room,  he  heard  her  footsteps 


i6o  ANNA    KARENINA 

drawing  near.  He  knew  that  she  was  waiting  for  him 
and  had  just  entered  the  drawing-room  near  by,  to  watch 
for  him. 

"  No,"  she  cried,  seeing  him  enter,  "  things  cannot 
go  on  in  this  way ! "  And  at  the  sound  of  her  own 
voice,  her  eyes  filled  with  tears.  "  If  this  is  going  on  this 
way,  it  would  be  far  better  if  it  had  ended  long  ago ! " 

"  What  is  the  matter,  my  friend  .-'  " 

"  The    matter !     I    have  been  waiting  in  torture  for 

two  hours  ;  but  no,  I  do  not  want  to  quarrel  with  you 

Of  course  you  could  not  come.  No,  I  will  not  scold 
you  any  more." 

She  put  her  two  hands  on  his  shoulders,  and  looked 
at  him  long,  with  her  eyes  deep  and  tender,  although 
searching.  She  studied  his  face  for  all  the  time  that 
she  had  not  seen  him.  As  always  happened  every  time 
they  met,  she  tried  to  compare  her  imaginary  present- 
ment of  him  —  it  was  incomparably  better  because  it 
was  impossible  in  reality  —  with  him  as  he  really  was. 


CHAPTER   HI 

"  Did  you  meet  him  ?  "  she  asked,  when  they  were 
seated  under  the  lamp  by  the  drawing-room  table. 
"  That  is  your  punishment  for  coming  so  late." 

"  Yes ;  how  did  it  happen .-'  Should  he  not  have 
been  at  the  council  ?  " 

"He  went  there,  but  he  came  back  again,  and  now 
he  has  gone  off  somewhere  again.  But  that  is  no  mat- 
ter ;  let  us  talk  no  more  about  it ;  where  have  you 
been  ?     All  this  time  with  the  prince  ?  " 

She  knew  the  most  minute  details  of  his  life. 

He  wanted  to  reply  that  as  he  had  no  rest  the  night 
before,  he  allowed  himself  to  oversleep ;  but  the  sight 
of  her  happy,  excited  face,  made  this  acknowledgment 
difficult,  and  he  excused  himself  on  the  plea  of  hav- 
ing been  obliged  to  go  and  present  his  report  about  the 
prince's  departure. 

"  It  is  over  now,  is  it?     Has  he  gone  ? " 


ANNA    KARENINA  i6i 

"  Yes,  thank  the  Lord,  it  is  all  done  with  !  You  have 
no  idea  how  intolerable  this  week  has  seemed  to  me." 

"  Why  so  ?  Here  you  have  not  been  leading  the  life 
customary  to  young  men,"  she  said,  frowning,  and,  with- 
out looking  at  Vronsky,  she  took  up  some  crocheting 
that  was  lying  on  the  table  and  pulled  out  the  needle. 

"  I  renounced  that  Hfe  long  ago,"  he  repUed,  wonder- 
ing at  the  sudden  change  in  her  beautiful  face,  and  try- 
ing to  discover  what  it  portended.  "  I  assure  you,"  he 
added,  smiling,  and  showing  his  white  teeth,  "  that  it  was 
overpoweringly  unpleasant  to  me  to  look  at  that  old  life 
again,  as  it  were,  in  a  mirror." 

She  kept  her  crocheting  in  her  hand,  though  she  did 
not  work,  but  looked  at  him  with  strange,  brilliant,  not 
quite  friendly  eyes. 

"  Liza  came  to  see  me  this  morning  —  they  are  not 
yet  afraid  to  come  to  my  house,  in  spite  of  the  Coun- 
tess Lidya  Ivanovna  "  —  and  here  she  stood  up  —  "  and 
told  me  about  your  Athenian  nights.  What  an  abomi- 
nation !  " 

"  I  only  wanted  to  tell  you  that....  " 

She  interrupted  him  :  — 

"  That  it  was  Ther^se  whom  you  used  to  know  ?  " 

"  I  was  going  to  say  ....  " 

"  How  odious  you  men  are  !  How  can  you  suppose 
that  a  woman  forgets  .■*  "  said  she,  growing  more  and 
more  animated,  and  then  disclosing  the  cause  of  her 
irritation,  — "  and  above  all  a  woman  who  can  know 
nothing  of  your  life  .-*  What  do  I  know  ?  What  can 
I  know  .'* "  she  kept  repeating.  "  What  can  I  know 
except  what  you  wish  to  tell  me  ?  And  how  can  I 
know  whether  it  is  the  truth  ?  "  .... 

"  Anna,  you  insult  me !  have  you  no  longer  any  faith 
in  me }  Have  I  not  told  you  that  I  have  no  thoughts 
which  I  would  conceal  from  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  yes,"  she  said,  trying  to  drive  away  her  jealous 
fears ;  "  but  if  you  only  knew  how  I  suffer  !     I  believe 

in  you,  I  do  believe  in  you But  what  did  you  want  to 

say  to  me  ?  " 

But  he  could  not  instantly  remember  what  he  wanted 

VOL.  II.  —  II 


i62  ANNA   KARENINA 

to  say.  Anna's  fits  of  jealousy  were  becoming  more 
and  more  frequent,  and,  however  much  he  tried  to  con- 
ceal it,  these  scenes  made  him  grow  cool  toward  her, 
although  he  knew  that  the  cause  of  the  jealousy  was 
her  very  love  for  him.  How  many  times  had  he  not 
said  to  himself  that  happiness  existed  for  him  only  in 
this  love ;  and  now  that  she  loved  him  as  only  a  woman 
can  love  for  whom  love  outweighs  all  other  treasures  in 
life,  happiness  seemed  farther  off  than  when  he  had  fol- 
lowed her  from  Moscow.  Then  he  considered  himself 
unhappy,  but  happiness  was  in  sight ;  now  he  felt  that 
their  highest  happiness  was  in  the  past.  She  was  en- 
tirely different  from  what  she  had  been  when  he  first 
saw  her.  Both  morally  and  physically  she  had  changed 
for  the  worse.  The  beauty  of  her  form  was  gone,  and 
when  she  spoke  about  the  French  actress  a  wicked  ex- 
pression came  over  her  face  which  spoiled  it.  He 
looked  at  her  as  a  man  looks  at  a  flower  which  he  has 
plucked  and  which  has  faded,  and  he  finds  it  hard  to 
recognize  the  beauty  for  the  sake  of  which  he  has 
plucked  it  and  despoiled  it.  And  yet  he  felt  that  at 
the  time  when  his  passion  was  more  violent,  he  might, 
if  he  had  earnestly  desired  it,  have  torn  his  love  out  of 
his  heart ;  but  now,  at  the  very  time  when  it  seemed  to 
him  that  he  felt  no  love  for  her,  he  knew  that  the  tie 
that  bound  him  to  her  was  indissoluble. 

"  Well,  well,  tell  me  what  you  have  to  say  about  the 
prince,"  replied  Anna.  "  I  have  driven  away  the  demon, 
I  have  driven  him  away,"  she  added.  Between  them- 
selves they  called  her  jealousy  the  demon.  "  You  began 
to  tell  me  something  about  the  prince.  Why  was  it  so 
disagreeable  to  you  ?  " 

fi^^'Oh,  it  was  unbearable,"  replied  Vronsky,  trying  to 
pick  up  the  thread  of  his  thought  again.  "  The  prince 
does  n't  improve  on  close  acquaintance.  I  can  only 
compare  him  to  one  of  those  highly  fed  animals  which 
take  first  prizes  at  exhibitions,"  he  added,  with  an  air  of 
vexation,  which  seemed  to  interest  Anna. 

"  No,  but  how  ?  Is  he  not  a  cultivated  man,  who  has 
seen  much  of  the  world  ? " 


ANNA   KARENINA  163 

"  It  is  an  entirely  different  kind  of  cultivation  —  their 
cultivation  !  One  would  say  that  he  was  cultivated  only 
for  the  sake  of  scorning  cultivation,  as  he  scorns  every- 
thing else,  except  animal  pleasures." 

"■  But  are  you  not  also  fond  of  all  these  animal  pleas- 
ures yourself?"  said  Anna,  and  once  more  he  noticed 
the  gloomy  look  in  her  eyes  which  avoided  his. 

'*  Why  do  you  defend  him  .''  "  he  asked,  smiling. 

"  I  am  not  defending  him ;  it  is  all  absolutely  indiffer- 
ent to  me.  But  it  seems  to  me  if  you  did  not  like  these 
pleasures,  you  might  dispense  with  them.  But  you 
enjoyed  going  to  see  that  Th^r^se  in  the  costume  of 
Eve." .... 

"  There  is  the  demon  again,"  said  Vronsky,  taking  her 
hand  which  lay  on  the  table  and  kissing  it. 

"  Yes ;  but  I  can't  help  it.  You  can't  imagine  what 
I  suffered  while  I  was  waiting  for  you.  I  do  not  think 
I  am  jealous ;  I  am  not  jealous  :  when  you  are  here  with 
me  I  believe  in  you  ;  but  when  you  are  away,  leading  a 
life  so  incomprehensible  to  me...." 

She  drew  away  from  him,  drew  the  crochet-needle  out 
of  her  work,  and  speedily,  with  the  help  of  her  index 
finger,  the  stitches  of  white  wool  gleaming  in  the  lamp- 
light began  one  after  the  other  to  take  form,  and 
swiftly,  nervously,  the  delicate  wrist*  moved  back  and 
forth  in  the  embroidered  cuff. 

"  Tell  me,  how  was  it .''  where  did  you  meet  AlekseT 
Aleksandrovitch,"  she  asked  suddenly,  in  a  voice  still 
sounding  unnatural. 

"We  ran  against  each  other  at  the  door." 

"  And  did  he  greet  you  like  this  }  " 

She  drew  down  her  face  and,  half  closing  her  eyes, 
instantly  changed  her  whole  expression,  and  Vronsky 
suddenly  saw  the  same  look  in  her  pretty  features  which 
Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  had  worn  when  he  bowed  to 
him.  He  smiled,  and  Anna  began  to  laugh,  with  that 
fresh,  ringing  laugh  which  was  one  of  her  greatest 
charms. 

"  I  really  do  not  understand  him,"  said  Vronsky.  "  I 
should  have  supposed  that  after  your  explanation  at  the 


i64  ANNA    KARENINA 

datcha,  he  would  have  broken  off  with  you,  and  pro- 
voked a  duel  with  me ;  but  how  can  he  endure  such  a 
situation  ?     He  suffers,  that  is  evident." 

"  He  ?  "  said  she,  with  a  sneer.  "  Oh  !  he  is  perfectly 
content." 

"  Why  should  we  all  torture  ourselves  in  this  way, 
when  everything  might  be  so  easily  arranged  .-* " 

"  Only  that  does  n't  suit  him.  Oh,  don't  I  know  him, 
and  the  falsity  on  which  he  subsists.  How  could  he 
live  as  he  lives  with  me  if  he  had  any  feelings.''  He  has 
no  susceptibilities,  no  feelings !  Could  a  man  of  any 
susceptibilities  live  in  the  same  house  with  his  guilty 
wife.-*  How  can  he  talk  with  her?  How  can  he  address 
her  famiharly  ?"^ 

And  again  she  imitated  the  way  her  husband  would 
say,  "  T?a,  ma  cJihe,  tui,  Anna." 

"  He  is  not  a  man,  I  tell  you  ;  he  is  a  puppet.  No 
one  knows  it,  but  I  know  it.  Oh,  if  I  had  been  in  his 
place,  I  would  long  ago  have  killed,  have  torn  in  pieces, 
a  wife  like  myself,  instead  of  saying,  '  Tiii,  ma  chhre 
Anjta,'  to  her ;  but  he  is  not  a  man ;  he  is  a  ministerial 
machine.     He  does  not  understand  that  I  am  your  wife, 

that  he  is  nothing  to.  me,  that  he  is  in  the  way No,  no, 

let  us  not  talk  about  him." 

"  You  are  unjust,  my  dear,"  said  Vronsky,  trying 
to  calm  her ;  "  but  all  the  same,  let  us  not  talk  any 
more  about  him.  Tell  me  how  you  do.  How  are 
you .''  You  wrote  me  you  were  ill ;  what  did  the  doc- 
tor say  .''  " 

She  looked  at  him  with  gay  raillery.  Evidently  she 
still  saw  ridiculous  and  abominable  traits  in  her  hus- 
band, and  would  willingly  have  continued  to  speak 
about  them. 

But  he  added  :  — 

"  I  suspect  you  were  not  really  ill,  but  that  it  comes 
from  your  condition  ....  when  will  it  be  .''  " 

The  sarcastic  gleam  disappeared  from  Anna's  eyes, 

^  Literally,  "say  tui,  thou,  to  her."  In  Russian,  as  in  French  and 
German,  the  second  person  singular  is  used  in  familiar  intercourse  among 
relatives  and  friends.  —  Ed. 


ANNA    KARENINA  16$ 

but  suddenly  a  different  kind  of  smile  —  the  token  of  a 
gentle  melancholy,  of  some  feeling  he  could  not  com- 
prehend —  took  its  place. 

"  Soon,  very  soon.  You  said  our  position  is  painful, 
and  that  it  must  be  changed.  If  you  knew  how 
hard  it  is  for  me,  what  I  would  give  to  be  able  to 
love  you  freely  and  openly!  I  should  not  torment  my- 
self and  I  should  not  torment  you  with  my  jealousy 

And  t/iis  will  be  soon,  but  not  in  the  way  we  think." 

And  at  the  thought  of  how  this  would  take  place  she 
felt  such  pity  for  herself  that  the  tears  filled  her  eyes 
and  she  could  not  go  on.  She  put  her  white  hand,  with 
the  rings  sparkling  in  the  lamplight,  on  Vronsky's  arm. 

"  This  will  not  be  as  we  think.  I  did  not  intend  to 
speak  to  you  about  this,  but  you  compel  me  to.  Soon, 
soon,  every  knot  will  be  disentangled,  and  all  of  us,  all, 
will  be  at  peace,  and  we  shall  not  be  tormented  any  more." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean,"  he  said ;  yet  he 
understood  her. 

"You  ask,  'When  will  it  be.'"  Soon.  And  I  shall 
not  survive  it Don't  interrupt  me  !  " 

And  she  went  on  speaking  rapidly  :  — 

"  I  know  it,  I  am  perfectly  certain  I  am  going  to  die ; 
and  I  am  glad  to  die,  and  to  free  myself  and  you." 

Her  tears  continued  to  fall.  Vronsky  bent  over  her 
hand  and  began  to  kiss  it,  and  tried  to  conceal  his  own 
emotion,  which  he  knew  he  had  no  ground  for  feeling, 
but  which  he  could  not  overcome. 

"  It  is  better  that  it  should  be  so,"  she  said,  pressing 
his  hand  fervently.  "  It  is  the  only  thing,  the  only  thing 
left  for  us." 

"  What  a  foolish  idea !  "  said  Vronsky,  lifting  up  his 
head  and  regaining  his  self-possession.  "  What  utter 
nonsense  you  are  talking  !  " 

"No;  it  is  the  truth." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  the  truth  ?  " 

"  That  I  am  going  to  die.  I  have  seen  it  in  a 
dream." 

"  In  a  dream  ?  "  repeated  Vronsky,  involuntarily  re- 
calling the  muzhik  of  his  nightmare. 


i66  ANNA   KARENINA 

*^  Yes,  in  a  dream,"  she  continued.  "  I  had  this  dream 
a  long  time  ago.  I  dreamed  that  I  ran  into  my  room  to 
get  something  or  other.  I  was  searching  about,  you  know, 
as  one  does  in  dreams,"  said  she,  opening  her  eye^  wide 
with  horror,  "and  I  noticed  something  standing  in  the 
corner  of  my  room," 

"What  nonsense  !     How  do  you  suppose  ....  " 

But  she  would  not  let  him  interrupt  her ;  what  she 
was  telling  was  too  important  to  her. 

'*  And  this  something  turned  around,  and  I  saw  a 
little  dirty  muzhik,  with  an  unkempt  beard.  I  wanted  to 
run  away,  but  he  bent  toward  a  bag,  in  which  he  moved 
some  object." 

She  made  the  motion  of  a  person  rummaging  in  a 
bag  ;  terror  was  depicted  on  her  face ;  and  Vronsky, 
recalling  his  own  dream,  felt  the  same  terror  seize  his 
soul. 

"  And  all  the  while  he  was  searching,  he  talked  fast, 
very  fast,  in  French,  lisping,  you  know,  '  II f ant  le  battre^ 
le  fer,  le  broyer,  le  p^trir .... '  I  tried  to  wake  up,  but  I 
only  woke  up  in  my  dream,  asking  what  it  could  mean. 
And  Karnei  said  to  me,  '  You  are  going  to  die,  you 
are  going  to  die  in  child-bed,  matushka.'  And  at  last  I 
woke  up." .... 

"  What  an  absurd  dream ! "  said  Vronsky,  but  he 
himself  felt  that  there  was  no  conviction  in  his  voice. 

"  But  let  us  say  no  more  about  it.  Ring ;  I  am  going 
to  give  you  some  tea,  so  stay  a  little  longer.  It  is  a 
long  time  since  I ....  " 

She  suddenly  ceased  speaking.  The  expression  of 
her  face  instantly  changed.  Horror  and  emotion  disap- 
peared from  her  face,  which  assumed  an  expression  of 
gentle,  serious,  and  affectionate  solicitude.  He  could 
not  understand  the  significance  of  that  change. 

She  had  felt  within  her  the  motion  of  a  new  life. 


ANNA   KARENINA  167 


CHAPTER  IV 

After  meeting  Vronsky  on  the  porch,  AlekseY  Alek- 
sandrovitch  went,  as  he  had  planned,  to  the  Italian 
opera.  He  sat  through  two  acts,  and  saw  every  one 
whom  he  needed  to  see.  Returning  home,  he  looked 
carefully  at  the  hat-rack,  and,  having  assured  himself 
that  there  was  no  uniform  overcoat  in  the  vestibule, 
went  straight  to  his  chamber. 

Contrary  to  his  usual  habit,  instead  of  going  to  bed, 
he  walked  up  and  down  his  room  till  three  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  Anger  kept  him  awake,  for  he  could  not 
forgive  his  wife  for  not  being  willing  to  observe  the  pro- 
prieties, and  for  not  fulfilling  the  one  condition  that  he 
had  imposed  on  her,  —  that  she  should  not  receive  her 
lover  in  his  house.  She  had  not  complied  with  his 
requirement,  and  he  felt  bound  to  punish  her,  carry 
out  his  threat,  demand  a  divorce,  and  take  away  his  son 
from  her.  He  knew  all  the  difficulties  that  would  attend 
this  action,  but  he  had  said  that  he  should  do  it,  and 
now  he  was  bound  to  carry  out  his  threat.  The  Coun- 
tess Lidia  had  often  said  that  this  was  the  easiest  way 
out  of  his  position  ;  and  recently  the  practice  of  divorce 
had  reached  such  a  pitch  of  perfection  that  AlekseY 
Aleksandrovitch  saw  in  it  a  means  of  escaping ,  its 
formal  difficulties. 

Moreover,  misfortunes  never  come  single  ;  and  the 
trouble  arising  from  the  organization  of  the  foreign 
population,  and  the  irrigation  of  the  fields  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  ZaraT,  had  caused  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch 
so  much  unpleasantness  in  his  office  that  for  some  time 
he  had  been  in  a  perpetual  state  of  irritation. 

He  passed  the  night  without  sleeping,  and  his  anger 
increasing  all  the  while  in  a  sort  of  colossal  system  of 
progression,  by  morning  was  directed  even  to  the  most 
trivial  object.  He  dressed  hastily,  and  went  to  Anna 
as  soon  as  he  knew  she  was  up.  He  was  afraid  of  los- 
ing the  energy  which  he  needed  for  his  explanation  with 


i68  ANNA    KARENINA 

his  wife ;  it  was  as  if  he  carried  a  full  cup  of  wrath 
and  was  afraid  of  spilling  it. 

Anna  believ^ed  that  she  thoroughly  knew  her  hus- 
band ;  but  she  was  amazed  at  his  appearance  as  he  came 
in.  His  brows  were  contracted,  and  his  eyes  looked 
gloomily  straight  ahead,  avoiding  hers.  His  lips  were 
firm  and  scornfully  compressed.  Never  had  his  wife 
seen  so  much  decision  as  she  saw  now  in  his  gait,  in 
every  motion,  in  the  sound  of  his  voice.  He  entered 
without  wishing  her  good  morning,  and  went  directly 
to  her  writing-desk,  and,  taking  the  key,  opened  the 
drawer. 

"  What  do  you  want .-'  "  cried  Anna. 

"Your  lover's  letters." 

"They  are  not  there,"  she  said,  closing  the  drawer. 
But  he  knew  by  her  action  that  he  had  guessed  aright, 
and,  roughly  pushing  away  her  hand,  he  quickly  seized 
the  portfolio  in  which  he  knew  Anna  kept  her  important 
papers.  She  attempted  to  regain  it,  but  he  held  it  at  a 
distance. 

"  Sit  down  ;  I  want  to  speak  to  you,"  he  said,  placing 
the  portfolio  under  his  arm,  and  holding  it  so  firmly 
with  his  elbow  that  his  shoulder  was  raised  by  it. 

Anna  looked  at  him,  astonished  and  frightened,  but 
said  nothing. 

"  I  told  you  that  I  would  not  permit  you  to  receive 
your  lover  in  this  house." 

"  I  needed  to  see  him  to  ....  " 

She  stopped,  unable  to  find  a  plausible  explanation. 

"  I  will  not  enter  into  details,  and  have  no  desire  to 
know  why  a  woman  needs  to  see  her  lover." 

"  I  wished,  I  only ....  "  she  said,  flashing  up,  and  feel- 
ing that  her  husband's  rudeness  made  her  bold  —  "  is  it 
possible  that  you  are  not  aware  how  easy  it  is  for  you 
to  insult  me.-*  " 

"  One  can  insult  only  an  honest  man  or  an  honest 
woman  ;  but  to  tell  a  thief  that  he  is  a  thief,  is  only  la 
constatation  dun  fait  —  the  statement  of  a  fact." 

"  That  is  a  degree  of  cruelty  that  I  never  recognized 
in  you." 


ANNA    KARENINA  169 

"  Ah  !  you  find  a  husband  cruel  because  he  gives  his 
wife  perfect  freedom,  gives  her  the  protection  of  an 
honest,  noble  name  on  the  sole  condition  that  she  re- 
spect the  laws  of  propriety  ?     You  call  that  cruelty  ?  " 

"  It  is  worse  than  cruelty  ;  it  is  cowardice,  if  you 
insist  on  knowing,"  cried  Anna,  with  an  outburst  of 
anger,  and  rising,  she  started  to  go. 

"  No,"  cried  he,  in  his  piping  voice,  which  was  now 
a  tone  higher  than  usual ;  and  seizing  her  by  the  arm 
with  his  great,  bony  fingers  so  roughly  that  one  of 
Anna's  bracelets  left  a  red  print  on  her  flesh,  he  forced 
her  back  into  her  place. 

"  Cowardice,  indeed  !  If  you  wish  to  employ  that 
word,  apply  it  to  her  who  abandons  her  son  and  hus- 
band for  a  lover,  and  nevertheless  eats  her  husband's 
bread." 

Anna  bowed  her  head ;  she  not  only  did  not  say  what 
she  had  said  the  evening  before  to  her  lover,  that  /le 
was  her  husband  while  her  husband  was  in  the  way  — 
she  did  not  even  think  it.  She  appreciated  all  the 
justice  of  his  words,  and  she  replied  in  a  low  voice :  — 

"You  cannot  judge  my  position  more  severely  than 
I  do  myself  ;  but  why  do  you  say  all  this  ?  " 

"  Why  do  I  say  this  .•' "  continued  he  as  angrily  as 
ever ;  "  so  that  you  may  know  that,  since  you  have  paid 
no  attention  to  my  wishes,  and  have  broken  the  rules 
of  propriety,  I  shall  take  measures  to  put  an  end  to 
this  state  of  affairs." 

"  Soon,  very  soon,  it  will  terminate  itself,"  said  Anna, 
and  again  at  the  thought  of  that  death  which  she  felt 
near  at  hand,  and  now  so  desirable,  her  eyes  filled  with 
tears. 

"  Sooner  even  than  you  and  your  lover  have  dreamed 

of !     You   need   to    make   atonement   by    keen    suffer- 
in  ^      »' 
mg.... 

"  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  !  I  do  not  say  that  this 
is  not  magnanimous ;  but  it  is  not  gentlemanly  to  strike 
one  who  is  down." 

"  You  only  think  of  yourself :  the  suffering  of  one 
who  has  been  your  husband  is  of  little  interest  to  you ; 


lyo  ANNA   KARENINA 

it  is  a  matter  of  indifference  to  you  that  his  life  has  been 
overthrown,  that  he  su....su.... suffers  ...." 

Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  spoke  so  rapidly  that  he 
stammered,  and  could  not  speak  the  word.^ 

This  seemed  ridiculous  to  Anna,  but  she  immediately 
was  ashamed  of  herself  because  anything  could  seem 
to  her  ridiculous  at  such  a  moment.  For  the  first 
time,  and  for  a  moment,  she  felt  for  him,  and  entered 
into  his  feelings  and  pitied  him.  But  what  could  she 
say  or  do  ?  She  bowed  her  head  and  was  silent. 
He  also  was  silent  for  a  little,  then  began  again  in 
a  less  piercing  and  colder  voice,  emphasizing  words  of 
no  special  importance:  — 

"  I  came  to  tell  you  ....  " 

She  glanced  at  him.  "  No,  that  proves  it  to  me,"  she 
said  to  herself,  as  she  remembered  the  expression  of  his 
face  as  he  stammered  over  the  word  suffered.  "  No,  how 
can  a  man,  with  his  dull  eyes,  so  full  of  calm  self-satis- 
faction, feel  anything." 

"  I  cannot  change,"  she  murmured. 

"  I  have  come  to  tell  you  that  to-morrow  I  am  going 
to  Moscow,  and  that  I  shall  not  enter  this  house  again. 
You  will  learn  of  my  determination  from  the  lawyer 
who  will  have  charge  of  the  preliminaries  of  the  divorce. 
My  son  will  go  to  my  sister,"  he  added,  recalling  with 
difficulty  what  he  wanted  to  say  about  the  child. 

"  You  want  to  take  Serozha  away  so  as  to  cause  me 
pain,"  she  cried,  glaring  at  him  ;  "  you  do  not  love  him  .... 
leave  Serozha  !  " 

"  Yes,  I  have  even  lost  my  love  for  my  son  because 
the  repulsion  you  inspire  in  me  includes  him ;  but  I 
shall  keep  him,  nevertheless.     Good  morning." 

He  was  about  to  go,  but  she  detained  him. 

"  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch,  leave  Serozha  with  me," 
she  whispered  again;  "that  is  all  I  ask  of  you;  leave 
him  with  me  tillmy*.<.  I  shall  soon  be  confined.  Leave 
him  with  me  I  " 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  flushed  with  indignation, 
pushed  away  the  arm  that  held  him  back,  and  left  her 
without  replying. 

^  PeU  ....pele  ....pelestradal. 


ANNA   KARENINA  171 


CHAPTER  V 

The  reception-room  of  the  celebrated  Petersburg 
lawyer  was  full  of  people  when  Aleksef  Aleksandro- 
vitch  entered  it.  Three  ladies,  one  old,  another  young, 
and  a  merchant's  wife ;  three  men,  a  German  banker 
with  a  ring  on  his  hand,  a  merchant  with  a  beard,  and 
a  sullen-looking  official  in  undress-uniform  with  a  deco- 
ration around  his  neck,  had  apparently  been  waiting  a 
long  time. 

Two  clerks  were  writing  with  scratching  pens.  Their 
writing  utensils  —  and  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  was  a 
connoisseur  of  such  things  —  were  of  unusual  excellence. 
Aleksei'  could  not  fail  to  take  note  of  that  fact.  One 
of  the  clerks  turned  his  head,  with  an  air  of  annoyance, 
toward  the  newcomer,  and,  without  rising,  asked  him, 
with  half-closed  eyes  :  — 

"  What  do  you  want .''  " 

"  I  have  business  with  the  lawyer." 

"  He  is  busy,"  replied  the  clerk  severely,  pointing  with 
his  pen  toward  those  who  were  already  waiting  ;  and 
he  went  back  to  his  writing. 

"  Will  he  not  find  a  moment  to  receive  me  ? "  asked 
Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch. 

"  He  is  not  at  liberty  a  single  moment ;  he  is  always 
busy  :  have  the  goodness  to  wait." 

"  Be  so  good  as  to  give  him  my  card,"  said  Aleksei 
Aleksandrovitch,  with  dignity,  seeing  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  preserve  his  incognito. 

The  secretary  took  his  card,  and,  evidently  not  approv- 
ing of  it,  left  the  room. 

Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch,  on  principle,  approved  of 
public  courts,  but  he  did  not  fully  sympathize  with  cer- 
tain details  of  its  application  in  Russia,  because  of  his 
acquaintance  with  its  working  in  the  best  official  rela- 
tions, and  he  criticized  them  as  far  as  he  could  criticize 
anything  that  received  the  sanction  of  the  supreme 
power.  His  whole  life  was  spent  in  administrative 
activity,  and  consequently  when  he  did  not  sympathize 


172  ANNA    KARENINA 

with  anything,  his  lack  of  sympathy  was  modified  by 
his  recognition  of  the  fact  that  errors  were  unavoidable,- 
but  that  some  things  might  be  remedied.  In  the  new 
judicial  arrangement  he  did  not  approve  of  the  condi- 
tions in  which  the  lawyers  were  placed.  Hitherto  he 
had  not  had  occasion  to  deal  with  lawyers,  and  so  he  had 
disapproved  of  the  system  only  theoretically.  But  now 
his  disapprobation  was  greatly  increased  by  the  dis- 
agreeable impression  made  on  him  in  the  lawyer's  re- 
ception-room. 

"  The  lawyer  will  be  out  immediately,"  said  the  clerk; 
and  in  reality  in  about  two  minutes  the  door  opened, 
and  the  lawyer  appeared,  together  with  a  tall  justice  of 
the  peace. 

The  lawyer  was  a  short,  thick-set  man,  with  a  bald 
head,  a  dark  reddish  beard,  a  prominent  forehead,  and 
long,  shiny  eyebrows.  His  dress,  from  his  necktie  and 
double  watch-chain  down  to  his  poUshed  boots,  was  that 
of  a  dandy.  His  face  was  intelligent,  but  vulgar ;  his 
manner  pretentious  and  in  bad  taste. 

"  Be  so  good  as  to  walk  in,"  said  he,  addressing 
Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch ;  and  gloomily  ushering  him 
into  the  next  room,  he  closed  the  door. 

"  Will  you  not  sit  ?  " 

He  pointed  to  an  arm-chair  near  his  desk  covered 
with  papers,  and  rubbing  his  short,  hairy  hands  together, 
he  settled  himself  in  front  of  the  desk,  and  bent  his  head 
to  one  side.  But  he  was  hardly  seated  when  a  moth- 
miller  flew  on  the  table,  and  the  little  man,  with  unex- 
pected liveliness,  caught  it  on  the  wing  ;  then  he  quickly 
resumed  his  former  attitude. 

"  Before  beginning  to  explain  my  business,"  said 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch,  following  the  movements  of 
the  lawyer  with  astonishment,  "  I  must  inform  you  that 
the  subject  which  brings  me  here  is  to  be  kept  secret." 

An  imperceptible  smile  slightly  moved  the  lawyer's 
projecting  reddish  mustache. 

"  If  I  were  not  capable  of  keeping  the  secrets  in- 
trusted to  me,  I  should  not  be  a  lawyer,"  said  he  ;  "  but 
if  you  wish  to  be  assured ...." 


ANNA    KARENINA  173 

AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch  glanced  at  him  and  noticed 
that  his  gray  eyes,  full  of  intelligence,  had  apparently 
read  all  that  he  had  to  tell. 

"  Do  you  know  my  name  ? "  asked  AlekseY  Aleksan- 
drovitch. 

"  I  know  you  and  how  valuable  "  —  here  again  he  caught 
a  miller  —  "  your  services  are,  as  every  Russian  does," 
replied  the  lawyer,  bowing. 

AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  sighed ;  with  difficulty  he 
brought  himself  to  speak  ;  but  when  he  had  once  begun, 
he  continued  unhesitatingly,  in  a  clear,  sharp  voice,  em- 
phasizing certain  words. 

"  I  have  the  misfortune  to  be  a  deceived  husband.  I 
wish  to  obtain  legal  separation  from  my  wife,  —  that  is, 
a  divorce,  —  and,  above  all,  to  separate  my  son  from  his 
mother." 

The  lawyer's  gray  eyes  did  their  best  to  remain  seri- 
ous, but  they  danced  with  unrestrained  delight,  and 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  saw  that  they  were  full  of  an 
amusement  not  caused  solely  by  the  prospect  of  a  good 
suit ;  they  shone  with  enthusiasm,  with  triumph,  —  some- 
thing like  the  brilliancy  he  had  noticed  in  his  wife's 
eyes. 

"  You  wish  my  assistance  to  obtain  the  divorce  ? " 

"  Yes,  exactly ;  but  I  must  warn  you  that  I  run  the 
risk  of  wasting  your  time,  I  have  only  come  to  ask  pre- 
liminary advice.  I  wish  a  divorce,  but  for  me  certain 
forms  are  essential  in  which  it  is  possible.  Very  possi- 
bly I  shall  give  up  the  idea  of  any  legal  attempt  if 
these  forms  do  not  coincide  with  my  requirements." 

"  Oh,  that  is  always  the  way,"  said  the  lawyer ;  "  you 
will  always  remain  perfectly  free." 

The  little  man,  that  he  might  not  offend  his  client  by 
the  delight  which  his  face  ill  concealed,  fixed  his  eyes 
on  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch's  feet.  He  saw  a  moth  fly- 
ing in  front  of  his  nose  and  he  put  out  his  hand,  but  he 
restrained  himself,  out  of  respect  to  Aleksel  Aleksandro- 
vitch's situation. 

"  The  general  features  of  the  laws  of  divorce  are  well 
known  to  me,"  continued  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch;  "but 


174  ANNA   KARENINA 

I  should  like  to  have  a  general  knowledge  of  the  for- 
malities  which  are  employed  in  the  practical  settlement 
of  affairs  of  this  kind." 

"  You  wish,"  replied  the  lawyer,  not  raising  his  eyes 
and  entering  with  no  little  satisfaction  into  the  spirit  of 
his  client's  words,  "you  wish  me  to  expound  for  you  the 
way  whereby  your  wishes  may  be  fulfilled." 

And,  as  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  assented  with  an 
inclination  of  his  head,  he  continued,  casting  a  furtive 
glance  now  and  then  at  his  face,  which  was  flushed  with 
red  spots. 

"  Divorce,  according  to  our  laws,"  said  he,  with  a  slight 
shade  of  disdain  for  our  laws,  "  is  possible,  as  you  know, 
in  the  following  cases....  Let  them  wait!"  he  cried, 
seeing  his  clerk  open  the  door.  However,  he  rose,  went 
to  say  a  few  words  to  him,  came  back,  and  sat  down 
again  :  " ....  in  the  following  cases :  physical  defect  of 
one  of  the  parties ;  next,  the  unexplained  absence  of 
one  of  them  for  five  years,"  —  in  making  this  enumera- 
tion he  bent  down  his  short,  hairy  fingers,  one  after 
another,  —  "  and  finally,  adultery."  This  word  he  pro- 
nounced with  evident  satisfaction.  "  The  categories  are 
as  follows  :  "  —  he  kept  on  doubling  over  his  fat  fingers, 
although  the  case  before  him  and  the  categories,  it 
was  plain  enough,  could  not  be  classified  together,  — 
"  physical  incapacity  of  husband  or  wife,  then  adultery 
of  husband  or  wife."  Then  as  all  his  fingers  were  closed 
he  raised  them  all  again  and  proceeded :  "  This  is  the 
theoretical  view,  but  I  think  that,  in  doing  me  the  honor 
to  consult  me,  you  desire  to  know  the  practical  side,  do 
you  not .''  And  therefore,  guiding  myself  by  antecedents, 
it  is  my  duty  to  inform  you  that  as  this  case  is  neither 
one  of  physical  defect,  nor  absence  of  one  of  the  parties, 
as  I  understand .''  "  .... 

Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  bowed  his  head  in  confirma- 
tion of  this. 

"The  reason  last  named  remains,  —  adultery,  —  and 
the  conviction  of  the  guilty  party  by  mutual  consent,  and 
without  mutual  consent,  compulsory  conviction.  I  must 
say  that  the  last  case  is  rarely  met  with  in  practice," 


ANNA    KARENINA  175 

said  the  lawyer ;  and  he  glanced  at  his  client  and  waited 
like  a  gunsmith  who  explains  to  a  purchaser  the  use  of 
two  pistols  of  different  caliber,  leaving  him  free  to  choose 
between  them. 

But  Alekser  Aleksandrovitch  remaining  silent,  he 
continued :  — 

"  The  commonest,  simplest,  and  most  reasonable  way, 
in  my  opinion,  is  to  recognize  the  guilt  by  mutual  agree- 
ment. I  should  not  allow  myself  to  say  this  if  I  were 
talking  to  a  man  of  less  experience  than  yourself,"  said 
the  lawyer,  "  but  I  suppose  that  this  is  comprehensible 
to  you." 

Alekself  Aleksandrovitch,  however,  was  so  troubled 
that  he  did  not  at  the  first  moment  realize  the  reason- 
ableness of  "  adultery,  by  mutual  agreement,"  and  this 
uncertainty  was  to  be  read  in  his  eyes ;  but  the  lawyer 
came  at  once  to  his  aid. 

"  Suppose  that  a  man  and  wife  can  no  longer  live 
together ;  if  both  consent  to  a  divorce,  the  details  and 
formalities  amount  to  nothing.  This  is  the  simplest 
and  surest  way." 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  understood  now,  but  he  had 
religious  convictions  which  stood  in  the  way  of  his  em- 
ploying this  measure.  ■ 

"  In  the  present  case  this  means  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion," said  he.  "  Here  only  one  case  is  possible  :  com- 
pulsory conviction,  supported  by  letters  which  are  in 
my  possession." 

At  the  mention  of  letters,  the  lawyer,  pressing  his 
lips  together,  uttered  an  exclamation  both  of  pity  and 
disdain. 

"  Please  take  notice,"  he  began,  "  affairs  of  this  sort 
are,  as  you  well  know,  decided  by  the  upper  clergy,"  he 
said.  "  Our  Fathers  the  protopopes  are  great  connois- 
seurs in  affairs  of  this  kind  and  attend  to  the  minutest 
details,"  said  he,  with  a  smile  which  showed  his  sympa- 
thy for  the  protopopes.  "  Letters  undoubtedly  might 
serve  as  partial  evidence.  But  proofs  must  be  furnished 
in  the  right  way  —  by  witnesses.  However,  if  you  do 
me  the  honor  to  grant  me  your  confidence,  you  must 


176  ANNA    KARENINA 

give  me  the  choice  of  measures  to  be  pursued.  Where 
there  is  a  will,  there  is  a  way." 

"If  that  is  so...."  began  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch, 
suddenly  growing  very  pale.  But  at  that  instant  the 
lawyer  again  ran  to  the  door,  to  reply  to  a  fresh  interrup- 
tion from  his  clerk. 

"  Tell  her,  then,  that  this  is  not  a  cheap  shop,"  said 
he  and  returned  to  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch.  As  he 
returned  to  his  place  he  caught  another  moth. 

"  My  reps  will  be  in  a  fine  condition  by  summer ! " 
he  said  to  himself,  scowling. 

"  You  were  kind  enough  to  say  ....  " 

"  I  will  communicate  to  you  my  decision  by  letter," 
replied  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  standing  up  and  lean- 
ing his  hand  on  the  table.  After  standing  for  a  moment 
in  thought,  he  said  :  — 

"  From  your  words  I  conclude  that  a  divorce  is  possi- 
ble. I  shall  be  obliged  to  you  if  you  will  make  your 
conditions  known  to  me." 

"  Everything  is  possible  if  you  will  give  me  entire 
freedom  of  action,"  said  the  lawyer,  eluding  the  last 
question.  "  When  may  I  expect  a  communication  from 
you  ?  "  asked  he,  moving  to  the  door  with  eyes  as  shiny 
as  his  boots. 

"  Within  a  week.  You  will  then  have  the  goodness 
to  let  me  know  whether  you  accept  the  case,  and  on 
what  terms } " 

"  Very  good." 

The  lawyer  bowed  respectfully,  conducted  his  client 
to  the  door,  and  when  he  was  left  alone,  he  gave  vent 
to  his  feelings  of  joy  ;  he  felt  so  gay  that,  contrary  to 
his  principles,  he  made  a  deduction  to  a  lady  skilled  in 
the  art  of  making  a  bargain,  and  neglected  to  catch  a 
moth,  resolving  definitely  that  he  would  have  his  furni- 
ture upholstered  the  next  winter  with  velvet,  as  Sigonin 
had. 


ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER  VI 

Alekse'i'  Aleksandrovitch  had  won  a  brilliant  vic- 
tory at  the  session  of  the  Commission  of  August  29,  but 
the  consequences  of  his  victory  were  injurious  to  him. 
The  new  committee  appointed  to  study  the  situation  of 
the  foreign  population  had  been  constituted  and  had 
gone  to  its  field  of  action  with  a  promptness  and  energy 
surprising  to  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  ;  at  the  end  of 
three  months  it  presented  its  report. 

The  condition  of  this  population  had  been  studied 
from  a  political,  administrative,  economical,  ethnographi- 
cal, material,  and  religious  point  of  view.  Each  ques- 
tion was  followed  by  an  admirably  concise  reply,  leaving 
no  room  to  doubt  that  these  answers  were  the  work,  not 
of  a  human  mind,  always  liable  to  mistake,  but  of  an 
experienced  bureaucracy.  These  answers  were  based 
on  official  data,  such  as  the  reports  of  governors  and 
archbishops,  based  again  on  the  reports  of  heads  of 
districts  and  ecclesiastical  superintendents,  in  their  turn 
based  on  the  reports  from  communal  administrations 
and  country  priests.  And  therefore  their  correctness 
could  not  be  doubted.  Questions  such  as  these,  "  Why 
are  the  harvests  poor  .''  "  and,  "  Why  do  the  inhabitants 
of  certain  localities  persist  in  their  behefs  .■*  "  and  the  like 
—  questions  which  without  the  help  of  the  official  ma- 
chine could  never  be  solved,  and  to  which  ages  would  not 
have  found  a  reply  —  were  clearly  solved,  in  conformity 
with  the  opinions  of  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch. 

But  Stremof,  feeling  that  he  had  been  touched  to 
the  quick  at  the  last  session,  had  employed  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  committee's  report  a  stratagem  unexpected 
by  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch.  Taking  with  him  several 
other  members,  he  suddenly  went  over  to  Karenin's 
side,  and,  not  satisfied  with  warmly  supporting  the 
measures  proposed  by  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  he  pro- 
posed others,  of  the  same  nature.  These  measures, 
which  were  of  such  a  radical  nature  as  to  be  entirely 
opposed  to  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch's    intention,    were 


178  ANNA    KARENINA 

adopted  and  then  Stremof 's  tactics  were  revealed.  Car- 
ried to  extremes,  these  measures  seemed  so  ridiculous 
that  the  government  officials,  and  public  opinion,  and 
ladies  of  influence,  and  the  daily  papers,  all  attacked 
them  and  expressed  the  greatest  indignation  both  at 
the  measures  themselves  and  at  their  avowed  promoter, 
Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch. 

Stremof  slipped  out  of  sight,  pretending  that  he  only 
blindly  followed  Karenin's  plan,  and  that  he  himself 
was  amazed  and  dumfounded  at  what  had  happened. 
This  greatly  weakened  Alekse'i  Aleksandrovitch.  But 
notwithstanding  his  enfeebled  health,  notwithstanding 
his  family  annoyances,  he  did  not  give  up.  The  com- 
mittee was  split  into  two  factions :  some  of  them,  with 
Stremof  at  their  head,  explained  their  mistake  by  the 
fact  that  they  had  placed  full  confidence  in  the  Revi- 
sionary  Committee  which,  under  the  lead  of  Alekseif 
Aleksandrovitch,  had  brought  in  its  report,  and  they 
declared  the  report  of  this  committee  of  inspection  was 
rubbish  and  so  much  wasted  paper.  AlekseT  Alek- 
sandrovitch, with  a  party  of  men  who  saw  the  peril  of 
such  a  revolutionary  reference  to  documents,  continued 
to  support  the  data  worked  out  by  the  Revisionary 
Committee. 

As  a  result  of  this,  the  highest  circles  and  even  so- 
ciety was  thrown  into  confusion,  and  although  this 
was  a  question  of  the  greatest  interest  to  every  one, 
no  one  could  make  out  whether  the  foreign  popula- 
tions were  in  reality  suffering  and  dying  out  or  flourish- 
ing. 

Karenin's  position  in  consequence  of  this  and  partly 
in  consequence  of  the  contempt  which  people  felt 
for  him  by  reason  of  his  wife's  unfaithfulness  became 
very  precarious.  In  this  state  of  affairs  he  made 
an  important  resolution :  to  the  great  astonishment 
of  the  commission,  he  announced  that  he  demanded 
the  right  to  go  and  study  these  questions  himself 
on  the  spot ;  and,  permission  having  been  granted  him, 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  set  out  for  the  distant  prov- 
inces. 


ANNA    KARENINA  179 

His  departure  made  a  great  sensation,  especially  from 
the  fact  that,  at  his  very  departure,  he  officially  refused 
the  traveling  expenses  required  for  twelve  post-horses, 
to  take  him  to  the  places  of  inspection. 

"  I  think  that  was  very  noble  of  him,"  said  Betsy  to 
the  Princess  Miagkaya.  "Why  should  they  pay  for 
post-horses,  when  every  one  knows  that  you  can  go 
everywhere  nowadays  by  rail  ?  " 

But  the  Princess  Miagkaya  did  not  agree  with  her, 
and  she  was  greatly  wrought  up  by  the  Princess  Tver- 
skaya's  remark. 

"  This  is  very  well  for  you  to  say,"  she  replied,  "  when 
you  have  I  don't  know  how  many  millions,  but  I  like 
it  very  much  when  my  husband  goes  off  on  a  tour  of 
inspection  in  the  summer.  It  is  very  healthy  and 
agreeable  for  him  to  go  driving  about,  but  I  have  made 
it  a  rule  to  keep  that  money  for  my  own  horse-hire  and 
izvoshchiks !  " 

On  his  way  to  the  distant  provinces,  AlekseY  Alek- 
sandrovitch  stopped  at  Moscow  three  days. 

The  next  day  after  his  arrival,  he  was  coming  from  a 
call  on  the  governor-general.  At  the  crossing  of  the 
GazetnoT  Street,  where  carriages  of  every  description 
are  always  thronging,  he  heard  his  name  called  in  such 
a  gay,  sonorous  voice,  that  he  could  not  help  stopping. 
There  stood  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  on  the  sidewalk,  in  a 
short,  stylish  paletot,  with  a  stylish  hat  set  on  one 
side,  with  a  radiant  smile  which  showed  his  white  teeth 
between  his  red  lips,  gay,  youthful-looking,  brilliant. 
He  kept  calling  to  him  and  beckoning  to  him  to 
stop.  He  was  holding  by  one  hand  to  the  window  of 
a  carriage  which  had  drawn  up  to  the  sidewalk,  and  in 
the  carriage  was  a  woman  in  a  velvet  hat,  with  two 
little  ones  ;  she  also  beckoned  to  him  and  smiled. 

It  was  Dolly  and  her  children. 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  had  not  counted  on  seeing 
in  Moscow  any  one  whom  he  knew,  and  least  of  all  his 
wife's  brother.  He  took  off  his  hat  and  would  have 
proceeded,  but  Stepan   Arkadyevitch   motioned  to  the 


i8o  ANNA    KARENINA 

coachman  to  stop,  and  ran  through  the  snow  to  the 
carriage. 

"  How  long  have  you  been  here  ?  What  a  sin  not  to 
let  us  know  you  were  coming !  I  was  at  Dusseaux's  last 
evening,  and  I  saw  the  name  of  Karenin  on  the  list  of 
arrivals,  but  it  never  occurred  to  me  that  it  was  you, 
else  I  should  have  looked  you  up,"  said  he,  passing  his 
head  through  the  door.  "  How  glad  I  am  to  see  you," 
he  went  on  to  say,  striking  his  feet  together  to  shake 
off  the  snow.     "What  a  sin  not  to  let  us  know." 

"I  hadn't  time.  I  am  very  busy,"  replied  Alekseif 
Aleksandrovitch,  curtly. 

"  Come  and  speak  to  my  wife ;  she  wants  to  see  you 
very  much." 

Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  threw  off  the  plaid  which 
covered  his  chilly  limbs,  and,  leaving  his  carriage,  made 
a  way  through  the  snow  to  Darya  Aleksandrovna. 

"  Why,  what  has  happened,  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch, 
that  you  avoid  us  in  this  way  ?  "  said  she,  smiling. 

"  I  was  very  busy.  I  am  delighted  to  see  you,"  re- 
plied Karenin,  in  a  tone  which  clearly  proved  that  he 
was  annoyed.     "  How  is  your  health  ?  " 

"  How  is  my  dear  Anna  ?  " 

Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  muttered  a  few  words,  and 
was  about  to  leave  her,  but  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  de- 
tained him. 

"  Do  you  know  what  we  are  going  to  do  to-morrow  ? 
Dolly,  invite  him  to  dine.  Have  Koznuishef  and  Pestsof, 
so  as  to  regale  him  with  the  representative  intellects  of 
Moscow." 

"Oh,  please  come!  "  said  Dolly;  "we  will  name  any 
hour  that  is  convenient  —  five  or  six,  as  you  please. 
But  how  is  my  dear  Anna  .<*     It  is  so  long  ...." 

"  She  is  well,"  muttered  Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch 
again,  frowning.     "  Very  happy  to  have  met  you." 

And  he  went  back  to  his  carriage. 

"  Will  you  come  ?  "  cried  Dolly  again. 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  said  something  in  reply 
which  Dolly  could  not  hear  in  the  rumble  of  car- 
riages. 


ANNA    KARENINA  i8i 

"  I  am  coming  to  see  you  to-morrow !  "  cried  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  shut  himself  up  in  his  car- 
riage, and  crouched  down  in  one  corner  so  as  not  to  see 
and  not  to  be  seen. 

"What  a  strange  fellow !  "  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
to  his  wife ;  and  looking  at  his  watch  he  made  an  affec- 
tionate sign  of  farewell  to  his  wife  and  children,  and 
started  off  down  the  sidewalk  at  a  brisk  pace. 

"  Stiva,  Stiva !  "  cried  Dolly,  blushing.  He  came 
back. 

"  I  must  have  some  money  for  the  children's  cloaks. 
Give  me  some." 

"  No  matter  about  that.  Tell  them  that  I  will  settle 
the  bill." 

And  he  disappeared,  gayly  nodding  to  some  acquain- 
tance as  he  went. 


CHAPTER   VII 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
went  to  the  Bolsho'i  or  Great  Theater,  to  attend  the 
rehearsal  of  the  ballet,  and  gave  the  coral  necklace  to 
Masha  Chibisovaya,  the  pretty  dancing-girl  who  was 
making  her  d^but  under  his  protection,  as  he  had  prom- 
ised the  day  before,  and  behind  the  scenes  in  the  dim 
twilight  of  the  theater  he  seized  his  opportunity  and 
kissed  her  pretty  little  face  glowing  with  pleasure  at  his 
gift.  Besides  fulfilling  his  promise  as  to  the  coral  neck- 
lace, he  wanted  to  arrange  with  her  for  an  assignation 
after  the  ballet.  Having  explained  to  her  that  he  could 
not  possibly  manage  to  be  present  at  the  beginning  of 
the  ballet,  he  promised  to  come  for  the  next  act  and 
take  her  out  for  supper. 

From  the  theater  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  went  to  the 
Okhotnui  Ryad,  himself  selected  a  fish  and  asparagus 
for  the  dinner ;  and  at  noon  he  went  to  Dusseaux's, 
where  three  travelers,  friends  of  his,  by  happy  chance 
were  stopping,  —  Levin,  just  returned  from  his  journey 


i8a  ANNA   KARENINA 

abroad ;  his  new  nachalnik  or  chief,  who  had  just  been 
appointed,  and  had  come  to  Moscow  to  look  into  affairs  ; 
and  lastly,  his  brother-in-law,  Karenin,  whom  he  was 
bound  to  invite  to  dinner. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  liked  to  go  out  to  dinner,  but 
what  he  liked  better  still  was  to  give  a  choice  little 
dinner-party  with  a  few  select  friends.  The  program 
that  he  made  out  for  this  day  pleased  him,  —  fresh 
perch,  with  asparagus,  and  a  simple  but  superb  roast  of 
beef,  as  pike  de  resistance,  and  the  right  kinds  of  wine. 
Among  the  guests  he  expected  Kitty  and  Levin,  and, 
to  offset  them,  a  cousin  and  the  young  Shcherbatsky  ; 
the  pikes  de  resistance  among  the  guests  were  to  be 
Sergyel  Koznuishef,  a  Muscovite  and  philosopher,  and 
Karenin,  a  Petersburger  and  man  of  affairs.  More- 
over he  would  invite  the  well-known  Pestsof,  a  comical 
fellow,  a  youth  of  fifty  years,  an  enthusiast,  a  musician, 
a  ready  talker,  a  historian  and  a  liberal,  who  would  be 
the  sauce  or  garnish  for  Koznuishef  and  Aleksei  Alek- 
sandrovitch.  He  would  put  every  one  in  good  spirits 
and  stir  them  up. 

The  second  instalment  of  money  from  the  sale  of  the 
wood  had  been  recently  received  and  was  not  all  gone ; 
Dolly  for  some  time  had  been  lovely  and  charming ; 
and  the  thought  of  this  dinner  in  every  respect  delighted 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  He  was  in  the  happiest  frame 
of  mind.  There  were  two  things  which  were  rather  dis- 
agreeable. But  these  two  circumstances  were  drowned 
in  the  sea  of  joviality  which  rolled  its  billows  in  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch's  soul.  These  two  circumstances  were : 
in  the  first  place,  when  the  evening  before  he  had  met 
AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch  on  the  street,  he  had  perceived 
that  he  was  stern  and  cold;  and  uniting  the  fact  that 
AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  had  not  called  or  sent  word  of 
his  presence  with  certain  rumors  that  had  reached  his 
ears  about  his  sister's  relations  with  Vronsky,  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  suspected  serious  trouble  between  the 
husband  and  wife.     This  was  one  unpleasant  thing. 

The  second  slight  shadow  was  the  fact  that  the  new 
nachalnik,  like  all  new  chiefs,  had  the  reputation  of  be- 


ANNA   KARENINA  183 

ing  a  terribly  exacting  man,  who  got  up  at  six  o'clock, 
worked  like  a  horse,  and  demanded  similar  zeal  from  his 
subordinates.  Moreover,  this  new  nachalnik  had  the 
reputation  of  being  a  regular  bear  in  his  manners  and 
was,  according  to  rumor,  a  man  of  the  opposite  party 
from  that  to  which  his  predecessor  had  belonged,  and  to 
which  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  himself  had  up  to  that  time 
also  belonged. 

The  afternoon  before,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  ap- 
peared at  the  office  in  full  uniform  and  the  new  nachal- 
nik had  been  very  cordial  and  had  talked  with  Oblonsky 
as  with  an  old  friend.  Consequently  he  thought  it  his 
duty  to  pay  him  an  unofficial  visit.  The  thought  that 
the  new  nachalnik  might  not  receive  him  cordially  was 
the  second  disturbing  element.  But  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch felt  instinctively  that  all  would  be  arranged  to  per- 
fection. 

"  All  people,  all  men,  are  transgressors  as  well  as  we. 
Why  get  angry  and  quarrel  .•'  "  he  said  to  himself  as  he 
went  to  the  hotel. 

"How  are  you,  Vasili  .-• "  said  he,  as  he  went  through 
the  corridor  with  his  hat  cocked  on  one  side,  and  met  a 
lackey  of  his  acquaintance ;  "  have  you  sacrificed  your 
whiskers  .''  Levin  .-'  in  number  seven  ?  Please  show  me. 
Thanks  !  Do  you  know,  is  Count  Anitchkin  at  home  ? " 
This  was  the  new  nachalnik. 

"At  your  service,"  said  Vasili,  with  a  smile.  "We 
have  not  seen  you  for  a  long  time." 

"  I  was  here  yesterday,  but  came  up  another  stair- 
way.    Is  this  number  seven  .''  " 

When  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  entered,  Levin  was  stand- 
ing in  the  middle  of  his  room  with  a  muzhik  from  Tver, 
measuring  a  bear-skin. 

"  Ah  !  did  you  kill  him  ?  "  cried  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 
"  Splendid  skin  !     A  bear  !     How  are  you,  Arkhip  }" 

He  held  out  his  hand  to  the  peasant,  and  then  sat 
down  in  his  paletot  and  hat. 

"  Take  off  your  coat,  and  stay  awhile,"  said  Levin, 
taking  his  hat. 

"  I  have  n't  time.    I  only  came  in  for  a  little  second," 


1^4  ANNA    KARENINA 

replied  Oblonsky.  He  unbuttoned  his  paletot,  then 
took  it  off,  and  stayed  a  whole  hour  to  talk  with  Levin 
about  the  hunt  and  other  subjects. 

"  Well  now  !  Tell  me,  please,  what  you  did  while  you 
were  abroad ;  where  have  you  been  ?  "  he  asked  after 
the  peasant  had  gone. 

"  I  went  to  Germany,  to  France,  and  England,  but 
only  to  the  manufacturing  centers,  and  not  to  the  capi- 
tals. I  saw  a  great  deal  that  was  new.  I  am  glad  I 
went." 

"Yes,  yes,  I  know  your  ideas  about  organized  labor." 

"  Oh,  no  !  in  Russia  there  can  be  no  labor  question. 
The  question  of  the  workingman  does  n't  concern  us  ; 
the  only  important  question  for  Russia  is  the  relation  of 
the  workman  to  the  soil  ;  the  question  exists  there,  but 
it  is  impossible  to  remedy  it  there,  while  here ....  " 

Oblonsky  listened  attentively. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  said  he,  "  it  is  possible  that  you  are  right, 
but  I  am  glad  that  you  are  in  better  spirits ;  you  hunt 
the  bear,  you  work,  you  are  enthusiastic.  Shcherbatsky 
told  me  that  he  had  found  you  blue  and  melancholy, 
talking  of  nothing  but  death."  .... 

"  What  of  that  .-*  I  am  continually  thinking  of  death," 
repHed  Levin.  "  It 's  true  that  there  is  a  time  to  die, 
and  that  all  is  vanity.  But  I  will  tell  you  honestly  I 
set  great  value  on  my  thought  and  work ;  but  think  of 
this  world  —  just  take  notice! — this  world  of  ours,  a 
little  mold  making  the  smallest  of  the  planets !  and 
we  imagine  that  our  ideas,  our  works,  are  something 
grand.     It 's  all  grains  of  dust !  "  .... 

"  All  that  is  as  old  as  the  hills,  brother !  " 

"  It  is  old ;  but  you  see  when  this  idea  becomes  clear 
to  us,  how  miserable  life  seems !  When  we  know  that 
death  will  surely  come,  and  that  there  will  be  nothing 
left  of  us,  the  most  important  things  seem  as  insignifi- 
cant as  the  turning  over  of  this  bear-skin.  And  so  in 
order  to  keep  away  thoughts  of  death,  we  hunt  and  work 
and  try  to  divert  ourselves." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  smiled,  and  gave  Levin  one  of 
his  affectionate  looks. 


ANNA    KARENINA  185 

"  Well,  of  course !  Here  you  come  to  me  and  you 
pounce  on  me  because  I  seek  pleasure  in  life !  Be  not 
so  severe,  O  moralist !  " 

"  All  the  same,  there  is  some  good  in  life,"  replied 
Levin,  becoming  confused.  **  Well,  I  don't  know,  I 
only  know  that  we  must  soon  die." 

"  Why  soon  .?  " 

"  And  you  know  there  is  less  charm  in  life  when  we 
think  of  death,  but  more  restfulness." 

"  On  the  contrary,  we  must  enjoy  what  there  is  of  it, 

anyway But,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  rising  for 

the  tenth  time,  "  I  must  go." 

"Oh,  no!  stay  a  little  longer,"  said  Levin,  holding 
him  back  ;  ''  when  shall  we  see  each  other  again  ?  I 
leave  to-morrow." 

"I  am  a  queer  fellow.  This  is  what  I  came  for! .... 
Don't  fail  to  come  and  dine  with  us  to-day.  Your 
brother  will  be  with  us  ;  my  brother-in-law,  Karenin,  will 
be  there." 

"  Is  he  here  ?  "  asked  Levin,  and  he  wanted  to  ask 
about  Kitty ;  he  had  heard  that  she  had  been  in  Peters- 
burg at  the  beginning  of  the  winter,  visiting  her  sister, 
the  wife  of  a  diplomatist,  and  he  did  not  know  whether 
she  had  returned  or  not,  but  he  hesitated  about  asking. 

**  Whether  she  has  come  back  or  not,  it 's  all  the 
same.     I  will  accept,"  he  thought. 

"  Will  you  come  ?  " 

"  Well !     Of  course  I  will." 

"  At  five  o'clock,  in  ordinary  dress." 

And  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  rose,  and  went  down  to 
see  the  new  nachalnik.  Instinct  had  not  deceived  him  : 
this  dreadful  man  proved  to  be  a  good  fellow ;  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  lunched  with  him,  and  stayed  so  long  to 
talk  that  it  was  nearly  four  o'clock  when  he  got  to 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch's  room. 


i^  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER   VIII 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  after  he  returned  from 
mass,  spent  the  morning  in  his  room.  He  had  two 
things  to  accomplish  on  this  day :  first,  to  receive  a 
deputation  of  the  foreign  population  which  was  on  its 
way  to  Petersburg,  and  happened  just  at  that  time  to 
be  at  Moscow,  and  he  wanted  to  instruct  them  as  to 
what  they  should  say ;  and  then  to  write  to  his  lawyer, 
as  he  had  promised. 

The  deputation,  although  it  had  been  appointed  at 
Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch's  invitation,  was  likely  to  cause 
great  embarrassment  and  even  to  be  a  source  of  peril, 
and  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  was  very  glad  to  meet  it 
in  Moscow.  The  members  of  the  deputation  had  not 
the  slightest  comprehension  of  their  duties  and  obliga- 
tions. They  were  perfectly  persuaded  that  their  work 
consisted  in  exposing  their  needs  and  explaining  the  ac- 
tual state  of  affairs  and  asking  governmental  assistance  ; 
and  they  really  could  not  comprehend  that  some  of  their 
statements  and  demands  gave  color  to  the  arguments  of 
the  hostile  party,  and  therefore  spoiled  the  whole  business. 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  had  a  long  discussion  with 
them,  made  out  a  program,  from  which  they  were  not 
to  deviate  on  any  account  in  their  dealings  with  the 
government,  and,  when  they  left  him,  gave  them  letters 
of  introduction  to  various  persons  in  Petersburg,  so  that 
they  might  be  properly  treated.  The  Countess  Lidya 
Ivanovna  would  be  his  principal  auxiliary  in  this  mat- 
ter; she  had  a  specialty  for  deputations,  and  knew 
better  than  anybody  else  how  to  manage  them. 

When  he  had  finished  this  business,  Aleksef  Aleksan- 
drovitch wrote  to  his  lawyer.  Without  the  slightest  mis- 
giving, he  gave  him  full  power  to  do  as  he  thought  best, 
and  sent  three  notes  from  Vronsky  to  Anna,  which  he  had 
found  in  the  portfolio.  Since  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch 
had  left  home  with  the  intention  of  never  returning  to 
his  family,  and  since  his  interview  with  the  lawyer,  when 
he  had  confided  to  one  person  at  least  his  intentions, 


ANNA    KARENINA  187 

and  especially  since  he  had  transferred  this  episode  of 
his  life  to  a  documentary  basis,  he  had  become  more 
and  more  settled  in  his  convictions,  and  was  now  per- 
fectly clear  in  his  mind  that  what  he  wished  could  be 
accomplished. 

Just  as  he  was  seaUng  his  letter,  he  heard  Stepan 
Arkady evitch's  loud  voice  asking  the  servant  if  his 
brother-in-law  was  at  home,  and  insisting  on  being 
announced. 

"  It 's  all  the  same,"  thought  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch, 
"  or  rather,  so  much  the  better.  I  will  explain  to  him 
my  position  in  regard  to  his  sister,  and  he  will  under- 
stand that  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  dine  at  his  house." 

"  Come  in,"  he  cried,  gathering  up  his  papers  and 
pushing  them  into  a  writing-case. 

"  There  now,  you  see  yovi  lied,  and  he  is  at  home," 
said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  to  the  servant,  who  would  not 
let  him  in ;  then,  taking  off  his  overcoat  as  he  walked 
along,  he  came  into  AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch's  room. 

"I  am  delighted  to  find  you.,.,"  he  began  gayly, 
"I  hope,..," 

"  I  cannot  go,"  said  AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch,  coldly, 
receiving  his  brother-in-law  standing,  and  not  asking 
him  to  sit  down,  Aleksel"  Aleksandrovitch  resolved  to 
adopt  with  his  wife's  brother  the  cool  relations  which 
seemed  proper  since  he  had  decided  to  get  a  divorce. 
But  he  did  not  reckon  on  that  sea  of  kind-heartedness 
which  was  always  overflowing  its  banks  in  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch's  heart. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  opened  wide  his  bright,  clear 
eyes. 

"  Why  can't  you  come  ?  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  he 
asked  in  French  with  some  hesitation.  "  But  you  prom- 
ised to  come,  and  we  all  are  counting  on  you." 

"  I  wish  to  tell  you  that  I  cannot  come  because  our 
family  relations  must  be  broken." 

"How  is  that  ?     Why  ?  "  said  Oblonsky,  with  a  smile. 

*'  Because  I  have  commenced  an  action  for  getting  a 
divorce  from  my  wife,  your  sister.     I  must....  " 

But  AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch  did  not  finish  his  sen- 


i88  ANNA    KARENINA 

tence  —  for  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  acted  in  a  manner 
quite  contrary  to  his  expectations.  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch sank  into  an  arm-chair,  with  a  deep  sigh. 

"  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch,  it  can't  be  possible,"  he 
cried,  with  pain  expressed  in  his  face. 

"  It  is  true." 

"  Pardon  me.     I  cannot,  I  cannot  believe  it." 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  sat  down ;  he  felt  that  his 
words  had  not  produced  the  effect  that  he  had  looked 
for,  and  that  whatever  explanation  he  might  make  his 
relations  with  Oblonsky  would  remain  the  same. 

"Yes,  it  is  a  cruel  necessity,  but  I  am  forced  to  de- 
mand the  divorce,"  he  replied. 

"  I  will  say  only  one  thing  to  you,  AlekseY  Aleksan- 
drovitch. I  know  that  you  are  a  man  of  principle,  and 
I  know  Anna  is  one  of  the  best  of  women,  —  excuse  me 
if  I  cannot  change  my  opinion  of  her,  —  I  cannot 
believe  it ;  there  must  be  some  misunderstanding  !  " 

"  Yes  ;  if  it  were  only  a  misunderstanding  !  "  .... 

"  Excuse  me ;  I  understand  ;  but  I  beg  of  you,  I  beg 
of  you,  do  not  be  in  haste,"  interrupted  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch. 

"  I  have  done  nothing  hastily,"  said  Aleksef  Aleksan- 
drovitch, coldly ;  "  but  in  such  a  case,  one  cannot  ask 
advice  of  anybody;  I  am  decided." 

"This  is  terrible,"  exclaimed  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
with  a  deep  sigh.  "  I  would  do  one  thing,  Alekseif 
Aleksandrovitch.  I  beseech  you  to  do  this !  "  said  he. 
"  Proceedings,  as  I  understand,  have  not  yet  begun. 
Before  you  do  anything  talk  with  my  wife.  She  loves 
Anna  like  a  sister,  she  loves  you,  and  she  is  a  woman 
of  good  sense.  For  God's  sake,  talk  with  her.  Do  me 
this  favor,  I  beg  of  you." 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  deliberated,  and  Stepan  Ar- 
kadyevitch looked  at  him  sympathetically,  not  breaking 
in  on  his  silence. 

"  Will  you  come  to  her  ?  " 

"Well,  I  don't  know.  That  is  the  reason  I  did  not 
call  at  your  house.  I  suppose  our  relations  ought  to  be 
broken  off." 


ANNA    KARENINA  189 

"  Why  should  they  be  ?  I  don't  see  that.  Allow  me 
to  believe  that  apart  from  our  family  connection,  you 
have  toward  me,  to  a  certain  extent  at  least,  the  same 
friendly  sentiments  which    I   have  always  felt  toward 

you Andgenuine regard....  "said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 

pressing  his  hand.  "  Even  if  your  worst  surmises  were 
justified,  I  should  never  take  it  on  myself  to  criticize 
either  side,  and  I  see  no  reason  why  our  relations  should 
be  changed.     But  now  do  this,  —  come  and  see  my  wife." 

"  Well,  you  and  I  look  on  this  matter  differently,"  said 
Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  coldly.  "  However,  we  will 
not  discuss  it." 

"  No,  but  why  should  you  not  come  and  dine  with  us> 
at  least  to-day  .■*  My  wife  expects  you.  Please  come ! 
and  above  all  talk  with  her ;  she  is,  I  assure  you,  a 
superior  woman.  For  God's  sake  come,  I  beg  you  on 
my  knees." 

"  If  you  wish  it  so  much,  I  will  go,"  said  Alekself 
Aleksandrovitch,  sighing.  And  to  change  the  conver- 
sation, he  asked  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  about  a  matter 
which  interested  them  both  :  about  the  new  nachalnik,  a 
man  still  young,  who  had  suddenly  received  such  an 
important  appointment. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  had  never  liked  Count 
Anitchkin,  and  had  always  differed  with  him  about  many 
questions ;  and  now  he  could  not  help  a  feeling  of  envy 
natural  to  an  official  who  had  suffered  defeat  in  his  work 
and  saw  a  younger  man  receiving  advancement. 

"Well,  have  you  met  him  yet.-*"  asked  Aleksef  Alek- 
sandrovitch, with  a  venomous  smile. 

"  Oh,  yes ;  he  was  with  us  yesterday  at  the  session. 
He  seems  like  a  man  very  well  informed  and  very  active." 

"  Active  ?  but  how  does  he  employ  his  activity  ?  "  ex- 
claimed Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch.  "  Is  it  in  doing  his 
work,  or  in  destroying  what  others  have  done  before 
him  ?  The  plague  of  our  government  is  this  scribbling 
bureaucracy,  of  which  Anitchkin  is  a  worthy  representa- 
tive." 

"  Truly  I  don't  know  how  this  criticism  applies  to  him. 
I  don't  even  know  his  tendencies ;    at  any  rate,  he  is  a 


190 


ANNA    KARENINA 


very  good  fellow,"  replied  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "  I 
have  just  been  with  him,...  a  very  good  fellow;  we 
lunched  together,  and  I  taught  him  how  to  make  a  drink, 
you  know  —  wine  and  oranges.  He  liked  it  very  much. 
No,  he  is  a  fine  young  man." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  looked  at  his  watch. 

"  Akh  batiushki !  it  is  after  four  o'clock !  and  I  have 
still  to  see  Dolgovushin.  It  is  decided,  then,  that  you 
will  dine  with  us,  is  n't  it .''  Both  my  wife  and  myself 
will  feel  really  hurt  if  you  refuse  to  come." 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  took  leave  of  his  brother-in- 
law  very  differently  from  the  way  in  which  he  had 
greeted  him. 

"  I  have  promised,  and  I  will  come,"  he  repUed  in  a 
melancholy  tone. 

"  Believe  me,  I  appreciate  it;  and  I  hope  you  will  not 
regret  it,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  with  a  smile. 

And  putting  on  his  overcoat  in  the  hall,  he  shook  his 
fist  at  the  servant's  head,  laughed,  and  went  out. 

"At  five  o'clock,  remember,  and  in  ordinary  dress,"  he 
called  back  once  more,  returning  to  the  door. 


CHAPTER   IX 

It  was  already  six  o'clock  and  several  guests  had 
come  when  the  master  of  the  house  entered,  meeting 
SergyeY  Ivanovitch  Koznuishef  and  Pestsof  at  the  door. 

These  were  the  two  chief  representatives  of  Moscow  in- 
tellect, as  Oblonsky  had  called  them,  and  were  men  of 
distinction  both  by  wit  and  character.  They  valued  each 
other,  but  on  almost  every  topic  were  absolutely  and 
hopelessly  at  odds,  not  because  they  belonged  to  oppos- 
ing parties  but  precisely  because  they  were  of  the  same 
camp,  —  their  enemies  confounded  them  in  one,  —  but 
in  this  camp  they  each  had  their  shades  of  opinion.  Now 
there  is  nothing  more  conducive  to  disagreement  than 
dissent  in  small  particulars,  and  so  they  not  only  never 
agreed  in  their  opinions,  but  never  failed  to  laugh  at  each 
Qther  good-naturedly  for  their  incorrigible  inistakes. 


ANNA    KARENINA  S9I 

They  reached  the  door,  talking  about  the  weather,  just 
as  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  overtook  them. 

The  old  Prince  Aleksandr  Dmitrievitch  Shcherbatsky, 
young  Shcherbatsky,  Turovtsuin,  Kitty,  and  Karenin 
were  already  in  the  drawing-room. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  instantly  perceived  that  matters 
in  the  drawing-room  were  going  badly  without  him. 
Darya  Aleksandrovna,  in  her  best  gray  silk  gown,  es- 
pecially preoccupied  with  the  children,  who  should  have 
been  eating  their  supper  in  the  nursery  by  themselves, 
and  anxious  because  her  husband  was  late,  did  not 
succeed  very  well  in  entertaining  her  guests.  All  were 
sitting  "like  a  pope's  daughters  making  a  call,"  as  the 
old  prince  expressed  it,  evidently  perplexed  to  know 
why  they  had  come  and  with  difficulty  finding  a  few 
words  so  that  the  silence  might  not  be  absolute.  The 
good-natured  Turovtsuin  apparently  felt  out  of  his 
sphere  and  the  smile  on  his  thick  lips  when  he  greeted 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  spoke  louder  than  words:  "Well, 
my  dear  fellow,  you  have  got  me  here  with  clever 
people  !  We  are  making  merry  here.  It  is  a  regular 
chdteau  des  fleitrs  !  ....  I  am  doing  my  part." 

The  old  prince  was  sitting  in  silence  looking  out  of 
the  corner  of  his  bright  eyes  at  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  perceived  that  he  was  trying 
to  think  up  something  worth  saying  to  make  an  impres- 
sion on  this  great  statesman  who  was  being  served  up 
like  a  sterlet  for  the  benefit  of  the  guests.  Kitty  kept 
glancing  at  the  door,  trying  with  all  her  might  not  to  be 
caught  blushing  when  Konstantin  Levin  should  appear. 
Young  Shcherbatsky,  who  had  not  been  presented  to 
Karenin,  was  trying  to  show  that  this  did  not  cause 
him  any  constraint. 

Karenin  himself  was  in  black  coat  and  white  necktie, 
according  to  the  Petersburg  custom,  and  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch perceived  by  his  face  that  he  had  come  only  to 
keep  his  promise  and  by  mingling  in  this  society  was  per- 
forming a  burdensome  task.  He  more  than  any  one  else 
was  the  cause  of  the  chill  which  froze  all  the  guests  into 
silence  until  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  made  his  appearance. 


192  ANNA    KARENINA 

As  soon  as  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  entered  the  drawing- 
room,  he  made  his  excuses  and  explained  that  he  had 
been  detained  by  a  certain  prince  who  was  always  his 
scapegoat  for  all  his  delays  and  absences.  In  a  twin- 
kling he  presented  his  guests  to  one  another,  furnished 
Koznuishef  and  Karenin  a  subject  of  conversation,  — 
the  Russification  of  Poland,  which  they  instantly  grap- 
pled with,  also  enlisting  Pestsof  in  the  discussion. 
Then,  tapping  Turovtsuin  on  the  shoulder,  he  whispered 
some  jest  into  his  ear  and  sat  him  down  between  his 
wife  and  Prince  Shcherbatsky,  Then  he  complimented 
Kitty  on  her  beauty  and  introduced  young  Shcherbatsky 
to  Karenin.  In  a  twinkling  he  had  so  worked  on  all 
this  mass  of  social  dough  that  it  began  to  seem  like  a 
salon  and  the  voices  intermingled  in  gay  confusion. 

Konstantin  Levin  was  the  only  guest  not  on  hand. 

But  even  this  was  a  fortunate  circumstance,  because 
when  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  went  into  the  dining-room 
he  discovered  to  his  dismay  that  the  port  and  sherry 
had  come  from  Des  Pres  and  not  from  Levy,  and  he 
seized  the  opportunity  to  send  the  coachman  in  all 
haste  to  Levy's,  and  then  he  returned  to  the  drawing- 
room. 

Levin  met  him  at  the  door  of  the  dining-room. 

"  I  am  not  late,  am  I  ?  " 

"  How  could  you  be  ?  "  replied  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
taking  him  by  the  arm. 

"  Are  there  many  people  here .-'  Who  are  they  ?  " 
asked  Levin,  blushing  involuntarily,  and  with  his  glove 
brushing  away  the  snow  from  his  hat. 

"  No  one  but  relatives.  Kitty  is  here.  Come  and  let 
me  present  you  to  Karenin." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  notwithstanding  his  liberal  views, 
knew  that  a  presentation  to  Karenin  could  not  fail  to  be 
flattering,  and  therefore  he  regaled  his  best  friends  with 
this  pleasure.  But  at  this  moment  Konstantin  Levin 
was  not  in  a  condition  to  appreciate  all  the  satisfaction 
which  this  acquaintance  would  afford. 

He  had  not  seen  Kitty  since  that  well-remembered 
evening  when  he  met  Vronsky,  except  for  that  glimpse 


ANNA    KARENINA  193 

of  her  which  he  had  as  she  sat  in  her  carriage.  In  the 
depth  of  his  heart  he  knew  that  he  was  to  see  her  this 
evening.  But  in  his  attempt  to  preserve  all  the  freedom 
of  his  thoughts,  he  had  tried  to  persuade  himself  that  he 
did  not  know  it.  And  now  as  he  learned  that  she  was 
there,  he  suddenly  felt  such  timidity  and  at  the  same 
time  such  terror  that  he  could  hardly  breathe,  and  he 
found  it  impossible  to  say  what  he  wanted  to  say. 

"  How  will  she  seem  .-*  Just  as  she  used  to  .-*  Suppose 
Darya  Aleksandrovna  was  right !  Why  was  n't  she 
right .''  "  he  thought. 

"  Oh  !  present  me  to  Karenin,  I  beg  of  you,"  he  suc- 
ceeded in  stammering,  as  he  entered  the  drawing-room 
with  the  courage  of  despair  and  saw  her. 

She  was  neither  as  she  had  been  in  old  time  nor  as 
she  had  been  in  the  carriage :  she  was  altogether  differ- 
ent ;  she  was  nervous,  timid,  modest,  and  therefore  even 
more  charming  than  ever. 

She  saw  him  the  moment  he  entered  the  drawing- 
room.  She  had  been  watching  for  him,  and  she  felt  so 
glad  and  so  confused  by  reason  of  her  gladness  that  at 
one  moment  especially  when,  after  greeting  Dolly,  he 
looked  at  her,  she  was  afraid  of  bursting  into  tears. 
Levin  and  Dolly  both  noticed  it.  She  blushed  and 
turned  pale  and  blushed  again ;  she  was  so  agitated 
that  her  lips  trembled. 

Levin  approached  her,  and  bowed  and  silently  offered 
his  hand.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  slight  trembling  of 
her  lips  and  the  moisture  that  suffused  her  eyes  and 
increased  their  brilliancy,  her  smile  would  have  been 
almost  serene  as  she  said :  — 

"  How  long  it  is  since  we  have  met !  "  And  at  the 
same  time  with  a  sort  of  desperate  resolution  put  her 
cold  hand  into  his. 

"  You  have  not  seen  me ;  but  I  saw  you  one  day," 
said  Levin,  with  a  smile  of  radiant  happiness.  "  I  saw 
you  when  you  were  going  from  the  railway  station  to 
Yergushovo." 

"  When  was  it  .'*  "  asked  she,  in  surprise. 

"  You  were  on  your  way  to  Yergushovo,"  said  Levin, 

VOL.  II.  — 13 


194  ANNA   KARENINA 

feeling  that  the  joy  which  flooded  his  soul  was  suffocat- 
ing him.  "How,"  thought  he,  "could  I  have  dared  to 
associate  anything  but  innocence  with  this  fascinating 
creature?     Yes,  Darya  Aleksandrovna  was  right." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  came  to  conduct  him  to  Karenin, 

"  Allow  me  to  make  you  acquainted,"  said  he,  calling 
each  by  name. 

"  It  is  very  pleasant  to  meet  you  again,"  said  Aleksef 
Aleksandrovitch,  coolly,  as  he  took  Levin's  hand. 

"What!  do  you  already  know  each  other .-'"  asked 
Oblonsky,  with  surprise. 

"  We  traveled  together  for  three  hours,"  said  Levin, 
smihng,  "but  we  parted  as  from  a  masked  ball,  very 
much  mystified ;  at  least,  it  was  the  case  with  me." 

"  Really  ? ....  Will  you  pass  into  the  dining-room  }  " 
said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch   pointing  toward  the  door. 

The  gentlemen  walked  into  the  dining-room,  and  went 
to  a  table  laden  with  the  zakuska,  which  was  composed  of 
six  kinds  of  vodka,  as  manyvarieties  of  cheese  with  silver 
shovels  and  without,  caviare,  herring,  preserves  of  differ- 
ent kinds,  and  platefuls  of  French  bread  sHced  thin. 

The  men  stood  around  the  table  ;  and,  while  waiting  for 
the  dinner,  the  conversation  between  Sergye'f  Ivanovitch 
Koznuishef,  Karenin,  and  Pestsof,  about  the  Russifica- 
tion  of  Poland,  began  to  languish.  Sergyei  Ivanovitch, 
who  had  a  faculty  peculiar  to  himself  for  ending  even 
the  most  absorbing  and  serious  dispute,  by  an  unex- 
pected infusion  of  Attic  salt  and  so  putting  the  dis- 
putants into  a  better  frame  of  mind,  did  this  now. 
A-lekseif  Aleksandrovitch  was  trying  to  prove  that  the 
Russification  of  Poland  could  be  accomplished  only  by 
means  of  the  highest  principles,  and  that  these  ought  to 
oe  introduced  by  the  Russian  administration.  Pestsof 
maintained  that  one  nation  could  only  assimilate  another 
by  surpassing  it  in  density  of  population. 

Koznuishef,  with  certain  restrictions,  shared  the  opin- 
ions of  both  ;  and  to  close  this  serious  conversation  with 
a  joke,  he  added  as  they  left  the  drawing-room,  smiling:  — 

"  The  most  logical  way,  then,  for  us  to  assimilate  for- 
eigners, it  seems  to  me,  is  to  have  as  many  children  as 


ANNA   KARENINA  195 

possible.  It  is  there  where  my  brother  and  I  are  in 
fault ;  while  you  married  gentlemen  and  especially  you, 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  are  acting  the  part  of  good  patri- 
ots. How  many  have  you .-' "  he  asked  of  the  host, 
handing  him  a  very  diminutive  glass. 

Everybody  laughed,  and  Oblonsky  most  of  all.  "Yes, 
that  is  certainly  the  best  means !"  said  he,  taking  a  bite 
of  cheese  and  pouring  some  special  kind  of  vodka  into 
the  glass  that  Koznuishef  offered  him.  But  the  jest 
really  served  to  bring  the  discussion  to  a  close. 

"  This  cheese  is  not  bad  ;  what  do  you  say  .■'  "  remarked 
the  host. 

"Do  you  still  practise  gymnastics.-'"  said  Oblonsky, 
addressing  Levin,  and  with  his  left  hand  feeling  his 
friend's  muscles. 

Levin  smiled  and  doubled  up  his  arm,  and  Stepan  Ar- 
kadyevitch felt  how  under  his  fingers  the  biceps  swelled 
up  like  a  round  cheese  beneath  the  smooth  cloth  of  his 
coat. 

"  What  biceps  !  a  Samson,"  said  he. 

"  I  suppose  it  is  necessary  to  be  endowed  with  re- 
markable strength,  to  hunt  bears,  is  n't  it  .■*  "  said  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch,  smearing  some  cheese  on  a  piece  of 
bread  as  thin  as  a  cobweb.  His  ideas  about  hunting 
were  of  the  vaguest. 

Levin  smiled. 

"  No  ;  on  the  contrary,  a  child  could  kill  a  bear ;  "  — 
and  he  drew  back,  with  a  slight  bow,  to  make  room  for 
the  ladies,  who  with  the  hostess  were  coming  to  the 
zakuska  table. 

"  I  hear  that  you  have  just  killed  a  bear,"  said  Kitty, 
vainly  trying  to  put  her  fork  into  a  recalcitrant  mush- 
room which  kept  flying  about  on  the  plate,  and  as  she 
threw  back  the  lace  in  her  sleeve  there  was  a  ghmpse 
of  a  white  arm.  "  Are  there  really  bears  where  you 
live  .'' "  she  added,  half  turning  her  pretty  face  toward 
him  and  smiling.  What  she  said  had  no  especial  im- 
portance, but  what  significance  inexpressible  in  words 
there  was  for  him  in  the  sound  of  her  voice,  in  every 
motion  of  her  lips,  of  her  eyes,  hands,  when  she  said  it  I 


196  ANNA    KARENINA 

It  implied  an  entreaty  for  forgiveness  and  expression 
of  faith  in  him,  a  sweet  and  timid  caress,  and  a  promise, 
and  a  hope,  and  love  for  him,  and  he  could  not  help 
believing  in  it  and  his  heart  was  filled  with  happi- 
ness. 

"  Oh,  no !  we  were  hunting  in  the  government  of 
Tver  ;  and  on  my  way  from  there,  I  met  your  brother- 
in-law —  Stiva's  brother-in-law  —  in  the  train,"  said  he, 
smiling.     "The  meeting  was  very  funny." 

And  he  gave  a  lively  and  amusing  description  of  how, 
after  having  been  awake  all  night,  he  forced  his  way 
into  Karenin's  car  in  his  sheepskin  jacket.^ 

"The  conductor,  contrary  to  the  proverb,  judging  by 
first  impressions  wanted  to  put  me  out,  and  there  I  was 
beginning  to  express  myself  in  sublime  style  and.... 
well,  sir,  you  also  —  "  said  he,  addressing  Karenin  and 
not  recollecting  his  name,  "you  got  your  first  impres- 
sion from  my  polushubok  and  were  for  expelUng  me,  but 
afterward  you  took  my  part,  for  which  I  felt  very 
grateful  to  you." 

"Travelers'  rights  to  their  choice  of  place  are  gen- 
erally too  little  considered,"  said  Aleksei'  Aleksandro- 
vitch,  wiping  the  ends  of  his  fingers  with  his  napkin. 

"  Oh  !  I  noticed  that  you  were  dubious  about  me," 
replied  Levin,  smiling  good-naturedly ;  "  that  was  why 
I  hastened  to  open  a  serious  subject  of  conversation,  to 
make  you  forget  my  sheepskin." 

Koznuishef,  who  was  talking  with  the  mistress  of  the 
house,  and  at  the  same  time  listening  with  one  ear  to 
what  his  brother  said,  glanced  at  him. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  him  to-night.''  What  makes 
him  look  so  triumphant  ?  "   he  asked  himself. 

He  did  not  know  Levin  felt  as  if  he  had  wings. 
Levin  knew  that  she  was  listening  to  him,  she  was  tak- 
ing pleasure  in  what  he  said ;  and  this  was  the  only 
thing  that  interested  him.  He  was  alone  with  her,  not 
only  in  this  room,  but  in  the  whole  world.  He  felt  that 
he  was  on  a  dizzy  height,  and  there  far  below  him  were 

^  Polushubok,  half  shuba;  a  short  coat  or  cloak  made  of  sheepskin  or 
lined  with  fur.  • 


ANNA    KARENINA  197 

all  those  excellent  people,  —  Oblonsky,  Karenin,  and  the 
rest  of  humanity. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  seemed  entirely  to  forget  Levin 
and  Kitty  in  placing  his  guests  at  table  until  all  but  two 
of  the  seats  were  assigned ;  then  he  put  them  side  by 
side. 

"  Well,  you  can  sit  there,"  said  he  to  Levin. 

The  dinner  was  as  elegant  as  the  appointments ; 
for  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  a  great  connoisseur  in 
such  matters.  The  Marie-Louise  soup  was  perfect,  the 
little  pirogi  or  pasties  which  melted  in  the  mouth  were 
irreproachable ;  and  Matve,  with  two  waiters  in  white 
cravats,  skilfully  and  noiselessly  served  the  roast  and 
the  wine. 

On  the  material  side  the  dinner  was  a  success ;  it  was 
not  less  so  on  the  non-material  side.  The  conversation 
was  sometimes  general,  sometimes  special,  but  it  never 
lagged ;  and  toward  the  end  of  the  dinner  it  had  grown 
so  animated  that  when  they  left  the  table  the  men  could 
not  drop  their  interesting  topics,  and  even  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch  was  thawed  out. 


CHAPTER  X 

Pestsof,  who  liked  to  discuss  a  question  thoroughly, 
was  not  satisfied  with  what  Koznuishef  had  said ;  he 
felt  that  he  had  not  been  allowed  to  express  his  thought 
sufficiently. 

"  In  speaking  of  the  density  of  the  population,"  said 
he,  after  the  soup,  addressing  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch, 
"  I  did  n't  intend  to  make  it  the  principle  of  an  assimila- 
tion, but  only  a  means." 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  that  amounts  to  the  same  thing," 
replied  Karenin,  slowly  and  indolently.  "  In  my  judg- 
ment, a  people  can  have  no  influence  over  another  people 
unless  it  has  the  highest  development  which...." 

"That  is  precisely  the  question,"  interrupted  Pestsof, 
who  always  spoke  with  so  much  ardor  that  he  seemed 
to  put  his  whole  soul  into  defending  his  own  opinions 


198  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  How  is  one  to  decide  on  what  is  the  highest  develop- 
ment ?  Which  stands  on  the  highest  plane  of  civiliza- 
tion, the  English,  the  French,  or  the  Germans  ?  Which 
nation  is  to  naturalize  the  others?  We  have  seen  the 
Rhine  made  French;  but  are  the  Germans  inferior? 
No ;  there  is  some  other  law,"  he  cried  in  his  bass 
voice. 

"  I  believe  that  the  balance  will  always  turn  in  favor  of 
true  civilization,"  said  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch,  slightly 
raising  his  brows. 

"  But  what  are  the  signs  of  this  true  civilization  ? " 
demanded  Pestsof. 

"  I  suppose  these  signs  are  known,"  replied  Aleksei 
Aleksandrovitch. 

"  But  are  they  really  known  ? "  suggested  Sergyef 
Ivanovitch,  with  a  subtle  smile.  "  It  is  now  admitted 
that  our  present  civilization  can't  be  anything  else  than 
classical,  but  we  have  furious  debates  on  this  point, 
and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  each  side  brings  forward 
strong  proofs  in  its  favor." 

"  Are  you  in  favor  of  the  classics,  Sergyel  Ivanovitch  ? " 
said  Oblonsky "  Shall  I  give  you  some  claret  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  expressing  my  personal  opinions  regarding 
either  form  of  civilization,"  replied  Koznuishef,  with  a 
smile  of  condescension  such  as  he  would  have  shown  a 
child,  as  he  reached  out  his  glass.  "  I  only  say  that  both 
sides  have  strong  arguments,"  continued  he,  addressing 
Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch.  "  My  education  was  classical ; 
but  in  this  controversy  I  personally  cannot  find  any 
room  to  stand.  I  do  not  see  any  clear  proofs  that  the 
classics  must  take  precedence  over  the  sciences." 

"  The  natural  sciences  tend  just  as  much  to  the 
pedagogical  development  of  the  human  mind,"  replied 
Pestsof.  "  Take  astronomy,  take  botany,  and  zoology, 
each  with  its  system  of  general  laws  1  " 

"  It  seems  to  me  impossible  to  deny  that  the  very 
process  of  learning  the  forms  of  languages  has  a 
specially  beneficial  influence  on  mental  development. 
Moreover,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  influence  of  the 
classic  writers  is  eminently  moral ;  while,  unfortunately 


ANNA   KARENINA  199 

for  us,  the  study  of  the  natural  sciences  has  been  com- 
pHcated  with  false  and  fatal  doctrines,  which  are  the 
bane  of  our  time." 

Sergyei  Ivanovitch  was  going  to  reply,  but  Pestsof 
interrupted  him  in  his  deep  voice.  He  began  heatedly 
to  demonstrate  the  incorrectness  of  this  statement.  Koz- 
nuishef  calmly  waited  his  chance  to  speak,  evidently 
feeling  that  it  would  be  a  victorious  rejoinder. 

"  But,"  said  he,  smiling  shrewdly,  and  addressing 
Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  "it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  is 
a  difficult  matter  completely  to  balance  all  the  advan- 
tages and  disadvantages  of  the  two  systems  of  science,  and 
that  the  question  which  is  preferable  could  not  be  decided 
so  quickly  and  definitely  if  there  were  not  on  the  side 
of  the  classical  civilization  that  advantage  which  you 
just  called  the  moral  —  disons  le  mot  —  the  anti-nihilistic 
influence." 

"  Undoubtedly." 

'*  If  it  were  not  for  this  advantage  of  the  anti-nihilistic 
influence  wielded  by  classic  education,  we  should  rather 
hesitate,  we  should  weigh  the  arguments  of  both  sides," 
said  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  with  his  shrewd  smile.  "We 
should  give  scope  to  both  tendencies.  But  now  we 
know  that  in  classical  education  lies  the  medical  power 
of  anti-nihihsm  and  we  boldly  administer  it  like  a  pill 

to   our   patients But   are  we   perfectly  sure   of   the 

heahng  properties  of  these  pills  ? "  he  said  in  conclusion, 
pouring  out  his  Attic  salt. 

Sergei  Ivanovitch's  "pills"  made  every  one  laugh, 
Turovtsuin  more  boisterously  and  heartily  than  the  rest ; 
for  he  had  been  on  the  lookout  for  something  amusing 
to  laugh  at  ever  since  the  conversation  began. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  made  no  mistake  in  count- 
ing on  Pestsof.  Pestsof  never  allowed  an  intellectual  con- 
versation to  flag  for  a  moment.  Koznuishef  had  hardly 
finished  with  his  jest  when  Pestsof  began  again  :  — 

"One  cannot  even  agree  with  this  idea,"  said  he, 
"  that  morality  has  this  aim.  Morality  is  evidently  con- 
trolled by  general  considerations  and  remains  indiffer- 
ent to  the  influences  of  the   measures  which   may  be 


200  ANNA    KARENINA 

taken.  For  example,  the  question  of  higher  education 
for  women  should  be  regarded  as  dangerous,  yet  the 
government  opens  the  public  lectures  and  the  univer- 
sities to  women." 

And  the  conversation  immediately  leaped  to  the  new 
theme  of  the  education  of  women. 

Alekse'i  Aleksandrovitch  expressed  the  thought  that 
the  education  of  women  was  too  much  confused  with 
the  question  of  the  emancipation  of  women,  and  could 
be  considered  dangerous  only  from  that  point  of  view. 

"  I  believe,  on  the  contrary,  that  these  two  questions 
are  intimately  connected,"  said  Pestsof.  "  It  is  a  vicious 
circle !  Woman  is  deprived  of  rights  because  she  is  de- 
prived of  education,  and  her  lack  of  education  comes 
from  the  absence  of  rights.  Let  us  not  forget  that  the 
bondage  of  woman  is  so  ancient,  so  interwoven  with 
our  customs,  that  we  are  very  often  incapable  of  under- 
standing the  legal  abyss  that  separates  her  from  us." 

"You  speak  of  rights,"  said  SergyeY  Ivanovitch,  as 
soon  as  he  had  a  chance  to  put  in  a  word  ;  "  is  it  a 
right  to  fulfil  the  functions  of  juror,  of  municipal  coun- 
selor, of  president  of  the  tribunal,  of  public  function- 
ary, of  member  of  parliament  ?  "  .... 

"Without  doubt." 

"  But  if  women  can  exceptionally  fill  these  functions, 
then  it  seems  to  me  we  make  a  mistake  in  using  the 
word  rights.  It  would  be  fairer  to  say  duties.  Every 
one  agrees  that  in  fulfilling  the  functions  of  a  juror,  of 
town  counselor,  of  telegraph  employer,  we  are  fulfilling 
a  duty.  Let  us  say,  then,  that  women  are  seeking  for 
duties,  and  legitimately  enough ;  in  this  case  we  may 
sympathize  with  their  desire  to  take  part  in  man's  work." 

"That  is  perfectly  fair,"  affirmed  AlekseT  Aleksan- 
drovitch ;  "  the  question,  I  suspect,  consists  in  deciding 
whether  they  are  capable  of  fulfilling  these  duties." 

"  They  will  be,  certainly,  as  soon  as  they  have  been 
generally  educated,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "We 
see  it ....  " 

"  And  the  proverb  ?  "  asked  the  old  prince,  whose  lit- 
tle, scornful  eyes  shone  as  he  listened  to  this  conver- 


ANNA    KARENINA  201 

sation.  "  I  may  repeat  it  before  my  daughters  :  *  Long 
hair...."'i 

"  That  is  the  way  we  judged  the  negroes  before  their 
emancipation  !  "  said  Pestsof,  with  dissatisfaction. 

"What  astonishes  me,"  said  Sergyef  Ivanuitch,  "is 
that  women  are  seeking  new  duties,  when  we  see,  un- 
fortunately, that  men  generally  shirk  theirs." 

"  Duties  are  accompanied  by  rights  ;  honor,  influence, 
money,  these  are  what  women  are  after,"  said  Pestsof. 

"  Exactly  as  if  I  sohcited  the  right  to  become  a  wet 
nurse,  and  found  it  hard  to  be  refused,  while  women  are 
paid  for  it,"  said  the  old  prince. 

Turovtsuin  burst  out  laughing,  and  Sergyelf  Ivanovitch 
regretted  that  he  had  not  said  that.  Even  Alekseif 
Aleksandrovitch  smiled. 

"  Yes,  but  a  man  can't  be  a  wet  nurse,"  said  Sergyel 
Ivanuitch,     "  But  a  woman ....  " 

"  But  what  is  a  young  girl  without  any  family  going 
to  do .'' "  asked  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who  found  reason 
to  sympathize  with  Pestsof,  as  he  thought  of  his  little 
ballet  girl,  Chibisovaya. 

"  If  you  look  closely  into  the  lives  of  these  young 
girls,"  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  unexpectedly  taking 
part  in  the  conversation  and  showing  some  irritation, 
for  it  was  evident  that  she  suspected  what  sort  of  women 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  meant,  "you  will  doubtless  find 
that  they  have  left  a  family  or  a  sister,  and  that  women's 
work  was  within  their  reach." 

"  But  we  are  defending  a  principle,  an  ideal,"  an- 
swered Pestsof,  in  his  ringing  bass.  "  Woman  claims 
the  right  to  be  independent  and  educated ;  she  suffers 
from  hqr  consciousness  of  being  unable  to  accomplish 
this." 

"  And  I  suffer  from  not  being  admitted  as  nurse  to 
the  foundling  asylum,"  repeated  the  old  prince,  to  the 
great  amusement  of  Turovtsuin,  letting  the  large  end 
of  a  piece  of  asparagus  fall  into  his  sauce. 

1  Vo/os  dolog,  da  um  korotok :  where  the  hair  is  long,  the  intellect  is 
short;  said  of  women. 


202  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER  XI 

lb)!   : 

All  took  part  in  the  general  conversation  except 
Kitty  and  Levin. 

At  first,  when  they  were  talking  about  the  influence 
of  one  people  over  another,  Levin  recalled  what  he 
had  to  say  on  this  subject ;  but  his  thoughts,  which  at 
one  time  had  seemed  to  him  very  important,  simply 
flashed  through  his  mind  like  notions  in  a  dream,  and 
now  had  not  the  least  interest  for  him ;  he  even  thought 
it  strange  that  people  could  trouble  themselves  about 
such  useless  questions. 

Kitty,  for  her  part,  ought  to  have  been  interested  in 
what  was  said  about  women's  rights  and  education. 
How  many  times  had  she  pondered  over  these  subjects 
as  she  remembered  her  friend  Varenka,  whose  depend- 
ence was  so  hard  to  bear  !  How  many  times  had  she 
thought  what  she  herself  would  do  in  case  she  should  not 
marry !  How  often  had  she  disputed  with  her  sister  on 
the  subject !     But  now  it  did  not  interest  her  in  the  least. 

She  and  Levin  had  their  own  talk,  and  yet  it  was  not 
a  conversation  so  much  as  it  was  a  mysterious  affinity, 
which  brought  them  nearer  and  nearer  to  each  other, 
and  filled  them  with  a  joyful  timidity  before  the  unknown 
which  they  were  about  to  enter. 

At  first  Kitty  asked  how  he  happened  to  see  her  in 
the  summer,  and  Levin  told  her  that  he  was  returning 
from  the  hay-fields  by  the  highway  after  the  mowing  :  — 

"  It  was  very  early  in  the  morning.  You  had  proba- 
bly just  waked.  Your  maman  was  asleep  in  her  corner. 
It  was  a  marvelous  morning.  I  was  walking  along, 
saying  to  myself,  'A  carriage  with  four  horses!  Whose 
can  it  be.-* '  They  were  four  fine  horses  with  bells.  And 
quick  as  a  flash  you  passed  by.  I  saw  you  through 
the  door ;  you  were  sitting  like  this,  holding  the  ribbons 
of  your  bonnet  in  your  hands,  and  you  seemed  awfully 
deep  in  thought.  How  I  wished  I  could  know,"  he 
added  with  a  smile,  "  what  you  were  thinking  about  J 
Was  it  something  very  important .-'  " 


ANNA    KARENINA  aoj 

"  Was  n't  my  hair  in  disorder  ?  "  thought  Kitty,  but 
seeing  the  enthusiastic  smile  that  lighted  up  Levin's 
face,  she  felt  that  on  the  contrary  the  impression  she 
had  produced  was  good,  and  she  replied,  blushing  and 
laughing  merrily :  — 

"  Truly,  I  don't  remember." 

"  How  heartily  Turovtsuin  laughs ! "  said  Levin, 
looking  at  his  moist  eyes  and  his  sides  shaking  with 
laughter. 

**  Have  you  known  him  long?  "  asked  Kitty. 

"  Who  does  n't  know  him  }  " 

"  And  I  see  that  you  think  that  he  is  a  bad  man." 

"  Not  bad  ;  but  he  does  n't  amount  to  much." 

"That  is  unjust.  I  beg  you  not  to  think  so  any 
more,"  said  Kitty.  "  I,  too,  once  had  a  very  poor 
opinion  of  him;  but  he  is  a  sweet-tempered  and  wonder- 
fxiWy  good  man.     His  heart  is  gold." 

"  How  can  you  know  what  kind  of  a  heart  he  has .-'  " 

"  We  are  great  friends.  I  know  him  very  well.  Last 
winter,  a  short  time  after  —  after  you  were  at  our 
house,"  said  she,  rather  guiltily,  but  with  a  confiding 
smile,  **  Dolly's  children  had  the  scarlatina,  and  one  day 
Turovtsuin  happened  to  call  on  my  sister.  Would  you 
believe  it .''  "  she  said,  lowering  her  voice :  "  he  was  so 
sorry  for  her  that  he  stayed  to  take  care  of  the  little 
invalids.  For  three  weeks  he  played  nurse  to  the  chil- 
dren  I  am  telling  Konstantin  Dmitritch  of  Turovt- 

suin's  kindness  at  the  time  of  the  scarlatina,"  said  she, 
turning  to  her  sister. 

**  Yes,  it  was  remarkable ;  it  was  lovely ! "  replied 
Dolly,  looking  with  a  grateful  smile  at  Turovtsuin,  who 
was  conscious  that  they  were  talking  about  him.  Levin 
also  looked  at  him,  and  was  surprised  that  he  had  never 
understood  him  till  then. 

"  I  plead  guilty,  and  I  will  never  again  think  ill  of 
people,"  said  he,  gayly,  speaking  honestly,  exactly  as  he 
thought  at  the  time. 


i04  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XII 

The  discussion  about  the  emancipation  of  women  led 
to  talk  about  the  inequality  of  rights  in  marriage,  and 
this  was  a  ticklish  subject  to  speak  about  in  the  presence 
of  the  ladies.  Pestsof  during  the  dinner  several  times 
touched  on  this  question,  but  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  and 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  warily  diverted  him  from  it.  But 
as  soon  as  dinner  was  over  and  the  ladies  had  retired, 
Pestsof  addressed  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  and  at- 
tempted to  explain  the  chief  cause  of  this  inequality. 
The  inequality  of  rights  between  husband  and  wife  in 
marriage  depended,  in  his  opinion,  on  the  fact  that  the 
infidelity  of  a  wife  and  that  of  a  husband  was  unequally 
punished,  both  by  law  and  by  public  opinion. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  hastened  over  to  Aleksef  Alek- 
sandrovitch and  offered  him  a  cigar. 

"  No,  I  do  not  smoke,"  replied  Karenin,  calmly;  and  as 
if  to  prove  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  this  conversation, 
he  turned  toward  Pestsof  with  his  icy  smile :  — 

"  I  imagine  that  such  a  view  is  based  on  the  very 
nature  of  things,"  said  he,  and  he  started  to  go  to  the 
drawing-room  ;  but  here  Turovtsuin  suddenly  spoke  up, 
addressing  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch. 

"Have  you  heard  the  story  about  Priatchnikof .■* "  he 
asked.  He  was  animated  by  the  champagne,  and  had 
been  impatiently  waiting  for  a  chance  to  break  a  silence 
which  weighed  heavily  on  him.  "Vasia  Priatchnikof .''" 
he  repeated,  with  a  good-natured  smile  on  his  thick  lips, 
red  and  moist,  and  he  addressed  AlekseY  Aleksandro- 
vitch, as  the  most  important  guest.  "  I  was  told  this 
morning  that  he  fought  a  duel  at  Tver,  with  Kvitsky, 
and  killed  him." 

As  it  always  seems  as  if  a  sore  spot  were  peculiarly 
liable  to  be  hit,  so  now  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  thought 
the  conversation  was  fated  every  moment  to  touch  Alek- 
seY Aleksandrovitch  on  the  sore  spot.  He  was  on  the 
point  of  going  to  his  brother-in-law's  assistance ;  but 
AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  asked,  with  curiosity :  — 


ANNA    KARENINA  205 

"Why  did  Priatchnikof  fight  a  duel?" 

"  On  account  of  his  wife ;  he  behaved  bravely  about 
it,  —  he  challenged  the  other  man,  and  killed  him." 

"  Ah ! "  said  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  with  uncon- 
cern ;  and,  raising  his  eyebrows,  he  went  to  the  drawing- 
room. 

Dolly  met  him  in  a  little  parlor  leading  into  the  draw- 
ing-room, and  said,  smiling  timidly :  — 

"  How  glad  I  am  that  you  came  !  I  want  to  talk  with 
you.     Let  us  sit  down  here." 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  preserving  the  air  of  indif- 
ference caused  by  his  elevated  eyebrows,  sat  down  near 
her,  pretending  to  smile. 

"  All  the  more  willingly,"  said  he,  "  as  I  wish  to  ask 
you  to  excuse  me  for  leaving  you  as  soon  as  possible. 
I  have  to  go  away  to-morrow  morning." 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  was  firmly  convinced  of  Anna's 
innocence,  and  she  was  conscious  of  growing  pale  and 
trembling  with  anger  before  this  heartless,  unfeel- 
ing man,  who  coolly  proposed  to  ruin  her  innocent 
friend. 

"  AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch,"  she  said  with  desperate 
firmness,  looking  him  full  in  the  face,  "  I  asked  you 
about  Anna,  and  you  did  not  reply  ;  how  is  she  .■' " 

"  I  think  that  she  is  well,  Darya  Aleksandrovna," 
replied  Karenin,  without  looking  at  her. 

"  Pardon  me,  if  I  have  no  right  to  insist  on  it ....  but  I 
love  Anna  like  a  sister ;  tell  me,  I  beseech  you,  what 
has  happened  between  you  and  her,  and  what  do  you 
accuse  her  of." 

AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  frowned,  and  bent  his  head, 
almost  closing  his  eyes  :  — 

"  Your  husband  must  have  told  you,  I  think,  the  rea- 
sons which  oblige  me  to  break  my  relations  with  Anna 
Arkady evna,"  said  he,  avoiding  her  eyes  but  casting  a 
glance  of  annoyance  at  Shcherbatsky,  who  was  passing 
through  the  room. 

"  I  do  not  believe  it,  I  do  not  believe  it !  and  I  can- 
not believe  it !  "  murmured  Dolly,  pressing  her  thin  hands 
together  energetically.     She  rose  quickly,  and,  touching 


^o6  ANNA   KARENINA 

AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch's  arm,  said,  "We  shall  be  dis- 
turbed here;    let  us  go  in  there,  please." 

Dolly's  emotion  communicated  itself  to  Aleksei'  Alek- 
sandrovitch ;  he  arose,  and  submissively  followed  her 
into  the  children's  schoolroom.  They  seated  themselves 
at  a  table  covered  with  an  oil-cloth,  hacked  with  pen- 
knives. 

"  I  don't  believe  it,  I  don't  believe  it !  "  repeated 
Dolly,  trying  to  catch  his  eye,  which  avoided  hers. 

"  One  cannot  d^ny  facts,  Darya  Aleksandrovna,"  said 
he,  dwelling  on  the  word  facfs. 

**  But  what  has  she  done  .■*  "  insisted  Darya  Aleksan- 
drovna, "  precisely  what  has  she  done .''  " 

"  She  has  failed  to  do  her  duty,  and  been  false  to  her 
husband.     That  is  what'she  has  done,"  said  he. 

"  No,  no !  it  is  impossible !  no,  thank  the  Lord,  you 
are  mistaken  !  "  cried  Dolly,  putting  her  hands  to  her 
temples,  and  closing  her  eyes. 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  smiled  coldly  with  his  lips 
only ;  he  wished  to  prove  to  Dolly,  and  to  prove  to  him- 
self, the  firmness  of  his  conviction.  But  this  heated  de- 
fense of  his  wife,  though  it  did  not  shake  him,  irritated 
his  wound.     He  spoke  with  more  animation  :  — 

"  It  is  difficult  to  make  a  mistake  when  a  woman  her- 
self declares  to  her  husband  that  eight  years  of  married 
life  and  a  son  count  for  nothing,  and  that  she  wishes  to 
begin  life  over  again,"  he  replied  angrily,  dilating  his 
nostrils. 

"  Anna  and  vice !  I  cannot  associate  the  two  ideas  ;  I 
cannot  believe  it." 

*♦  Darya  Aleksandrovna  !  "  —  said  he,  angrily,  now 
looking  straight  at  Dolly's  distressed  face,  and  feeling 
his  tongue  involuntarily  unloosed,  — "  I  would  give  a 
great  deal  to  be  able  stfll  to  have  any  doubts  !  When  I 
was  in  doubt  about  it,  it  was  hard  for  me,  but  easier 
than  it  is  now.  When  I  doubted,  there  was  still  hope. 
Now  there  is  no  hope,  and  I  have  doubted  everything. 
I  am  so  full  of  doubt  that  I  detest  my  son,  and  some- 
times I  do  not  believe  that  he  is  my  son.  I  am  very 
unhappy ! " 


ANNA    KARENINA  207 

He  had  no  need  to  say  that.  Darya  Aleksandrovna 
understood  it  as  soon  as  she  looked  into  his  face.  She 
pitied  him,  and  her  faith  in  her  friend's  innocence  was 
shaken. 

"  Oh  !  it  is  terrible,  terrible  !  but  is  it  true  that  you  are 
really  decided  about  the  divorce .-'  " 

"  I  have  decided  to  take  this  last  measure.  There 
was  nothing  else  for  me  to  do." 

"  Don't  do  it !  Don't  do  it !  "  cried  Dolly,  with  tears 
in  her  eyes.     "  No,  don't  do  it !  " 

"  The  most  dreadful  thing  about  a  misfortune  of  this 
kind  is  that  one  cannot  bear  his  cross  as  in  any  other, 
—  a  loss  or  a  death,  —  and  here  one  must  do  something," 
said  he,  apparently  divining  Dolly's  thought.  "  One  must 
escape  from  the  humiliating  position  in  which  one  is 
placed  ;  071  ne  petit  vivre  a  trois  !  " 

"  I  understand,  I  understand  perfectly,"  replied  Dolly, 
bowing  her  head.  She  was  silent,  thinking  of  herself, 
of  her  own  domestic  troubles ;  but  suddenly  with  an  en- 
ergetic movement  she  raised  her  head,  and  with  a  suppli- 
cating gesture  she  folded  her  hands. 

"But  wait,"  she  said  ;  "you  are  a  Christian,  think  of 
her  !     What  will  become  of  her  if  you  abandon  her  ?  " 

"  I  have  thought  of  it,  Darya  Aleksandrovna.  I  have 
thought  a  great  deal  about  it,"  said  Aleksei  Aleksan- 
drovitch.  His  face  was  covered  with  red  blotches  and 
his  troubled  eyes  looked  straight  at  her.  Darya  Alek- 
sandrovna pitied  him  now  from  the  bottom  of  her  heart. 
"  I  did  this  very  thing  after  she  herself  had  told  me  of 
her  disgrace.  I  put  everything  on  the  old  footing.  I 
gave  her  the  chance  of  reformation.  I  tried  to  save  her. 
What  did  she  do  then .-'  She  paid  no  attention  to  the 
easiest  of  demands,  —  observance  of  propriety  !  "  he 
added,  choking.  "  One  can  save  a  man  who  does  not 
want  to  perish ;  but  if  his  whole  nature  is  so  corrupt,  so 
rotten,  that  ruin  itself  seems  salvation,  what  can  be 
done }" 

"  Everything,  except  divorce,"  replied  Darya  Alek- 
sandrovna. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  everything  ?  " 


2o8  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  No,  that  is  horrible !  She  will  no  longer  be  any 
one's  wife.     She  will  be  lost !  " 

"  What  can  I  do  ?  "  replied  Karenin,  raising  his  shoul- 
ders and  his  eyebrows  ;  and  the  memory  of  his  wife's 
last  offense  so  angered  him  that  he  became  as  cool  as 
at  the  beginning  of  the  conversation.  "  I  am  very  grate- 
ful to  you  for  your  sympathy,  but  I  must  go,"  he  added, 
rising. 

"  No,  wait  a  moment !  you  must  not  give  her  up :. 
listen  to  me ;  I  speak  from  experience.  I,  too,  was 
married,  and  my  husband  deceived  me :  in  my  jealousy 
and  indignation,  I  wished  to  abandon  everything ;  but  I 
considered  the  matter,  and  who  saved  me?  Anna! 
Now  I  am  living  again.  Now  my  children  are  growing 
up,  my  husband  has  returned  to  his  family,  regrets  his 
wrong-doing,  is  growing  better,  nobler.  I  live,  I  have 
forgiven  him  ;  and  you  ought  to  forgive  her  !  " 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  listened ;  but  Dolly's  words 
had  no  effect  on  him.  Again  in  his  soul  arose  the  anger 
of  that  day  when  he  decided  on  a  divorce.  He  shook 
himself  and  spoke  in  a  loud,  penetrating  voice :  — 

"  I  cannot,  nor  do  I  wish  to  forgive  her.  It  would  be 
unjust.  I  have  done  what  was  next  to  impossible  for 
this  woman,  and  she  has  trampled  everything  into  the 
mire,  which  seems  to  be  her  element.  I  am  not  a  bad 
man,  and  I  have  never  hated  anybody  before ;  but  her  I 
hate  with  all  the  strength  of  my  soul,  and  I  cannot  for- 
give her,  for  I  hate  her  too  much  for  all  the  wrong  she 
has  done  me  !  "  and  tears  of  anger  trembled  in  his  voice. 

"  Love  them  that  hate  you,"  murmured  Dolly,  almost 
ashamed. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  smiled  scornfully.  He  was 
familiar  with  these  words,  but  they  did  not  apply  to  his 
case. 

"  We  can  love  those  who  hate  us,  but  to  love  those 
whom  we  hate  is  impossible.  I  beg  your  pardon  for 
having  troubled  you  :  sufficient  unto  every  man  is  his 
own  burden."  And  having  recovered  his  self-possession, 
Alekself  Aleksandrovitch  calmly  took  leave  of  Dolly, 
and  went  away. 


ANNA   KARENINA  209 


CHAPTER  XIII 

When  the  company  arose  from  dinner  Levin  wanted 
'to  follow  Kitty  into  the  drawing-room,  but  he  was  afraid, 
not  that  it  would  be  disagreeable  to  her,  but  that  it  would 
be  too  obvious  a  wooing  of  her.  So  he  remained  with 
the  men,  and  took  part  in  the  general  conversation. 
And  without  looking  at  Kitty,  he  was  conscious  of  her 
motions,  of  her  glances,  and  of  the  place  where  she  was 
in  the  drawing-room.  Without  the  least  effort  he  im- 
mediately began  to  fulfil  the  promise  that  he  had  made 
her  to  love  all  men,  and  to  think  nothing  but  good  of 
them. 

The  conversation  turned  on  the  commune  in  Russia, 
which  Pestsof  considered  as  the  beginning  of  what  he 
called  a  new  order  of  things.  Levin  agreed  as  little 
with  him  as  he  did  with  Sergyei'  Ivanovitch,  who  it 
seemed  to  him  recognized,  and  at  the  same  time  denied, 
the  value  of  this  institution ;  but  he  talked  with  them, 
trying  only  to  reconcile  them  and  tone  down  their  ex- 
citabiHty.  He  was  not  in  the  least  interested  in  what 
he  himself  said  and  was  still  less  interested  in  what 
they  said,  but  his  one  desire  was,  to  see  all  of  them 
happy  and  contented.  He  now  realized  what  one  thing 
was  important.  And  that  one  was  at  first  yonder  in  the 
drawing-room  and  afterward  moved  about  and  was  now 
near  the  door.  Without  turning  around  he  was  con- 
scious of  a  look  and  a  smile  fixed  on  him,  and  he  could 
not  help  looking.  She  was  standing  there  with  Shcher- 
batsky,  and  looking  at  him. 

"  I  thought  you  were  going  to  the  piano,"  said  he, 
approaching  her.  "  Music  is  what  I  have  to  do  without 
in  the  country." 

"  No,  we  merely  came  to  find  you ;  and  I  thank  you 
for  coming  to  us,"  she  replied,  recompensing  him  with 
a  smile.  "  What  pleasure  can  there  be  in  discussing  ? 
Really,  no  one  ever  convinced  another." 

"  Yes  ;  that  is  true  !  "  said  Levin.  "  It  generally  hap« 
pens  that  you  get  excited  in  a  discussion  simply  from 

VOL.  II. — 14 


2IO  ANNA    KARENINA 

the  fact  that  you  can  never  tell  exactly  what  your  oppo* 
nent  is  trying  to  show." 

Levin  had  many  times  noticed  that  in  discussions 
among  clever  people,  after  an  immense  output  of  energy, 
an  immense  array  of  logical  terms  and  subtleties,  the* 
disputants  came  at  last  to  an  acknowledgment  that 
what  they  had  been  so  interminably  striving  to  prove 
to  each  other,  was  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  from 
the  very  beginning,  but  that  they  liked  something  dif- 
ferent and  therefore  were  not  willing  to  acknowledge 
what  they  liked,  so  as  not  to  be  controverted.  He  had 
often  met  with  the  experience  that  in  the  midst  of  a 
dispute  you  find  what  your  opponent  likes,  and  sud- 
denly you  find  that  you  yourself  like  the  same  thing, 
and  you  immediately  agree,  and  then  all  your  argu- 
ments fall  to  the  ground  as  useless.  But  sometimes 
he  had  had  the  opposite  experience :  you  at  last  say 
what  you  like  and  evolve  your  arguments  and  if  per- 
chance you  speak  well  and  sincerely,  suddenly  your 
opponent  assents  and  ceases  to  uphold  the  other  side. 
This  is  exactly  what  he  meant. 

She  wrinkled  her  brows,  trying  to  comprehend.  But 
as  soon  as  he  began  to  explain,  her  mind  grasped  his 
meaning.  "  I  understand :  one  must  make  sure  why 
he  is  disputing,  what  he  likes  ....  if  possible ....  " 

She  had  fully  grasped  and  expressed  his  badly 
phrased  idea. 

Levin  smiled  with  rapture ;  so  striking  was  the  tran- 
sition from  the  complicated  prolix  discussion  between 
Pestsof  and  his  brother  to  this  clear,  laconic,  almost 
wordless  communication  of  the  most  abstruse  thoughts ! 

Shcherbatsky  stepped  away ;  and  Kitty,  going  to  a 
card-table,  sat  down,  and  taking  a  piece  of  chalk  in 
her  hand  began  to  draw  circles  on  the  green  cloth. 

They  took  up  the  topic  which  was  under  discussion  at 
dinner  :  as  to  the  emancipation  and  occupation  of  women. 
Levin  was  inclined  to  agree  with  Darya  Aleksandrovna, 
that  a  girl  who  was  not  going  to  marry  would  find  femi- 
nine occupations  in  some  family.  He  urged  that  not  a 
single  family  can  get  along  without  some  female  help; 


ANNA   KARENINA  211 

that  every  family,  however  poor  or  rich,  has  and  must 
have  some  one  to  look  after  the  children. 

"  No,"  said  Kitty,  blushing  but  looking  at  him  frankly 
with  her  honest  eyes ;  "  a  girl  may  be  so  situated  that 
she  cannot  without  humiliation  go  into  a  family,  but  she 
herself ....  " 

He  understood  what  she  hinted  at. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  he  said ;  "  yes,  yes,  yes,  you  are  right." 

And  he  realized  all  that  Pestsof  was  trying  to  prove 
at  dinner  about  the  freedom  of  women  merely  by  the 
fact  that  he  saw  in  Kitty's  heart  a  maiden's  dread  of 
humiliation,  and,  loving  her,  he  experienced  this  dread 
and  this  humiliation,  and  immediately  renounced  his 
former  arguments. 

A  silence  ensued.  She  went  on  making  designs  with 
the  chalk  on  the  table.  Her  eyes  shone  with  a  gentle 
gleam.  Submitting  to  her  mood,  he  felt  in  his  being 
all  the  increasing  tension  of  happiness. 

"  Akh !  I  have  covered  the  table  with  my  scrawls," 
said  she,  laying  down  the  chalk,  with  a  movement  as  if 
she  were  going  to  rise. 

"  How  can  I  stay  alone  without  her.?"  thought  Levin, 
terrified,  and  picking  up  the  chalk. 

**  Wait,"  said  he,  sitting  down  at  the  table.  "  I  have 
wanted  for  a  long  time  to  ask  you  something." 

He  looked  straight  into  her  affectionate  but  never- 
theless startled  eyes. 

"  Please,  what  \s  it }  " 

"This  is  it,"  said  he,  taking  the  chalk,  and  writing 
the  letters  w,  y,  s,  i,  i,  i,  w,  i,  i,  t,  o,  a  ?  These  letters 
were  the  initials  of  the  words,  "  When  you  said,  '  It  is 
impossible,'  was  it  impossible  then,  or  always  ?  " 

It  was  not  at  all  likely  that  Kitty  would  be  able  to 
make  out  this  complicated  question.  Levin  looked  at 
her,  nevertheless,  as  if  his  life  depended  on  whether 
she  could  guess  these  words  or  not. 

She  looked  at  him  gravely,  then  rested  her  forehead 
on  her  hand  and  tried  to  decipher  it.  Occasionally  she 
would  look  up  at  him,  asking  him  with  her  eyes :  "  Isr 
what  I  think  right  ?  " 


212  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  I  know  what  it  is,"  said  she,  blushing. 

"What  is  this  word?"  he  asked,  pointing  to  the  i  of 
the  word  impossible. 

"  That  letter  stands  for  impossible.  The  word  is  not 
right,"  she  replied. 

He  quickly  rubbed  out  what  he  had  written,  gave  the 
chalk  to  her,  and  stood  up. 

She  wrote :  t,  /,  c,  n,  a,  d. 

Dolly,  seeing  her  sister  with  the  chalk  in  her  hand,  a 
timid  and  happy  smile  on  her  lips,  raising  her  eyes  to 
Levin,  who  was  leaning  over  the  table,  beaming  now 
at  her,  now  at  the  cloth,  felt  consoled  for  the  grief 
caused  by  her  conversation  with  Aleksef  Aleksan- 
drovitch.  His  face  suddenly  grew  radiant;  he  had 
understood  the  reply  :  "Then  I  could  not  answer  differ- 
ently T 

He  looked  at  Kitty  timidly  and  inquiringly. 

"  Only  then  ?  " 

"Yes,"  replied  the  young  girl's  smile. 

"  B,  n  —  but  now  }  "  he  asked. 

"  Read  this.  I  will  tell  you  what  I  wish,  what  I  wish 
very  much ; "  and  she  quickly  traced  the  initials,  t,y,  in, 
f,  a,f,  zv,  t,p. 

This  meant :  "  That  you  might  forgive  and  forget 
what  took  place!' 

He  seized  the  chalk  in  turn,  with  his  excited,  trem- 
bling fingers,  and  crushing  it  wrote  down  the  initials  of 
these  words  :  "  /  have  nothing  to  forgive  and  forget.  I 
have  never  ceased  to  love  yon!' 

Kitty  looked  at  him,  and  her  smile  died  away. 

"I  understand,"  she  murmured. 

He  sat  down  and  wrote  a  long  phrase.  She  compre- 
hended it  and  without  even  asking  is  it  thus  and  so, 
took  the  chalk  and  instantly  replied. 

It  was  some  time  before  he  made  out  what  she  wrote 
and  had  to  keep  looking  into  her  eyes.  His  wits  were 
dulled  by  his  happiness.  He  could  not  supply  the 
words  which  she  intended ;  but  in  her  lovely  eyes,  radiant 
with  joy,  he  understood  all  that  he  needed  to  know. 
And  he  wrote  three  letters.     But  he  had  not  finished 


ANNA    KARENINA  213 

writing  them  ere  she  read  them  under  his  hand  and  her- 
self finished  the  sentence  and  answered  it! 

"Yes." 

"You  are  playing  secretaire,  are  you,"  said  the  old 
prince,  coming  up  to  them.  "Well,  if  you  are  going 
to  the  theater  it  is  time  to  start." 

Levin  rose  and  accompanied  Kitty  to  the  door. 

This  conversation  decided  everything ;  Kitty  had 
acknowledged  her  love  for  him,  and  had  given  him  per- 
mission to  come  the  next  morning  to  speak  to  her 
parents. 

CHAPTER   XIV 

After  Kitty  had  gone  and  Levin  was  left  alone,  he 
felt  such  a  restlessness  and  such  an  unendurable  long- 
ing for  the  morning  to  come  when  he  might  see  her 
again  and  settle  his  destiny  forever,  that  he  dreaded,  as 
he  dreaded  death,  the  fourteen  hours  which  he  should 
have  to  endure  without  her.  He  felt  it  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  be  with  and  to  talk  with  some  one  so  as  not  to 
remain  alone,  so  as  to  cheat  the  time.  Stepan  Arka- 
dy evitch,  whom  he  would  have  liked  to  keep  with  him, 
was  going,  so  he  said,  to  a  reception,  but  in  reality  to 
the  ballet.  Levin  could  only  tell  him  that  he  was 
happy,  and  should  never,  never  forget  what  he  owed 
to  him.  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's  eyes  and  smile  showed 
Levin  that  he  suitably  appreciated  his  feelings. 

"  What !  Then  you  have  nothing  more  to  say  about 
dying .'  "  said  Oblonsky,  pressing  his  friend's  hand  affec- 
tionately. 

"  N-n-n-no,"  replied  the  latter. 

Darya  Aleksandrovna,  too,  almost  congratulated  him 
when  she  bade  him  good  night.  She  said,  "  How  glad 
I  am  that  you  have  made  up  with  Kitty ;  we  ought 
to  prize  old  friends  !  "  and  her  words  displeased  Levin, 
She  could  not  comprehend  how  lofty  and  inaccessible 
to  her  all  this  was  for  him,  and  she  should  not  have 
dared  to  refer  to  it.  Levin  took  his  departure,  but,  to 
avoid  being  alone,  he  joined  his  brother. 


214  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Where  are  you  going  ? " 

"To  a  meeting." 

"  Well !  I  '11  go  with  you.     May  I  ?  " 

"  Why  not .-' "  said  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  smiling.  "What 
has  happened  to  you  to-day  .-* " 

"  What  has  happened }  Good  fortune,"  said  Levin, 
letting  down  the  carriage-window.  "  Have  you  any 
objection  ?  I  am  suffocating.  Good  fortune  has  hap- 
pened to  me  !     Why  have  you  never  been  married  ? " 

Sergyef  Ivanovitch  smiled. 

"  I  am  delighted;  she  seems  like  a  splendid  gi...."  he 
began. 

"  No,  don't  say  anything  about  it,  don't  say  anything 
about  it !  "  cried  Levin,  clutching  the  collar  of  his  shuba 
with  both  hands,  and  covering  his  face  with  the  fur,  A 
splendid  g'ir/ ;  what  commonplace  words !  and  how 
feebly  they  corresponded  to  his  feelings ! 

Sergyef  Ivanovitch  laughed  a  gay  laugh ;  this  was  a 
rare  occurrence  with  him. 

"  I  should  think  I  might  say  that  I  am  very  glad  of 
this !  " 

"  To-morrow,  to-morrow  you  may  speak  ;  but  not  an- 
other word  now,  not  another  word,  not  another  word ! 
Be  silent,"  said  Levin,  and  pulling  his  shuba  still  higher 
round  his  face,  he  added :  "  I  love  you  very  much. 
But  tell  me,  may  I  go  to  your  meeting?" 

"  Of  course  you  may." 

"  What  is  your  subject  for  discussion  to-night.?"  asked 
Levin,  still  smiling. 

They  reached  their  destination.  Levin  heard  the 
secretary  stammer  through  the  report,  which  evidently 
he  did  not  understand;  but  he  could  see,  from  this 
secretary's  face,  that  he  was  a  good,  amiable,  sympa- 
thetic fellow ;  it  was  evident  from  the  way  that  he  hesi- 
tated and  became  confused  while  reading. 

Then  came  the  debates.  They  discussed  about  the 
disposal  of  certain  sums  of  money,  and  the  laying  of 
certain  sewer-pipes.  Sergyel  Ivanovitch  attacked  two 
members  of  the  commission,  and  made  a  long,  trium- 
phant speech  against  them ;  after  which  another  mem- 


ANNA    KARENINA  215 

ber,  reading  from  a  paper,  after  some  timid  hesitation, 
replied  briefly  in  a  charming  though  bitter  fashion ;  and 
then  Sviazhsky,  —  he  too  was  there,  —  in  his  turn,  ex- 
pressed his  opinions  nobly  and  eloquently. 

Levin  listened  and  clearly  saw  that  neither  the  money 
to  be  expended  nor  the  sewer-pipes  were  of  serious  im- 
portance ;  and  that  they  were  not  really  quarreling  but 
were  all  such  pleasant,  congenial  people,  and  conse- 
quently all  was  serene  among  them.  They  interfered 
with  no  one  and  all  seemed  happy.  Levin  noticed  with 
surprise  that  they  all  seemed  to  him  to-day  transparent, 
that  —  from  some  trifling  incidents  which  once  would 
have  entirely  escaped  his  notice  —  he  could  read  their 
souls,  and  see  how  good  they  all  were.  Especially  did  they 
seem  to  like  him,  Levin.  This  was  shown  by  the  way 
they  talked  with  him,  and  even  those  who  did  not  know 
him  looked  at  him  pleasantly  and  in  a  friendly  manner. 

"  Well,  how  do  you  like  it.-*  "  asked  Sergyei"  Ivanovitch. 

"  Very  much ;  I  never  should  have  believed  that  it 
would  be  so  interesting.     It  is  splendid." 

Sviazhsky  approached  Levin  and  invited  him  to  come 
and  take  a  cup  of  tea  at  his  house.  Levin  could  not 
for  the  life  of  him  comprehend  or  remember  why  he 
had  been  prejudiced  against  Sviazhsky,  or  what  he  had 
seemed  to  him  to  lack.  He  was  a  clever  and  wonder- 
fully good  fellow, 

"  I  should  be  delighted,"  rephed  Levin,  and  he  imme- 
diately inquired  after  Madame  Sviazhsky  and  her  sister. 
By  a  strange  association  of  ideas,  as  Sviazhsky's  sister- 
in-law  suggested  marriage,  he  concluded  that  nobody 
would  be  more  interested  than  she  and  her  sister  to  hear 
of  his  happiness.  So  he  was  very  much  pleased  with 
the  idea  of  going  to  see  them. 

Sviazhsky  questioned  him  about  his  affairs,  always 
refusing  to  admit  that  anything  could  be  discovered 
which  had  not  already  been  discovered  in  Europe ;  but 
now  his  theory  did  not  arouse  Levin's  opposition.  On 
the  contrary,  he  felt  that  Sviazhsky  was  right,  and 
Levin  admired  the  gentleness  and  delicacy  with  which 
he  avoided  the  expression  of  his  arguments. 


2i6  ANNA   KARENINA 

The  ladies  were  especially  charming.  It  seemed  to 
Levin  that  they  knew  all,  and  that  they  shared  his  joy, 
but  that  they  avoided  speaking  of  it  from  discretion. 
He  remained  for  three  hours,  talking  on  various  sub- 
jects, and  continually  alluding  to  what  filled  his  soul, 
without  noticing  that  he  was  mortally  tiring  his  friends, 
and  that  they  were  falling  asleep. 

At  last,  Sviazhsky,  yawning,  accompanied  him  to  the 
vestibule,  very  much  surprised  at  the  strange  state  of 
mind  in  which  his  friend  seemed  to  be.  It  was  two 
o'clock  !  Levin  reached  his  hotel  and  was  aghast  at 
the  thought  of  passing  the  next  ten  hours  alone,  a  prey 
to  his  impatience.  The  watchman  who  was  on  duty  in 
the  corridor  lighted  his  candles,  and  was  about  to  with- 
draw when  Levin  stopped  him.  This  fellow,  who  was 
called  Yegor  and  whom  Levin  had  never  before  noticed, 
seemed  like  a  good,  intelligent  man,  and,  above  all,  kind- 
hearted. 

"  Tell  me,  Yegor,  don't  you  find  it  hard  to  go  without 
your  sleep .'' " 

"  What  can  I  do  about  it .''  It  is  our  calling.  We 
have  an  easier  time  in  gentlemen's  houses,  but  here  we 
get  larger  wages." 

It  seemed  that  Yegor  was  the  father  of  a  family  of 
four  children,  —  three  boys,  and  a  girl  trained  as  a  seam- 
stress, whom  he  hoped  to  marry  to  a  harness-maker's 
clerk. 

Levin  seized  this  opportunity  to  communicate  his  ideas 
about  love  in  marriage  to  Yegor,  remarking  that  people 
are  always  happy  where  there  is  love,  because  their  hap- 
piness is  in  themselves. 

Yegor  listened  attentively,  and  evidently  understood 
Levin's  meaning ;  but  he  confirmed  it  by  an  unexpected 
reflection,  —  that  when  he,  Yegor,  had  served  good  mas- 
ters, he  had  always  been  satisfied  with  them,  and  that  he 
was  contented  with  his  master  now,  although  he  was  a 
Frenchman. 

"  What  a  wonderfully  good  fellow  !  "  thought  Levin. 
"  Well,  and  did  you  love  your  wife,  Yegor,  when  you 
married  her  ?  " 


ANNA    KARENINA  217 

"Why  should  n't  I  have  loved  her?  "  replied  Yegor, 

And  Levin  noticed  Yegor  also  grew  very  enthusiastic 
and  was  eager  to  confide  to  him  his  inmost  thoughts. 

"  My  life,  too,  has  been  extraordinary,"  he  began,  his 
eyes  shining,  overcome  by  Levin's  enthusiasm  as  one 
catches  a  yawning  fit.     "  From  my  childhood  ....  " 

But  the  bell  rang ;  Yegor  departed,  and  Levin  was 
left  alone. 

He  had  eaten  scarcely  anything  at  dinner.  He  had 
refused  to  take  any  tea  or  supper  at  Sviazhsky's,  yet  even 
now  he  could  not  think  of  eating.  He  had  not  slept  the 
preceding  night,  yet  he  did  not  think  of  sleeping  now.  His 
room  was  cold,  but  it  seemed  so  stifling  that  he  could 
not  breathe.  He  opened  both  casements,  and  sat  down 
on  a  table  in  front  of  one.  Above  the  roofs  covered 
with  snow  rose  the  carved  cross  of  a  church,  and  higher 
still  were  the  triangular  constellation  of  the  Charioteer 
and  the  bright  yellow  Capella.  He  breathed  in  the 
cold  air  which  filled  his  room,  and  looked  now  at  the 
cross,  now  at  the  stars,  rising  as  in  a  dream  among 
the  figures  and  memories  called  up  by  his  imagination. 

Toward  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  heard  footsteps 
in  the  corridor ;  he  opened  his  door,  and  saw  a  gambler 
named  Miaskin,  whom  he  knew,  returning  from  his  club. 
He  walked  along,  coughing,  gloomy,  and  scowling. 

"  Poor,  unfortunate  fellow !  "  thought  Levin,  and  his 
eyes  filled  with  tears  of  pity  and  love  for  that  man.  He 
wanted  to  stop  him,  to  speak  to  him,  and  console  him ; 
but,  remembering  that  he  was  undressed,  he  thought 
better  of  it,  went  back,  and  sat  down  to  bathe  himself  in 
the  icy  air,  and  to  look  at  the  silent,  foreign-looking 
cross,  so  full  of  meaning  to  him,  and  at  the  brilliant, 
yellow  star  poised  above  it. 

Toward  seven  o'clock  the  men  polishing  the  floors 
began  to  make  a  noise,  the  bells  rang  for  early  morning 
service,  and  Levin  began  to  feel  that  he  was  taking  cold. 
He  closed  the  window,  made  his  toilet,  and  went  out. 


»ia  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER  XV 

The  streets  were  still  deserted.  Levin  walked  to  the 
Shcherbatskys'  house.  The  principal  entrance  was  still 
closed,  and  every  one  was  asleep. 

He  returned  to  the  hotel,  went  to  his  room,  and  asked 
for  coffee.  The  day  watchman,  and  not  Yegor,  brought 
it  to  him.  Levin  wished  to  enter  into  conversation 
with  him  ;  but  some  one  rang  for  him,  and  he  went  out. 

Then  Levin  tried  to  take  his  coffee,  and  put  a  piece 
of  kalatch  into  his  mouth,  but  his  mouth  did  not  know 
what  to  do  with  the  bread !  He  eschewed  it  and  put 
on  his  overcoat,  and  went  out  to  walk  again.  It  was  just 
ten  o'clock  when  he  reached  the  Shcherbatskys'  steps 
for  the  second  time.  They  were  beginning  to  get  up ; 
the  cook  was  going  to  market.  He  would  have  to  wait 
at  least  two  hours  longer. 

Levin  had  passed  the  whole  night  and  the  morning 
completely  oblivious  of  the  material  conditions  of  exist- 
ence: he  had  neither  eaten  nor  slept;  had  been  exposed, 
with  almost  no  clothing,  to  the  cold  for  several  hours  ; 
and  he  not  only  was  fresh  and  hearty,  but  he  was  uncon- 
scious of  his  body;  he  moved  without  using  his  muscles, 
and  felt  capable  of  doing  anything.  He  was  persuaded 
that  he  could  fly  through  the  air  or  jump  over  the  top 
of  a  house  if  it  were  necessary.  He  roamed  about  the 
streets  to  pass  away  the  time,  consulting  his  watch  every 
moment  or  two,  and  looking  about  him. 

What  he  saw  that  day  he  never  saw  again.  He  was 
particularly  struck  by  the  children  on  their  way  to  school ; 
the  dark  blue  pigeons  flying  from  the  roof  to  the  side- 
walk ;  the  sa'ikas  or  little  cakes  powdered  with  flour 
that  an  invisible  hand  was  arranging  in  a  window. 
These  cakes,  these  pigeons,  and  two  little  lads  were 
celestial  objects.  All  this  happened  at  once ;  one 
of  the  little  lads  ran  toward  a  pigeon,  and  looked  at 
Levin,  smiling ;  the  pigeon  flapped  its  wings,  and  flew 
off  glittering  in  the  sunlight  through  a  cloud  of  fine 
snow;  and  the  smell  of  hot  bread  came  through   the 


ANNA    KARENINA  219 

window  where  the  safkas  were  displayed.  All  these 
things,  taken  as  a  whole,  produced  so  lively  an  impres- 
sion on  Levin  that  he  laughed  aloud  until  the  tears 
came.  After  going  around  by  the  Gazetnaya  and  Kis- 
lovka  streets,  he  went  back  to  the  hotel,  sat  down, 
placed  his  watch  before  him,  and  waited  till  the  hands 
pointed  to  the  hour  of  noon. 

In  the  next  room  some  one  was  talking  about  ma- 
chines and  hoaxes,  and  some  one  coughed  a  morning 
cough.     The  person  did  not  know  that  the  hour  hand/ 
was  approaching  twelve. 

The  hour  pointed  to  twelve.  Levin  went  to  the  steps 
of  the  hotel.  The  izvoshchiks  evidently  knew  all  about 
it.  With  happy  faces  they  surrounded  him,  with  eager 
emulation  offering  their  services;  striving  not  to  offend 
the  others  and  promising  to  take  them  some  other  time, 
he  made  his  choice  and  ordered  the  man  to  drive  to 
the  Shcherbatskys'.  The  izvoshchik  was  charming, 
with  his  white  shirt-collar  above  his  kaftan  surrounding 
his  strong,  red  neck.  He  had  a  comfortable  sleigh, 
more  comfortable  than  ordinary  sleighs,  —  such  a  sleigh 
as  Levin  had  never  seen  before,  and  the  horse  was 
good,  and  did  his  best  to  run,  but  did  not  stir  from  the 
spot !  The  izvoshchik  knew  the  Shcherbatsky  house ; 
he  stopped  before  the  door  flourishing  his  arms,  and 
turned  respectfully  toward  Levin,  saying  "  tprru  "  to 
his  horse. 

The  Shcherbatskys'  Swiss  knew  all  about  it,  surely  ; 
that  was  plain  from  the  look  in  his  eyes  and  the  way  he 
said  :  — 

"  Well !  it  is  a  long  time  since  you  have  been  here, 
Konstantin  Dmitritch." 

Not  only  did  he  know  what  had  happened,  but  he 
was  full  of  delight,  and  tried  to  conceal  his  joy.  Levin 
felt  a  shade  happier  when  he  caught  the  old  man's  good- 
natured  eyes. 

"  Are  they  up  .?  " 

"  Please  come  in.  Leave  that  here,"  added  the  Swiss 
as  Levin  was  turning  back  to  get  his  cap.  That  surely 
had  some  significance. 


aao  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  To  whom  shall  I  announce  you,  sir  ? "  asked  a 
jackey. 

This  lackey,  though  young,  new  in  the  house,  and 
with  some  pretension  to  elegance,  was  very  obliging, 
very  attentive,  and  he,  too,  seemed  to  understand  the 
situation. 

"  To  the  princess  ....  I  mean  the  prince ....  no,  the 
young  princess,"  ^  replied  Levin. 

The  first  person  whom  he  met  was  Mademoiselle 
-Linon.  She  was  passing  through  the  "hall,"  radiant 
in  her  little  curls  and  her  shining  face.  He  had  hardly 
spoken  to  her  when  the  rustling  of  a  dress  was  heard 
at  the  door.  Mademoiselle  Linon  disappeared  from 
before  his  eyes,  and  a  joyous  trepidation  at  the  thought 
of  the  happiness  so  near  took  possession  of  him.  Made- 
moiselle Linon  hastened  away  and  vanished  through 
another  door.  She  had  hardly  gone  when  swift  light 
steps  were  heard  pattering  on  the  inlaid  floor,  and 
his  happiness,  his  life,  the  better  part  of  himself,  that 
which  he  had  yearned  for  so  long,  drew  near.  She  did 
not  walk ;  some  invisible  power  seemed  to  bring  her 
toward  him. 

He  saw  only  her  bright,  truthful  eyes,  filled  with  the 
same  timid  joy  of  love  that  filled  his  own  heart.  These 
eyes,  shining  nearer  and  nearer  to  him,  almost  blinded 
him  with  their  light  of  |ove. 

She  stood  before  him,  almost  touching  him ;  then  she 
placed  her  two  hands  gently  on  his  shoulders. 

She  did  all  that  she  could  :  she  went  to  him ;  she 
gave  herself  to  him,  trembling  and  happy.  He  folded 
her  in  his  arms,  and  pressed  his  lips  to  hers,  expectant 
of  his  kiss. 

She,  too,  had  not  slept  at  all  that  night,  and  she  had 
been  waiting  for  him  all  the  morning. 

Her  parents  were  perfectly  agreed,  and  happy  in  her 
happiness.     She  had  been  on  the  watch  for  his  coming. 

*  Knyaginya,  knyaz\  knyazhna.  Knyaginya  is  the  Russian  title  of  a 
married  princess  ;  it  also  means  in  popular  usage  a  bride,  as  knya^ 
means  prince  and  bridegroom  ;  knyazhna  is  applied  to  an  unmarried 
princess. 


ANNA    KARENINA  221 

She  wanted  to  be  the  first  to  tell  him  of  their  happiness. 
She  was  prepared  to  meet  him  alone,  and  she  was  full 
of  joy  at  the  thought,  and  yet  she  was  shy  and  con- 
fused, and  hardly  knew  what  she  was  going  to  do.  She 
had  heard  his  steps  and  voice,  and  hid  herself  behind  the 
door  to  wait  till  Mademoiselle  Linon  had  gone.  Made- 
moiselle Linon  went.  Then  without  any  delay,  without 
questioning  further,  she  came  to  him  and  did  as  she  did. 

"  Now,  let  us  find  mamma,"  said  she,  taking  his  hand. 

For  a  long  time  he  could  not  utter  a  word,  not  so 
much  because  he  was  afraid  of  lessening  the  intensity 
of  his  joy  by  words,  but  because  every  time  he  tried  to 
say  anything  he  felt  that  instead  of  words,  tears  of  joy 
burst  forth  ;  his  tears  choked  him.  He  took  her  hand, 
and  kissed  it. 

"  Is  it  really  true  ? "  he  said  at  last  in  a  husky  voice. 
"  I  cannot  believe  that  you  love  me." 

She  smiled  at  the  way  he  used  the  second  person 
singular,  and  at  the  timidity  with  which  he  looked  at 
her. 

"Yes,"  she  replied,  slowly  lingering  on  this  word. 
" I  am  so  happy  !  " 

Without  letting  go  his  hand,  she  went  with  him  into 
the  drawing-room.  As  soon  as  the  princess  saw  them, 
she  began  to  breathe  fast  and  then  she  burst  into  tears, 
and  then  she  laughed,  and  with  an  energetic  movement 
which  Levin  was  not  prepared  for  she  ran  to  him,  seized 
his  head,  and  kissed  him,  bedewing  his  face  with  her 
tears. 

"  So  all  is  settled  ?  I  am  delighted.  Love  her.  I 
am  so  glad  ....  for  you  ....  Kitty  !  " 

"  It  did  n't  take  you  long  to  arrange  matters,"  said  the 
old  prince,  trying  to  appear  calm  ;  but  Levin  saw  his 
eyes  were  full  with  tears,  as  he  looked  at  him. 

"  It  is  something  I  have  long  been  anxious  for," 
said  the  prince,  taking  Levin's  hand  and  drawing  him 
toward  him.  "  And  even  when  this  little  giddy-pate 
thought ....  " 

"  Papa ! "  cried  Kitty,  putting  her  hand  over  his 
mouth. 


122  ANNA    KARENINA 

"Well,  I  won't  say  anything,"  said  he.  "I  am  very 
....  very  ....  hap  ....  Akh  !  how  stupid  I  am  !  " 

And  he  took  Kitty  in  his  arms,  kissed  her  face,  her 
hands,  and  then  her  face  again,  blessing  her  with  the 
sign  of  the  cross. 

And  Levin  was  filled  by  a  new  feeling  of  affection 
for  the  old  prince  when  he  saw  how  tenderly  and  fer- 
vently Kitty  kissed  his  great,  strong  hand. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

The  princess  was  sitting  in  her  easy-chair,  silent  and 
beaming  ;  the  prince  was  sitting  beside  her  ;  Kitty  was 
standing  near  her  father,  holding  his  hand.  AH  of 
them  were  silent. 

The  princess  was  the  first  to  bring  their  thoughts  and 
feelings  back  to  the  affairs  of  real  life ;  and  the  transi- 
tion gave  each  of  them,  for  a  moment,  a  strange  and 
painful  impression. 

"  When  shall  the  wedding  be  .-*  We  must  announce 
the  marriage,  and  have  them  betrothed.  But  when 
shall  the  wedding  be .-'  What  do  you  think  about  it, 
Aleksandr } " 

"  There  is  the  person  most  interested,"  said  the  prince, 
pointing  to  Levin. 

"  When  ?  "  replied  the  latter,  reddening.  "  To-mor- 
row !  If  you  wish  my  opinion  ;  to-day,  the  betrothal ; 
to-morrow,  the  wedding." 

"There,  there,  that'll  do,  mo7i  cher ;  no  nonsense!  " 

"  Well,  in  a  week,  then." 

"  One  would  really  suppose  that  you  had  lost  your 
senses." 

"  But  why  not .? " 

"  Mercy  on  us  !  "  said  the  mother,  smiling  gayly  at  his 
impatience.     "And  the  trousseau  f 

"Is  it  possible  that  a  troiissean  and  all  the  rest  are  in- 
dispensable.''" thought  Levin,  with  alarm.  "However, 
neither  the  trousseau,  nor  the  betrothal,  nor  anything 
else,  can  spoil  my  happiness  !     Nothing  can  do  that !  " 


ANNA    KARENINA  223 

He  looked  at  Kitty,  and  noticed  that  the  idea  of  the 
trousseau  did  not  offend  her  at  all.  "  It  must  be  very 
necessary,"  he  said  to  himself.  "  I  admit  that  I  know 
nothing  about  it.  I  have  merely  expressed  my  desire," 
said  he,  excusing  himself. 

"  We  will  consider  the  matter ;  now  we  will  have  the 
betrothal,  and  announce  the  marriage.  That  is  what 
we  will  do." 

The  princess  stepped  up  to  her  husband,  kissed  him, 
and  was  about  to  move  away  again ;  but  he  held  her, 
and  kissed  her  again  and  again,  like  a  young  lover. 
The  two  old  people  seemed  agitated,  and  ready  to  be- 
lieve that  it  was  not  their  daughter  who  was  to  be  mar- 
ried, but  them.selves. 

When  the  prince  and  princess  had  gone  out.  Levin 
approached  his  fiancee,  and  took  her  hand  ;  he  had  re- 
gained his  self-possession,  and  could  speak ;  he  had 
many  other  things  on  his  mind  to  tell  her,  but  he  did 
not  say  at  all  what  he  intended  to  say. 

"  I  knew  that  it  would  be  like  this ;  at  the  bottom  of 
my  heart  I  was  sure  of  it,  without  ever  daring  to  hope. 
I  believe  that  it  was  predestined." 

"  And  I,"  replied  Kitty,  "  even  when,"  —  she  hesi- 
tated, then  continued,  looking  at  him  resolutely  out  of 
her  sincere  eyes,  — "  even  when  I  rejected  my  happi- 
ness. I  never  loved  anybody  but  you ;  I  was  led  away. 
I  ought  to  tell  you ....  I  must  ask  you,  can  you  for- 
get it .?  " 

"  Perhaps  it  was  best  that  it  should  be  so.  You,  too, 
will  have  to  pardon  me,  for  I  must  confess  to  you." .... 

This  was  one  of  the  things  he  had  on  his  mind  to  tell 
her.  He  had  decided  to  confess  everything  to  her,  from 
his  earliest  life, — first,  that  he  was  not  so  pure  as  she, 
and  then  that  he  was  not  a  believer.  This  was  cruel, 
but  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  make  these  confessions  to 
her. 

"  No,  not  now  ;  later,"  said  he. 

"  Very  well,  later,  but  be  sure  to  tell  me.  I  am  not 
afraid  of  anything.  I  want  to  know  all,  everything, 
now  it  is  decided  1  " 


224  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Is  it  decided,"  he  interrupted,  "  that  you  take  me 
just  as  I  am  ?  you  do  not  take  back  your  word  !  " 

"No,  oh,  no!  " 

Their  conversation  was  interrupted  by  Mademoiselle 
Linon,  who,  trying  to  look  properly  serious,  came  to 
congratulate  her  favorite  pupil.  She  had  not  left  the 
drawing-room  before  the  servants  came  to  offer  their 
congratulations.  Next  came  the  relatives  and  friends ; 
and  this  was  the  beginning  of  that  absurdly  happy 
period,  from  which  Levin  did  not  emerge  till  the  day 
after  his  marriage. 

Although  he  felt  constrained  and  ill  at  ease  all  the 
time,  yet  the  force  of  his  happiness  kept  increasing. 
He  felt  all  the  time  that  much  which  he  knew  nothing 
about  would  be  required  of  him,  and  he  did  everything 
that  he  was  told  to  do,  and  all  this  served  to  increase 
his  joy.  He  imagined  that  his  engagement  would  not 
be  in  the  least  like  others ;  that  the  ordinary  conditions 
of  an  engagement  would  destroy  his  especial  happiness. 
But  it  came  about  that  he  did  exactly  as  everybody 
else  did  in  such  cases,  and  his  happiness  for  this  very 
reason  kept  increasing  and  grew  more  and  more  peculiar 
and  did  not  change,  and  was  in  no  respect  like  that  of 
other  men. 

"  Now,"  said  Mademoiselle  Linon,  "  we  shall  have  all 
the  candy  we  wish  for ; "  and  Levin  ran  to  buy  candy. 

"Well,  very  glad!"  said  Sviazhsky.  "I  advise  you 
to  get  your  bouquets  at  Fomin's." 

"  Do  you  .-*  "  said  Levin  ;  and  he  went  to  Fomin's. 

His  brother  told  him  he  would  have  to  borrow  money, 
because  there  would  be  many  expenses  for  presents  and 
other  things. 

"  For  presents .-'  Really .-""  and  he  started  off  on  the 
run  to  buy  jewelry  at  Fulda's. 

At  the  confectioner's,  at  Fomin's,  at  Fulda's,  he 
found  that  every  one  expected  him,  and  every  one 
seemed  glad  and  rejoiced  in  his  happiness,  as  did  every 
one  with  whom  he  had  to  do  those  days.  It  was  an 
extraordinary  thing  that  not  only  did  they  all  love  him, 
but,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  even  those  who  before  had 


ANNA    KARENINA  225 

seemed  cold,  unsympathetic,  and  indifferent  approved 
of  him  in  every  way,  treated  his  feeUngs  with  delicacy 
and  gentleness,  and  shared  his  convictions  that  he  was 
the  happiest  man  in  the  world,  because  his  "  bride  "  was 
the  pink  of  perfection. 

Kitty  also  had  the  same  feeling. 

When  the  Countess  Nordstone  alluded  to  the  more 
briUiant  hopes  that  she  had  conceived  for  her  friend, 
Kitty  became  angry,  and  declared  so  vehemently  that 
no  one  in  the  world  could  be  better  than  Levin,  that  the 
countess  had  to  confess  it,  and  when  Kitty  was  present 
she  never  met  Levin  without  smiling  enthusiastically. 

The  confession  which  he  had  promised  was  a  very 
trying  incident  of  this  period.  He  consulted  the  old 
prince,  and,  acting  on  his  advice.  Levin  gave  Kitty  his 
journal  in  which  were  written  out  all  the  matters 
that  troubled  him.  He  had  written  this  diary  pur- 
posely to  show  to  the  one  whom  he  should  marry. 
Two  things  tormented  him :  his  sins  against  virtue  and 
his  unbelief. 

The  confession  of  his  unbelief  passed  almost  un- 
noticed. She  was  religious  and  had  never  doubted  the 
truths  of  her  religion,  but  her  lover's  superficial  skepti- 
cism did  not  trouble  her  very  much.  She  knew  through 
love  his  whole  soul  and  in  his  soul  she  found  all  that 
she  wanted.  It  was  of  little  importance  to  her  that 
he  termed  the  state  of  his  soul  incredulity.  But  the 
second  acknowledgment  caused  her  to  shed  bitter  tears. 

Levin  had  a  great  struggle  with  himself  before  he 
decided  to  let  her  read  his  diary.  He  knew  that  be- 
tween him  and  her  there  could  be  and  should  be  no 
secrets,  and  therefore  he  resolved  that  he  must  do  it; 
but  he  did  not  realize  what  an  effect  it  would  have  on  a 
young  girl. 

Only  when,  as  he  entered  Kitty's  room  one  evening 
before  going  to  the  theater,  and  saw  her  lovely  face 
bathed  in  tears  and  unhappy  with  the  irreparable  woe 
that  he  had  caused,  did  he  perceive  the  abyss  that  sepa- 
rated his  shameful  past  from  her  dovelike  purity,  and 
he  was  horror-stricken  at  what  he  had  done. 
VOL.  II.  — 15 


226  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Take  back  these  terrible  papers,  take  them  back  !  " 
she  said,  pushing  away  the  sheets  lying  on  the  table. 
"  Why  did  you  give  them  to  me  ?  However,  perhaps 
it  was  for  the  best,"  she  added,  seized  with  pity  at  the 
sight  of  Levin's  despairing  face.  "  But  it  is  terrible, 
terrible!" 

He  hung  his  head,  and  had  nothing  to  say. 
I'f'iYou  will  not  forgive  me  !  "  he  murmured. 
js.ff  Yes,  I  have  forgiven  you  ;  but  it  is  terrible  !  " 

However,  his  happiness  was  so  immense  that  this  con- 
fession did  not  diminish  it,  but  only  served  to  add  a 
shade  more  to  it.  She  forgave  him.  From  that  time 
he  counted  himself  still  more  unworthy  of  her;  morally, 
he  bowed  down  still  lower  before  her  and  treasured  the 
happiness  that  he  had  gained  still  higher.  He  under- 
stood the  worth  of  it  still  better  after  this  pardon. 


CHAPTER  XVn 

When  he  returned  to  his  lonely  room,  Alekseif  Alek- 
sandrovitch  involuntarily  recalled,  little  by  little,  the  con- 
versations that  had  taken  place  at  the  dinner  and  in  the 
evening.  Darya  Aleksandrovna's  words  about  pardon 
merely  aroused  his  vexation.  Whether  he  should  apply 
the  Christian  rule  to  his  case  or  not,  was  a  question  too 
difficult  to  be  lightly  decided ;  besides,  he  had  already 
considered  this  question,  and  decided  it  in  the  negative. 
Of  all  that  had  been  said  that  day,  the  remark  of  that 
good  stupid  Turovtsuin  had  made  the  liveliest  impression 
on  his  mind  :  — 

He  did  bravely,  for  he  challenged  the  other  man  and 
killed  him. 

Evidently  all  approved  this  conduct ;  although  out  of 
pohteness  they  had  not  said  so  openly. 

"  However,  this  matter  is  ended  ;  it  is  useless  to  think 
about  it,"  said  Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch  to  himself  ;  and 
giving  no  more  thought  to  anything  except  the  prepara- 
tions for  his  departure  and  his  tour  of  inspection,  he 
went  to  his  room  and  asked  of  the  Swiss  who  showed 


ANNA   KARENINA  227 

him  the  way  if  he  had  seen  his  valet.  The  Swiss  said 
his  valet  had  only  just  gone  out.  Aleksef  Aleksandro- 
vitch  ordered  tea  to  be  brought,  and  sitting  down  at  the 
table  opened  a  railway  guide  and  began  to  study  the 
departure  of  trains  for  his  journey. 

"  Two  telegrams,"  said  his  valet,  returning  and  coming 
into  the  room.  "Will  your  Excellency  please  excuse 
me,  I  have  only  just  stepped  out.-*" 

Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  took  the  telegrams  and 
opened  them;  the  first  announced  the  nomination  of 
Stremof  to  the  place  for  which  he  had  been  ambitious. 

AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch  threw  down  the  despatch, 
and  with  a  flushed  face  began  to  walk  back  and  forth 
through  the  room. 

"  Qiios  vult perdcTe  dementat,''  said  he,  applying  quos 
to  all  those  who  had  taken  part  in  this  nomination.  He 
was  not  disturbed  by  the  fact  that  he  himself  had  not 
been  nominated,  that  he  had  evidently  been  outwitted ; 
but  it  was  incomprehensible  to  him  —  amazing  —  that  they 
could  not  see  that  Stremof,  that  babbler,  that  speechifier, 
was  the  least  fitted  of  all  men  for  the  place.  Could  they 
not  understand  that  they  were  ruining  themselves,  that 
they  were  destroying  their  prestige,  by  such  a  choice } 

"  Some  more  news  of  the  same  sort,"  he  thought  with 
bitterness  as  he  opened  the  second  telegram.  It  was 
from  his  wife ;  her  name,  "  Anna,"  in  blue  pencil,  was 
the  first  thing  that  struck  his  eyes. 

I  am  dying.  I  beg  you  to  come ;  I  shall  die  easier  if  I 
have  your  forgiveness. 

He  read  these  words  with  scorn,  and  threw  the  paper 
on  the  floor. 

That  there  was  some  piece  of  trickery,  some  decep- 
tion, in  this,  admitted  of  no  doubt  in  his  mind  at  first 
thought. 

"  There  is  no  deceitfulness  of  which  she  is  not  capable. 
She  must  be  on  the  eve  of  her  confinement,  and  it  is 
her  sickness.  But  what  can  be  her  object .''  To  legalize 
the  child  t  to  compromise  me .-'  to  prevent  the  divorce .'' 
But  what  does  it  mean,  '  I  am  dying  '  .<*  " 


228  ANNA   KARENINA 

He  re-read  the  telegram,  and  suddenly  realized  its  full 
meaning. 

"  If  it  is  true,  —  if  the  suffering,  the  approach  of  death, 
have  caused  her  to  repent  sincerely,  and  if  I  should  call 
this  pretense,  and  refuse  to  go  to  her,  that  would  not 
only  be  cruel,  but  foolish,  and  all  would  blame  me." 

"  Piotr,  order  a  carriage  ;  I  am  going  to  Petersburg ! ' 
said  he  to  the  valet. 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  decided  to  go  to  Petersburg 
and  to  see  his  wife.  If  her  illness  was  a  pretense,  he 
would  say  nothing  and  go  away  again;  on  the  other 
hand,  if  she  were  really  ill  unto  death,  and  wanted  to 
see  him  before  she  died,  he  would  forgive  her ;  and,  if 
he  reached  her  too  late,  he  could  at  least  pay  his  last 
respects  to  her. 

During  the  journey  he  gave  no  more  thought  of  what 
he  should  do. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  tired  and  dusty  with  his 
night  in  the  coach,  reached  Petersburg  in  the  mist  of 
the  early  morning.  He  rode  along  the  still  deserted 
Nevsky  Prospekt,-  looking  straight  before  him,  without 
thinking  of  what  was  awaiting  him  at  home.  He  could 
not  think  about  it,  because  as  soon  as  he  tried  to  imagine 
what  might  be,  he  could  not  drive  away  the  suggestion 
that  his  wife's  death  would  put  a  sudden  end  to  all  diffi- 
culties of  his  situation. 

The  bakers,  the  closed  shops,  the  night  izvoshchiks, 
the  dvorniks  sweeping  the  sidewalks,  —  all  passed  like 
a  flash  before  his  eyes ;  he  noticed  everything,  in  his 
endeavors  to  stifle  the  thought  of  what  was  before  him 
—  of  what  he  dared  not  hope  for  and  yet  hoped  for. 

He  reached  his  house  ;  an  izvoshchik  and  a  carriage 
with  a  coachman  asleep  were  standing  before  the  door. 

As  he  entered  the  vestibule  Alekse'f  Aleksandrovitch, 

as  it  were,  snatched  at  a  decision  from  the  most  hidden 

recess  of  his  brain,  and  succeeded  in  mastering  it.     It 

was  to  this  effect :  "  If  she  has  deceived  me,  I  will  be 

,.       calm  and  go  away  again ;  but  if  she  has  told  the  truth, 

^        I  will  do  what  is  proper." 

The  Swiss  opened  the  door  even  before  Alekself  Alek- 


ANNA    KARENINA  229 

sandrovitch  rang  the  bell ;  the  Swiss  Petrof,  known  as 
Kapitonuitch,  presented  a  strange  appearance,  dressed 
in  an  old  coat  and  slippers  without  any  cravat. 

"  How  is  the  baruinya  ?  " 

"  In  the  night  there  was  a  change  for  the  better." 

Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  stopped  short  and  turned 
very  pale;  he  now  realized  how  deeply  he  had  hoped 
for  her  death. 

"  And  how  is  she  ?  " 

Karnei,  the  servant  in  morning  dress,  came  quickly 
down  the  stairs. 

"  Very  low,"  he  said.  "  There  was  a  consultation 
yesterday,  and  the  doctor  is  here  now." 

"Take  my  things,"  said  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  a 
little  comforted  to  learn  that  there  was  still  hope  of 
death  ;  and  he  went  into  the  reception-room. 

A  uniform  overcoat  hung  in  the  hall.  Aleksef  Alek- 
sandrovitch noticed  it,  and  asked  :  — 

"  Who  is  here  ?  " 

"The  doctor,  the  nurse,  and  Count  Vronsky." 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  went  through  the  inner 
rooms.  There  was  no  one  in  the  drawing-room ;  but 
the  sound  of  his  steps  brought  the  nurse,  in  a  cap  with 
lilac  ribbons,  out  of  the  boudoir. 

She  came  to  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch,  and,  taking 
him  by  the  hand,,  with  the  familiarity  that  the  approach 
of  death  permits,  led  him  into  the  sleeping-room. 

"  Thank  the  Lord  that  you  have  come  !  She  talks  of 
nothing  but  you  ;  always  of  you,"  she  said. 

"  Bring  some  ice  quick  !  "  said  the  imperative  voice 
of  the  doctor  from  the  chamber. 

Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  went  into  her  boudoir.  On 
a  little  low  chair  by  her  table,  sat  Vronsky  weeping,  his 
face  covered  with  his  hands.  He  started  at  the  sound 
of  the  doctor's  voice,  uncovered  his  face,  and  saw  Alekse'f 
Aleksandrovitch.  The  sight  of  the  husband  disturbed 
him  so  much  that  he  sat  back  in  his  chair,  crouching 
his  head  down  between  his  shoulders  as  if  he  wanted  to 
disappear  out  of  sight ;  then,  making  a  great  effort,  he 
rose  and  said  :  — 


230  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  She  is  dying ;  the  doctors  say  that  there  is  no  hope 
I  am  in  your  power.  Only  allow  me  to  remain  here. 
....  I  will  conform  to  your  wishes  in  every  other  re- 
spect.    I  ....  " 

When  he  saw  Vronsky  in  tears,  Aleksel  Aleksandro- 
vitch  felt  the  involuntary  tenderness  that  the  sufferings 
of  others  always  caused  him ;  he  turned  away  his  head 
without  replying,  and  went  to  the  door. 

Anna's  voice  could  be  heard  from  the  sleeping-room, 
lively,  gay,  and  with  clear  intonations. 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  went  in  and  approached  her 
bed.  She  was  lying  with  her  face  turned  toward  him. 
Her  cheeks  were  bright  red,  her  eyes  brilliant ;  her  lit- 
tle white  hands,  coming  out  of  the  sleeves  of  her  night- 
dress, were  playing  with  the  corner  of  the  coverlet. 
Not  only  did  she  seem  fresh  and  well,  but  in  the  hap- 
piest frame  of  mind  ;  she  talked  fast  and  loud,  accenting 
her  words  with  precision  and  nicety. 

**  Because  Aleksei"  —  I  am  speaking  of  AlekseT  Alek- 
sandrovitch—  strange,  is  n't  it,  and  cruel,  that  both  should 
be  named  Aleksef .''  —  Aleksei  would  not  have  refused 
me ;  I  should  have  forgotten ;  he  would  have  forgiven. 
....Yes!    why   does    he   not   come.-*      He  is   good;    he 

himself  does  not  know  how  good  he  is Akh  !     Bozhe 

moY !  what  agony  !  Give  me  some  water,  quick  !  Akh  ! 
but  that  is  not  good  for  her,  ....  my  little  daughter. 
Well !  then,  very  good ;  give  her  to  the  nurse.  I  am 
willing ;  that  will  be  even  better.  Now  when  he  comes, 
she  will  be  hateful  in  his  sight ;  take  her  away." 

"  Anna  Arkady evna,  he  has  come ;  here  he  is,"  said 
the  nurse,  trying  to  draw  her  attention  to  Aleksef  Alek- 
sandrovitch. 

"  Oh,  what  nonsense  !  "  continued  Anna,  without  see- 
ing her  husband.  "  There !  give  the  little  one  to  me, 
give  her  to  me !  He  has  n't  come  yet.  You  pretend 
that  he  will  not  forgive  me  because  you  do  not  know 
him.  No  one  knows  him,  I  alone....  His  eyes,  one 
must  know  them.  Serozha's  are  very  like  them;  that 
is  why  I  can  no  longer  look  at  them.  Has  Serozha  had 
his  dinner  ?     I  know  he  will  be  forgotten.     Oh,  do  not 


ANNA   KARENINA  431 

forget  him !  Let  Serozha  be  brought  into  the  corner- 
chamber,  and  let  Mariette  sleep  near  him." 

Suddenly  she  shrank  back  and  was  silent ;  and,  with 
a  look  of  terror,  raised  her  arms  above  her  head  as 
if  to  ward  off  a  blow.  She  had  recognized  her  hus- 
band. 

"  No,  no,"  she  said  quickly,  "I  am  not  afraid  of  him ; 
I  am  afraid  of  dying.  Aleksef,  come  here.  I  am  in  a 
hurry,  because  there  is  no  time  to  be  lost.  I  have  only 
a  few  minutes  to  live ;  the  fever  will  be  upon  me  again, 
and  I  shall  know  nothing  more.  Now  I  am  conscious ; 
I  understand  everything  and  I  see  everything." 

AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch's  wrinkled  face  expressed 
acute  suffering ;  he  took  her  hand,  and  he  wanted  to 
speak,  but  his  lower  lip  trembled  so  that  he  could  not 
utter  a  word,  and  his  emotion  hardly  allowed  him  to 
glance  at  the  dying  woman.  Every  time  that  he  turned 
his  head  toward  her,  he  saw  her  eyes  fixed  on  him  with 
a  humility  and  enthusiastic  affection  which  he  had  never 
seen  there  before. 

"  Wait !    you   do   not   know Wait,    wait !  "  ....  She 

stopped  to  collect  her  thoughts.  "Yes,"  she  began 
again,  "yes,  yes,  yes,  this  is  what  I  want  to  say.  Do 
not  be  astonished.  I  am  always  the  same  ....  but  there 
is  another  I  within  me,  her  I  fear :  it  is  she  who  loved 
him,  him,  and  hated  you ;  and  I  could  not  forget  what 
I  had  once  been.  That  was  not  I !  Now  I  am  myself, 
entirely,  really  myself,  and  not  another.  I  am  dying,  I 
know  that  I  am  dying ;  ask  him  if  I  am  hot.  I  feel  it 
now ;  there  are  those  terrible  weights  on  my  hand  and 

my  feet  and  on  my  fingers My  fingers !    they  are 

enormous,  but  all  that  will  soon  be  over One  thing 

only  is  indispensable  to  me :  forgive  me,  forgive  me 
wholly !  I  am  a  sinner ;  but  Serozha's  nurse  told  me 
that  there  was  a  holy  martyr  —  what  was  her  name  .^  — 
who  was  worse  than  I.  I  will  go  to  Rome ;  there  is  a 
desert  there.     I  shall  not  trouble  anybody  there.     I  will. 

only  take  Serozha  and  my  little   daughter No,  you 

cannot  forgive  me;  I  know  very  well  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble.    Go  away,  go  away  !  you  are  too  perfect!  " 


231  ANNA    KARENINA 

She  held  him  with  one  of  her  burning  hands,  and 
pushed  him  away  with  the  other. 

AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch's  emotion  ^  had  been  all  the 
time  increasing,  and  now  it  reached  such  a  degree  that 
he  could  no  longer  control  himself.  He  suddenly  felt 
that  what  he  had  considered  his  spiritual  discord  was, 
on  the  contrary,  a  blessed  state  of  the  soul  which  im- 
parted to  him  what  seemed  like  a  new  and  hitherto 
unknown  happiness.  He  had  not  believed  that  the 
Christian  law,  which  he  had  taken  for  a  guide  in  life, 
ordered  him  to  forgive  and  love  his  enemies ;  but  now 
his  soul  was  filled  with  joyous  love  and  forgiveness  to 
his  enemies.  He  knelt  beside  the  bed,  he  laid  his  fore- 
head on  her  arm,  the  fever  of  which  burned  through 
the  sleeve,  and  sobbed  like  a  child.  She  bent  toward 
him,  placed  her  arm  around  her  husband's  bald  head, 
and  raised  her  eyes  defiantly  and  proudly. 

"  There,  I  knew  that  it  would  be  so.  Now  farewell, 
farewell  all!....  They  are  coming  back  again.  Why 
don't  they  go  away  .>'....  There!  take  off  all  these  furs 
from  me  ! " 

The  doctor  disengaged  her  arms,  laid  her  back  gently 
on  her  pillows,  and  drew  the  covering  over  her.  Anna 
made  no  resistance,  looking  all  the  while  straight  before 
her,  with  shining  eyes. 

"  Remember  that  I  have  only  asked  your  pardon ;  I 

ask  nothing  more Why  does  n't /^^  come  .-^ "  she  said, 

suddenly  looking  toward  the  door,  toward  Vronsky. 
"Come!  come  here,  and  give  him  your  hand." 

Vronsky  came  to  the  side  of  the  bed,  and,  when  he 
saw  Anna,  he  hid  his  face  in  his  hands  again. 

"  Uncover  your  face ;  look  at  him,  he  is  a  saint,"  said 
she.  "Yes,  uncover  your  face  !  look  at  him!  "  she  re- 
peated in  an  irritated  manner.  "Alekseif  Aleksandro- 
vitch,  uncover  his  face;  I  want  to  see  him." 

Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  took  Vronsky's  hands  and 
uncovered  his  face,  disfigured  by  the  expression  of  suf- 
fering and  humiliation  which  it  wore. 

"  Give  him  your  hand  ;  forgive  him." 

^  Dushevnoye  razstroyetstvo,  spiritual  derangement  or  discord. 


ANNA    KARENINA  233 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  held  out  his  hand  to  him, 
without  trying  to  keep  back  the  tears. 

"Thank  the  Lord!  thank  the  Lord!  "  said  she;  "now 
everything  is  right.  I  will  stretch  out  my  feet  a  little, 
like  that ;  that  is  better.  How  ugly  those  flowers  are ! 
they  do  not  look  like  violets,"  she  said,  pointing  to  the 
hangings  in  her  room.  "  Bozhe  moif !  Bozhe  mpi !  when 
will  this  be  over.^  Give  me  some  morphine,  doctor; 
some  morphine.     Bozhe  mof !  Bozhe  mol !  " 

And  she  tossed  about  on  the  bed. 

The  doctors  said  that  this  was  puerperal  fever  and 
that  there  was  not  one  chance  in  a  hundred  of  her  liv- 
ing. All  that  day  there  was  fever,  with  alleviations  of 
delirium  and  unconsciousness.  Toward  midnight  she 
lay  unconscious  and  her  heart  had  almost  ceased  to 
beat. 

The  end  was  expected  every  moment. 

Vronsky  went  home,  but  he  came  back  the  next 
morning  to  learn  how  she  was.  Aleksef  Aleksandro- 
vitch came  to  meet  him  in  the  reception-room,  and  said 
to  him,  "Stay;  perhaps  she  will  ask  for  you."  Then 
he  himself  took  him  to  his  wife's  boudoir.  In  the  morn- 
ing the  restlessness,  the  rapidity  of  thought  and  speech, 
returned ;  but  soon  unconsciousness  intervened  again. 
The  third  day  was  much  the  same,  and  the  doctors  be- 
gan .to  hope.  On  this  day  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch 
went  into  the  boudoir  where  Vronsky  was,  closed  the 
door,  and  sat  down  in  front  of  him. 

"  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,"  said  Vronsky,  feeling 
that  an  explanation  was  at  hand,  "  I  cannot  speak,  I 
cannot  think.  Have  pity  on  me !  Hard  as  it  may  be 
for  you,  believe  me,  it  is  still  more  terrible  for  me." 

He  was  going  to  rise ;  but  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch 
prevented  him,  and  said  :  — 

"  Pray  listen  to  me ;  it  is  unavoidable.  I  am  forced 
to  explain  to  you  the  feelings  that  guide  me,  and  will 
continue  to  guide  me,  that  you  may  avoid  making  any 
mistake  in  regard  to  me.  You  know  that  I  had  decided 
on  a  divorce,  and  that  I  had  taken  the  preliminary  steps 


234  ANNA    KARENINA 

to  obtain  one  ?  I  will  not  deny  that  at  first  I  was  un- 
decided, I  was  in  torment.  I  confess  that  the  desire  to 
avenge  myself  on  you  and  on  her  pursued  me.  When 
I  received  the  telegram,  and  came  home,  I  felt  the 
same  desire.  I  will  say  more;  I  wished  for  her  death. 
But...."  He  was  silent  for  a  moment,  considering 
whether  he  would  wholly  reveal  his  thoughts — "but  I 
have  seen  her  and  I  have  forgiven  her.  The  happiness 
I  feel  at  being  able  to  forgive  clearly  shows  me  my  duty. 
I  have  absolutely  forgiven  her.  I  desire  to  offer  the 
other  cheek  to  the  smiter ;  I  wish  to  give  my  cloak  to 
him  who  has  robbed  me  of  my  coat.  I  only  ask  one 
thing  of  God, — that  He  will  not  take  away  from  me 
this  joy  of  forgiving." 

Tears  filled  his  eyes.  Vronsky  was  amazed  at  the 
calm,  luminous  face. 

"  This  is  my  position.  You  may  drag  me  in  the  mire, 
and  make  me  the  laughing-stock  of  creation  ;  but  I  will 
not  give  up  Anna  for  that,  nor  will  I  utter  a  word  of 
reproach  to  you,"  continued  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch. 
"  My  duty  seems  clear  and  plain  to  me  :  I  must  remain 
with  her  ;  I  shall  remain  with  her.  If  she  wishes  to 
see  you,  I  shall  inform  you  of  it ;  but  now  I  think  it 
will  be  better  for  you  to  go  away." 

He  rose ;  sobs  choked  his  voice.  Vronsky  rose  too, 
and,  standing  with  bowed  head  and  humble  attitude, 
looked  up  at  Karenin,  without  a  word  to  say.  He  was 
incapable  of  understanding  Alekself  Aleksandrovitch's 
feelings ;  but  he  felt  that  this  was  something  too  high 
for  him,  something  even  unapproachable  for  a  person 
who  looked  on  the  world  as  he  did. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

After  this  conversation  with  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch 
Vronsky  went  out  on  the  steps  of  the  Karenin  house 
and  stopped,  hardly  knowing  where  he  was  and  what 
he  had  to  do.  He  felt  humiliated,  perplexed,  and  de- 
prived of  all  means  of  washing  away  his  shame  ;    he 


ANNA    KARENINA  135 

felt  thrown  out  of  the  path  where  till  now  he  had 
walked  proudly  and  easily.  All  the  rules  which  had 
been  the  guides  of  his  life,  and  which  he  had  believed 
irreproachable,  proved  false  and  untrue.  The  deceived 
husband,  whom  he  had  considered  a  melancholy  char- 
acter, an  accidental  obstacle,  at  times  absurd,  happily 
for  him  had  suddenly  been  raised  by  her  to  a  height 
inspiring  respect ;  and  this  husband  on  this  height 
appeared  not  ugly,  not  false,  not  ridiculous,  but  good, 
grand,  and  generous.  Vronsky  could  not  understand 
it ;  their  roles  had  suddenly  been  interchanged.  He 
felt  Karenin's  grandeur  and  straightforwardness,  and 
his  own  baseness  and  falsity.  He  felt  that  this  husband 
was  magnanimous  in  his  grief,  while  he  himself  seemed 
little  and  miserable  in  his  deception.  But  this  con- 
vSciousness  of  inferiority,  in  comparison  to  a  man  whom 
he  had  unjustly  scorned,  constituted  only  a  small  part 
of  his  grief. 

He  felt  profoundly  unhappy  from  the  fact  that  his 
passion  for  Anna,  which  of  late  had  as  it  seemed  to  him 
grown  cool,  was  more  violent  than  ever  now  that  he 
knew  he  was  to  lose  her.  During  her  illness  he  had 
seen  her  as  she  was,  had  learned  to  know  her  very  soul, 
and  it  seemed  to  him  that  he  had  never  really  loved  her 
till  now.  He  must  lose  her  just  as  he  had  come  to 
know  her  and  love  her  truly,  —  lose  her,  and  be  left 
with  the  most  humiUating  recollections.  More  horrible 
than  anything  else  was  his  ridiculous  and  odious  posi- 
tion when  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  had  uncovered  his 
face  while  he  was  hiding  it  in  his  hands.  Standing 
motionless  on  the  steps  of  the  Karenin  house,  he  seemed 
to  be  entirely  unconscious  of  what  he  was  doing. 

"  Shall  I  call  an  izvoshchik } "  asked  the  Swiss. 

"Yes,  an  izvoshchik." 

When  he  reached  home,  after  three  sleepless  nights, 
Vronsky,  without  undressing,  threw  himself  down  on  a 
divan,  folded  his  arms,  and  laid  his  head  on  them.  His 
head  was  heavy.  The  strangest  reminiscences,  thoughts, 
and  impressions  succeeded  one  another  in  his  mind  with 
extraordinary  rapidity  and    clearness.       Now  it  was  a 


236  ANNA   KARENINA 

drink  which  he  poured  out  and  gave  the  invalid  from 
a  spoon ;  now  he  saw  the  nurse's  white  hands,  then 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch's  singular  attitude  as  he  knelt 
on  the  floor  by  the  bed. 

"  Sleep,  and  forget,"  he  said  to  himself,  with  the 
calm  resolution  of  a  man  in  good  health  who  knows 
that  when  he  feels  tired  he  can  sleep  if  he  will.  His 
ideas  became  confused ;  he  felt  himself  falling  into  the 
abyss  of  forgetfulness.  The  billows  of  the  sea  of  uncon- 
scious life  were  already  beginning  to  swell  over  his 
head,  when  suddenly  something  like  a  violent  electric 
shock  passed  through  him.  He  started  up  so  abruptly 
that  his  body  bounded  upon  the  springs  of  the  divan ; 
and  he  found  himself  in  his  terror  on  his  knees.  His 
eyes  were  as  wide  open  as  if  he  had  not  slept  at  all. 
The  heaviness  of  his  head  and  the  lassitude  which  he 
felt  in  all  his  members  but  a  moment  before  had  sud- 
denly vanished. 

"  You  may  drag  me  in  the  mire." 

These  words  of  Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch  rang  in  his 
ears.  He  saw  him  standing  before  him ;  he  saw,  too, 
Anna's  feverish  face,  and  her  brilliant  eyes  looking 
tenderly,  not  at  Jiini,  but  at  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  ; 
he  saw  the  stupid,  ridiculous  figure  he  must  have  pre- 
sented when  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  drew  away  his 
hands  from  his  face.  Again  he  threw  himself  back  on 
the  divan,  and  closed  his  eyes. 

"  Sleep,  and  forget,"  he  repeated  to  himself. 

But  though  his  eyes  were  closed  he  saw  clearer  than 
ever  Anna's  face,  just  as  it  looked  on  that  memorable 
evening  of  the  races. 

"  It's  impossible,  and  will  not  be ;  how  can  she  efface 
this  from  her  memory  .<*  I  cannot  live  without  this ! 
But  how  can  we  be  reconciled  .'*  how  can  we  be  recon- 
ciled .? " 

He  unconsciously  pronounced  these  words  aloud,  and 
their  mechanical  repetition  for  some  minutes  prevented 
the  recollections  and  forms  which  besieged  his  brain 
from  returning.  But  the  repetition  of  the  words  did 
not  long  deceive  his  imagination.     Again,  one  after  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  237 

other  with  extraordinary  swiftness,  the  sweet  moments  of 
the  past  and  his  recent  humiliation  began  to  arise  in  his 
mind.  "  Uncover  his  face,"  said  Anna's  voice.  He 
took  away  his  hands,  and  reaHzed  how  humiliated  and 
ridiculous  he  must  have  appeared. 

He  still  lay  there  trying  to  sleep,  though  he  felt  that 
there  was  not  the  slightest  hope  of  it,  and  repeating  in 
a  whisper  some  formula  with  the  design  of  driving  away 
the  new  and  distressing  hallucinations  that  kept  arising. 
He  listened  to  his  own  voice  repeating,  with  a  strange 
persistence  :  "  You  did  not  know  hoiv  to  appreciate  her, 
you  did  not  know  how  to  value  her  ;  you  did  not  know  how 
to  appreciate  her,  you  did  not  know  hozv  to  value  her." 

"  What  is  going  to  happen  to  me .''  Am  I  going 
mad.''"  he  asked  himself.  "  Perhaps  so.  Why  do  peo- 
ple go  mad  }  and  why  do  they  commit  suicide  .-*  " 

And,  while  he  was  answering  himself,  he  opened  his 
eyes  and  was  surprised  to  see  at  his  head  a  cushion  em- 
broidered by  Varia,  his  brother's  wife.  He  lightly 
touched  the  tassel  of  the  cushion  and  tried  to  fix  the 
thought  of  Varia  in  his  mind  and  how  she  looked  the 
last  time  he  saw  her ;  but  any  idea  foreign  to  what  tor- 
mented him  was  still  more  intolerable. 

"  No,  I  must  sleep."  He  placed  the  cushion  under 
his  head,  but  it  required  an  effort  to  keep  his  eyes 
closed.  He  leaped  to  his  feet  and  sat  down.  "All  is 
over  with  me  ;  what  else  can  I  do  .-"'  And  his  imagina- 
tion vividly  pictured  what  life  without  Anna  would  be. 

"  Ambition  }  Serpukhovskoif  .<•  the  world  .-*  the  court }  " 
No  more  these  had  power  to  stop  him.  All  this  once 
had  some  meaning,  but  now  it  had  none.  He  rose  from 
the  divan,  took  off  his  coat,  loosened  his  necktie  and 
bared  his  shaggy  chest  that  he  might  breathe  more 
freely,  and  began  to  stride  up  and  down  the  room. 

"This  makes  people  insane,"  he  repeated;  "this 
causes  suicide, ....  to  avoid  disgrace,"  he  added  slowly. 

He  went  to  the  door  and  closed  it ;  then,  with  a  look 
of  determination,  and  with  his  teeth  set,  he  went  to  the 
table,  took  his  revolver,  examined  it,  turned  the  loaded 
chamber   round,  and   stopped   to  consider.     He   stood 


238  ANNA    KARENINA 

motionless  for  two  minutes,  with  the  revolver  in  his 
hand,  his  head  bowed  in  the  attitude  of  intense  thought. 
"  Of  course,"  he  said  to  himself,  as  if  a  logical  sequence 
of  clear  and  exact  ideas  led  him  to  this  unquestionable 
decision  ;  but  in  reality  this  to  him  conclusive  Of  Course 
was  only  the  consequence  of  a  continued  circle  of  recol- 
lections and  impressions  which  he  had  gone  over  for  the 
tenth  time  in  the  last  hour.  There  were  the  same  recol- 
lections of  a  happiness  lost  forever,  the  conception  of 
the  meaninglessness  of  all  that  was  now  before  him  in 
life,  the  same  consciousness  of  his  shame.  There  was 
the  same  repetition  of  these  impressions  and  thoughts. 

"  Of  course,"  he  repeated,  when  for  the  third  time 
his  mind  directed  itself  to  the  same  enchanted  circle 
of  thoughts  and  recollections ;  and  holding  the  revol- 
ver to  the  left  side  of  his  breast,  with  an  unflinching 
grip  he  pulled  the  trigger.  He  did  not  hear  the  sound 
of  the  report,  but  the  violent  blow  that  he  received 
in  the  chest  knocked  him  over.  He  tried  to  save  him- 
self by  catching  hold  of  the  table  ;  he  dropped  his  revol- 
ver, staggered,  and  fell  on  the  floor,  looking  about  him 
with  astonishment.  He  could  not  recognize  his  room ; 
the  twisted  legs  of  the  table,  the  waste-paper  basket, 
the  tiger-skin  on  the  floor,  —  all  seemed  strange  to 
him. 

The  quick  steps  of  his  servant  running  to  the  draw- 
ing-room obliged  him  to  get  control  of  himself  ;  he  col- 
lected his  thoughts  with  an  effort,  and  seeing  that  he 
was  on  the  floor,  and  that  blood  was  on  his  hands  and 
on  the  tiger-skin,  he  realized  what  he  had  done. 

"What  stupidity!  I  missed  my  aim,"  he  muttered, 
feeling  round  for  his  pistol.  It  was  quite  near  him,  but 
he  could  not  find  it.  As  he  continued  to  grope  for  it, 
he  lost  his  balance,  and  fell  again,  bathed  in  his  own 
blood. 

His  valet,  an  elegant  person  with  side-whiskers,  who 
complained  freely  to  his  friends  about  his  delicate  nerves, 
was  so  frightened  at  the  sight  of  his  master  lying  on  the 
floor  that  he  let  him  lie  bleeding,  and  ran  for  help. 

In  an  hour  Varia,  Vronsky's  sister-in-law,  arrived,  and 


ANNA    KARENINA 


^39 


with  the  assistance  of  the  three  doctors  whom  she  sent 
for  in  all  directions,  and  who  all  came  at  once,  she  suc- 
ceeded in  putting  the  wounded  man  to  bed,  and  estab- 
lished herself  as  his  nurse. 


CHAPTER   XIX 

Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch,  when  he  prepared  to  see 
his  wife  again,  had  not  foreseen  the  contingency  of  her 
repentance  being  genuine,  and  then  of  her  recovery  after 
she  had  obtained  his  pardon.  This  mistake  appeared  to 
him  in  all  its  seriousness  two  months  after  his  return 
from  Moscow ;  but  the  mistake  which  he  had  made  pro- 
ceeded not  only  from  the  fact  that  he  had  not  foreseen 
this  eventuality,  but  also  from  the  fact  that  not  until  the 
day  when  he  looked  on  his  dying  wife  had  he  understood 
his  own  heart.  Beside  the  bed  of  his  dying  wife,  he  had 
given  way,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  to  that  feeling  of 
sympathy  for  the  griefs  of  others,  against  which  he  had 
always  fought  as  one  fights  against  a  dangerous  weak- 
ness. His  pity  for  her  and  remorse  at  having  wished 
for  her  death,  but  above  all  the  joy  of  forgiving,  had 
made  him  suddenly  feel,  not  only  a  complete  alleviation 
of  his  sufferings,  but  also  a  spiritual  calmness  such  as  he 
had  never  before  experienced.  He  suddenly  felt  that 
the  very  thing  that  had  been  a  source  of  anguish  was 
now  the  source  of  his  spiritual  joy ;  what  had  seemed 
insoluble  when  he  was  filled  with  hatred  and  anger, 
became  clear  and  simple  now  that  he  loved  and  for- 
gave. 

He  had  pardoned  his  wife,  and  he  pitied  her  because 
of  her  suffering  and  repentance.  He  had  forgiven  Vron- 
sky,  and  pitied  him  too,  especially  after  he  heard  of  his 
desperate  act.  He  also  pitied  his  son  more  than  before, 
because  he  felt  that  he  had  neglected  him.  But  what  he 
felt  for  the  new-born  child  was  more  than  pity,  it  was 
almost  tenderness.  At  first,  solely  from  a  feeling  of  pity, 
he  looked  after  this  little  new-born  girl,  who  was  not  his 
daughter,  and  who  was  so  neglected  during  her  mother's 


240  ANNA    KARENINA 

illness  that  she  would  have  surely  died  if  he  had  not 
taken  her  in  charge ;  and,  before  he  was  aware  of  it,  he 
became  attached  to  her.  He  would  go  several  times  a 
day  into  the  nursery,  and  sit  there,  so  that  the  wet-nurse 
and  the  bonne,  though  they  were  a  little  intimidated  at 
first,  gradually  became  accustomed  to  his  presence.  He 
stayed  sometimes  for  half  an  hour,  silently  gazing  at  the 
saffron-red,  wrinkled,  downy  face  of  the  sleeping  child, 
following  her  motions  as  she  scowled,  and  puckered  her 
lips,  watching  her  rub  her  eyes  with  the  back  of  her  little 
hands,  curling  up  her  round  fingers.  And  at  these  mo- 
ments especially,  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  felt  calm  and 
at  peace  with  himself,  seeing  nothing  abnormal  in  his 
situation,  nothing  that  he  felt  the  need  of  changing. 

However,  as  time  went  on,  he  felt  more  and  more  that 
he  would  not  be  permitted  to  remain  in  this  situation, 
however  natural  it  seemed  to  him,  and  that  nobody  would 
allow  it. 

He  felt  that,  besides  the  holy  and  spiritual  force 
that  guided  his  soul,  there  was  another  force,  brutal, 
equally  if  not  more  poweriul,  which  directed  his  life, 
and  that  this  power  would  not  give  him  the  peace  that 
he  desired.  He  felt  that  every  one  was  looking  at  him, 
and  questioning  his  attitude,  not  understanding  it,  and 
expecting  him  to  do  something.  Especially  he  felt  the 
unnaturalness  and  constraint  of  his  relations  with  his 
wife. 

When  the  tenderness  which  she  felt  at  the  expecta- 
tion of  death  had  passed  away,  Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch 
began  to  notice  how  Anna  feared  him,  how  she  dreaded 
his  presence,  and  did  not  dare  to  look  him  in  the  face ; 
she  seemed  to  be  always  pursued  by  a  thought  she  dared 
not  express,  —  and  as  if  she  had  a  presentiment  that 
their  present  relations  could  not  last ;  she,  too,  expected 
some  move  from  her  husband. 

Toward  the  end  of  February,  the  little  girl,  who  had 
been  named  Anna  for  her  mother,  was  taken  ill.  In  the 
morning  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  had  seen  her  in  the 
nursery,  and,  after  he  had  left  orders  about  calling 
the  doctor  he  went  to  the  ministry  meeting.      Having 


ANNA    KARENINA  241 

transacted  his  business  he  returned  at  four  o'clock;  as 
he  entered  the  anteroom,  he  noticed  an  Adonis  of  a 
lackey,  in  livery  and  bearskin  cloak,  holding  a  white 
rotonda,  or  mantle,  lined  with  American  fox. 

"  Who  is  here  ?  "  he  asked. 

"The  Princess  Yehzavyeta  Feodorovna  Tverskaya," 
replied  the  lackey,  with  a  smile,  as  it  seemed  to  AlekseT 
Aleksandrovitch. 

All  through  this  painful  period  Aleksef  Aleksandro- 
vitch noticed  that  his  society  friends,  especially  the 
women,  showed  a  very  marked  interest  in  him  and  in 
his  wife.  He  noticed  in  them  all  that  veiled  look  of 
amusement  which  he  saw  in  the  lawyer's  eyes,  and  which 
he  now  saw  in  the  lackey's.  They  all  seemed  delighted, 
as  if  they  were  going  to  a  wedding.  When  people  met 
him,  and  inquired  after  his  health,  they  did  so  with  this 
same  half-concealed  hilarity. 

The  presence  of  the  Princess  Tverskaya  was  not  agree- 
able to  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch,  both  because  he  had 
never  liked  her,  and  because  she  called  up  unpleasant 
memories,  and  so  he  went  directly  to  the  nursery. 

In  the  first  room,  Serozha,  leaning  on  a  table,  with 
his  feet  in  a  chair,  was  drawing,  and  chattering  merrily. 
The  English  governess,  who  had  replaced  the  French 
woman  soon  after  Anna's  illness,  was  sitting  near  the 
child,  with  her  fancy  work  in  her  hand ;  she  rose,  made 
a  courtesy,  and  put  Serozha's  feet  down, 

Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  smoothed  his  son's  hair,  an- 
swered the  governess's  questions  about  his  wife's  health, 
and  asked  what  the  doctor  said  about  baby. 

"The  doctor  said  that  it  was  nothing  serious.  He 
ordered  baths,  sir." 

"  She  is  still  in  pain,  nevertheless,"  said  Aleksef  Alek- 
sandrovitch, hearing  the  child  cry  in  the  next  room. 

"  I  believe,  sir,  that  the  wet-nurse  does  not  suit  her," 
replied  the  Englishwoman,  decidedly. 

"  What  makes  you  think  so  .-^  "  he  asked,  as  he  paused 
on  his  way. 

"  It  was  the  same  at  the  Countess  Pahl's,  sir.  They 
dosed  the  child  with  medicine,  while  it  was  merely  suf- 

VOL.  II. — 16 


242  ANNA    KARENINA 

fering  from  hunger,  sir.  The  wet-nurse  had  not  enough 
milk  for  it." 

Alekse'i  Aleksandrovitch  considered  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, and  then  went  into  the  adjoining  room.  The 
child  was  crying  as  she  lay  in  her  nurse's  arms,  with  her 
head  thrown  back,  refusing  the  full  breast  that  was  of- 
fered her,  and  screamed,  without  yielding  to  the  blandish- 
ments of  the  two  women  bending  over  her. 

"Isn't  she  any  better  .>' "  asked  AlekseY  Aleksandro- 
vitch. 

"  She  is  very  worrisome,"  replied  the  old  nurse,  in  a 
whisper. 

"  Miss  Edwards  says  that  perhaps  the  nurse  has  n't 
enough  milk  for  her,"  said  he. 

"  I  think  so  too,  AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch." 

"  Why  have  n't  you  said  so  .-*  " 

"  Whom  should  I  say  it  to .''  Anna  Arkadyevna  is 
still  ill,"  replied  the  old  nurse,  discontentedly. 

The  old  nurse  had  been  in  the  family  a  long  time,  and 
these  simple  words  struck  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  as 
an  allusion  to  his  position. 

The  child  cried  harder  and  harder,  losing  its  breath, 
and  becoming  hoarse.  The  old  nurse  threw  up  her  hands 
in  despair,  took  the  little  one  from  the  wet-nurse,  and 
rocked  her  as  she  walked  back  and  forth. 

*'  You  must  ask  the  doctor  to  examine  the  wet-nurse," 
said  AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch. 

The  wet-nurse,  a  healthy-looking  woman  of  fine  ap- 
pearance, sprucely  dressed,  who  was  afraid  of  losing  her 
position,  muttered  to  herself,  as  she  fastened  her  dress 
over  her  great  bosom,  smiling  scornfully  at  the  doubt 
of  her  not  having  enough  nourishment.  In  her  smile 
Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  also  detected  ridicule  of  his 
position. 

"  Poor  little  thing  !  "  said  the  old  nurse,  trying  to  hush 
the  child  and  still  walking  back  and  forth. 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  sat  down  in  a  chair,  sad  and 
crestfallen,  and  followed  the  old  nurse  with  his  eyes  as 
she  walked  up  and  down  with  the  child.  When  at  last 
she  had  pacified  it  and  placed  it  in  the  cradle,  and,  hav- 


ANNA   KARENINA  ,a43 

ing  arranged  the  little  pillow,  had  moved  away,  Aleksef 
Aleksandrovitch  rose,  and  went  up  to  it  on  tiptoe.  For 
a  moment  he  was  silent,  and  looked  with  melancholy  face 
at  the  little  thing.  But  suddenly  a  smile  which  moved 
his  hair  and  the  skin  on  his  forehead  spread  over  his  face, 
and  he  quietly  left  the  room. 

He  went  into  the  dining-room,  rang  the  bell,  and  or- 
dered the  servant  that  answered  it  to  send  for  the  doc- 
tor again.  He  was  displeased  because  his  wife  seemed 
to  take  so  little  interest  in  this  charming  baby,  and  in 
this  state  of  annoyance  he  wished  neither  to  go  to  her 
room,  nor  to  meet  the  Princess  Betsy  ;  but  his  wife  might 
wonder  why  he  did  not  come  as  usual ;  he  crushed  down 
his  feelings  and  went  to  her  chamber.  As  he  walked 
along  toward  the  door  on  a  thick  carpet,  he  unintention- 
ally overheard  a  conversation  which  he  would  not  have 
cared  to  hear. 

"If  he  were  not  going  away,  I  should  understand 
your  rfefusal,  and  his  also.  But  your  husband  ought  to 
be  above  that,"  said  Betsy. 

"  It  is  not  for  my  husband's  sake,  but  my  own,  that  I 
don't  wish  it.  So  say  nothing  more  about  it,"  rephed 
Anna's  agitated  voice. 

"  Yes,  but  you  can't  help  wanting  to  say  good-by  to 
the  man  who  shot  himself  on  your  account."  .... 

"That  is  the  very  reason  I  do  not  wish  to  see  him 
again." 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  with  an  expression  of  fear 
and  guilt,  stopped,  and  started  to  go  away  without  being 
heard  ;  but,  considering  that  this  would  lack  dignity,  he 
turned  round  again,  and,  coughing,  went  toward  the 
chamber.  The  voices  were  hushed,  and  he  went  into 
the  room. 

Anna,  in  a  gray  khalat,  with  her  thick  dark  hair  cut 
short  on  her  round  head,  was  sitting  in  a  reclining-chair. 
All  her  animation  disappeared,  as  usual,  at  the  sight  of 
her  husband  ;  she  bowed  her  head,  and  glanced  uneasily 
at  Betsy.  Betsy,  dressed  in  the  latest  fashion,  with  a 
little  hat  perched  on  the  top  of  her  head,  Hke  a  cap  over 
a  lamp,  in  a  dove-colored  gown,  trimmed  with  bright-col- 


244  ANNA    KARENINA 

ored  bands  on  the  waist  on  one  side,  and  on  the  skirt 
on  the  other,  was  sitting  beside  Anna.  She  sat  up  as 
straight  as  possible,  and  welcomed  Aleksei  Aleksandro- 
vitch  with  a  nod  and  a  sarcastic  smile. 

"Ah!"  she  began,  affecting  surprise,  "I  am  delighted 
to  meet  you  at  home.  You  never  show  yourself  any- 
where, and  I  haven't  seen  you  since  Anna  was  taken 
ill.  I  learned  of  your  anxiety  from  others.  Indeed  !  you 
are  a  wonderful  husband !  "  said  she,  with  a  significant 
and  flattering  look,  as  much  as  to  say  that  she  conferred 
on  him  the  "order"  of  magnanimity  on  account  of  his 
behavior  toward  his  wife. 

Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  bowed  coldly,  and,  kissing 
his  wife's  hand,  inquired  how  she  was. 

"  Better,  I  think,"  she  replied,  avoiding  his  look. 

"  However,  your  face  has  a  feverish  look,"  he  said, 
emphasizing  the  word  "  feverish." 

"  We  have  talked  too  much,"  said  Betsy.  "  It  was 
selfish  on  my  part,  and  I  am  going  now." 

She  rose ;  but  Anna,  suddenly  flushing,  seized  her 
quickly  by  the  arm. 

"  No,  stay,  I  beg  of  you.  I  must  tell  you, ....  x\o,you^' 
she  addressed  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  while  the  color 
increased  on  her  neck  and  brow.  "  I  cannot,  nor  do  I 
wish  to,  hide  anything  from  you,"  said  she. 

AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch  cracked  his  knuckles  and 
bent  his  head. 

"  Betsy  has  told  me  that  Count  Vronsky  wishes  to 
come  to  our  house  to  say  good-by  before  he  goes  to 
Tashkend." 

She  did  not  look  at  her  husband,  and  she  evidently 
was  in  haste  to  get  through  with  it,  however  hard  it 
might  be.  "  I  have  said  that  I  could  not  receive 
him." 

"  You  said,  my  dear,  that  it  would  depend  on  Alekseif 
Aleksandrovitch,"  corrected  Betsy. 

"  Yes !  No,  I  cannot  see  him,  and  it  would  not  do 
any...."  she  stopped  suddenly,  and  looked  inquiringly 
at  her  husband's  face  ;  he  was  not  looking  at  her.  "  In 
short,  I  do  not  wish  ....  " 


ANNA   KARENINA  245 

Alekself  Aleksandrovitch  approached,  and  wanted  to 
take  her  hand. 

Anna's  first  impulse  was  to  withdraw  her  hand  from 
her  husband's  clammy  hand  with  its  big,  swollen  veins ; 
but  she  evidently  controlled  herself,  and  pressed  it. 

"  I  am  very  grateful  to  you  for  your  confidence,  but 
....  "  he  began,  then  stopped,  awkward  and  annoyed, 
feeling  that  what  he  could  easily  and  clearly  decide 
when  by  himself,  he  could  not  settle  in  the  presence  of 
the  Princess  Tverskaya,  who  was  the  incarnation  of  that 
brutal  force  which  he  had  to  take  as  the  guide  of  his 
Ufe  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  obliged  him  to  re- 
nounce his  feelings  of  love  and  forgiveness.  He  stopped 
as  he  looked  at  the  Princess  Tverskaya. 

"Well,  good-by,  my  treasure,"  said  Betsy,  rising. 
She  kissed  Anna,  and  went  out.  Karenin  accompanied 
her. 

"  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch,  I  know  that  you  are  an 
extraordinarily  magnanimous  man,"  said  Betsy,  stopping 
in  the  middle  of  the  boudoir  to  press  his  hand  again  with 
unusual  fervor;  "I  am  a  stranger,  and  I  love  her  so 
much,  and  esteem  you  so  highly,  that  I  take  the  liberty 
of  giving  you  a  bit  of  advice.  Let  him  come.  Aleksei' 
Vronsky  is  the  personification  of  honor,  and  he  is  going 
to  Tashkend." 

"  I  thank  you  for  your  sympathy  and  your  advice, 
princess  ;  but  the  question  whether  my  wife  can  or  can- 
not receive  anybody  is  for  her  to  decide." 

He  spoke  these  words  with  dignity,  raising  his  eye- 
brows as  usual;  but  he  felt  at  once  that,  whatever  his 
words  had  been,  dignity  was  inconsistent  with  the  situ- 
ation. The  sarcastic  and  wicked  smile  with  which 
Betsy  greeted  his  remark  proved  it  beyond  a  doubt. 


CHAPTER   XX 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  took  leave  of  Betsy  in 
the  "  hall  "  and  returned  to  his  wife ;  she  was  lying 
down,    but,   hearing  her  husband's   steps,  she   sat   up 


246  ANNA    KARENINA 

quickly  in  her  former  position,  and  looked  at  him  in  a 
frightened  way.     He  saw  that  she  had  been  crying. 

"  I  am  very  grateful  to  you  for  your  confidence  in 
me,"  said  he,  gently,  repeating  in  Russian  the  remark 
that  he  had  just  made  in  French  before  Betsy. 

When  he  spoke  to  her  in  Russian,  and  used  the 
familiar  second  person  singular  Uii,  this  tui  irritated 
Anna  in  spite  of  herself.  "  I  am  very  grateful  for  your 
decision ;  for  I  agree  with  you  that,  since  Count  Vronsky 
is  going  away,  there  is  no  necessity  of  his  coming  here ; 
besides....  " 

"  Yes !  but  as  I  have  said  that,  why  repeat  it } "  in- 
terrupted Anna,  with  an  annoyance  which  she  could  not 
control.  "No  necessity,"  she  thought,  "for  a  man  to 
say  farewell  to  the  woman  he  loves,  for  whom  he  has 
wished  to  commit  suicide,  and  who  cannot  live  without 
him ! " 

She  pressed  her  lips  together,  and  fixed  her  flashing 
eyes  on  her  husband's  hands  with  their  swollen  veins, 
as  he  stood  slowly  rubbing  them  together. 

"We  will  not  say  any  more  about  that,"  she  added, 
more  calmly. 

"  I  have  given  you  perfect  freedom  to  decide  this 
question,  and  I  am  happy  to  see ....  "  Aleksef  Aleksan- 
drovitch  began  again. 

"That  my  desires  are  in  conformity  with  yours," 
finished  Anna,  quickly,  exasperated  to  hear  him  speak 
so  slowly,  when  she  knew  beforehand  what  he  was 
going  to  say. 

"Yes,"  he  affirmed;  "and  the  Princess  Tverskaya 
shows  very  poor  taste  to  meddle  in  family  affairs,  she 
of  all  others." .... 

"  I  don't  believe  what  they  say  about  her,"  said  Anna. 
"  I  only  know  that  she  loves  me  sincerely." 

Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  sighed,  and  was  silent.  Anna 
played  nervously  with  the  tassels  of  her  khalat,  and 
looked  at  him  now  and  then,  with  that  feeling  of  physi- 
cal repulsion  which  she  reproached  herself  for,  without 
being  able  to  overcome.  All  that  she  wished  for  at  this 
moment  was  to  be  rid  of  his  distasteful  presence. 


ANNA   KARENINA  847 

"Ah!  I  have  just  sent  for  the  doctor,"  said  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch. 

"What  for?    I  am  well." 

'*  For  the  baby,  the  little  one  cries  so  much ;  they  think 
that  the  nurse  has  n't  enough  nourishment  for  her." 

"  Why  did  n't  you  let  me  nurse  her,  when  I  urged  it  so  ? 
All  the  same "  (Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  understood 
what  she  meant  by  all  the  samc\  "  she  is  a  baby,  and 
they  will  kill  her."  She  rang,  and  sent  for  the  little  one. 
"  I  wanted  to  nurse  her,  and  you  would  n't  let  me,  and 
now  you  blame  me." 

"  I  do  not  blame  you  for  anything."  .... 

"Yes,  you  do  blame  me!  Bozhe  moi!  why  didn't  I 
die  !  "  She  began  to  sob.  "  Forgive  me :  I  am  nervous 
and  unjust,"  she  said,  trying  to  control  herself.  "  But 
go  away." 

"  No,  this  state  of  things  cannot  go  on,"  said  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch  to  himself,  as  he  left  his  wife's  room. 

Never  before  had  he  been  so  convinced  of  the  im- 
possibility of  prolonging  such  a  situation  before  the 
world:  never  had  his  wife's  disHke  of  him,  and  the 
strength  of  that  mysterious  brutal  force  which  had  taken 
possession  of  his  life,  to  rule  it  contrary  to  the  needs  of 
his  soul  and  to  make  him  change  his  relations  to  his  wife, 
appeared  to  him  with  such  clearness. 

He  saw  clearly  that  the  world  and  his  wife  exacted 
something  from  him  which  he  did  not  fully  understand. 
He  felt  that  it  aroused  within  him  feelings  of  hatred, 
which  disturbed  his  peace,  and  destroyed  the  worth  of 
his  victory  over  himself.  Anna,  in  his  opinion,  ought 
to  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  Vronsky ;  but  if  every- 
body considered  this  impossible,  he  was  ready  to  tolerate 
their  meeting,  on  condition  that  the  children  should  not 
be  disgraced,  or  his  own  life  disturbed. 

Wretched  as  this  was  —  it  was,  nevertheless,  better 
than  a  rupture  whereby  she  would  be  placed  in  a  shame- 
ful and  hopeless  position,  and  he  himself  would  be  de- 
prived of  all  that  he  loved.  But  he  felt  his  powerlessness 
in  this  struggle,  and  knew  beforehand  that  all  were 
against  him  and  that  he  would  be  prevented  from  doing 


24»  ANNA    KARENINA 

what  seemed  to  him  wise  and  good,  and  that  he  would 
be  obliged  to  do  what  was  bad,  but  necessary  to  be 
done. 

CHAPTER  XXI 

Betsy  had  not  left  the  "  hall  "  when  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch  appeared  on  the  threshold.  He  had  come  from 
Eliseyef's,  where  they  had  just  received  fresh  oysters. 

"  Ah,  princess ! .  you  here  ?  What  a  fortunate  meeting ! 
I  have  just  been  at  your  house." 

"The  meeting  is  but  for  a  moment;  I  am  going," 
replied  Betsy,  smiling,  as  she  buttoned  her  gloves. 

"  Wait  just  a  moment,  princess ;  allow  me  to  kiss  your 
little  hand  before  you  put  on  your  glove.  Nothing 
pleases  me  so  much,  in  returning  to  ancient  ways,  as 
the  custom  of  kissing  a  lady's  hand." 

He  kissed  Betsy's  hand. 

"  When  shall  we  meet  again.?" 

"  You  don't  deserve  to  see  me,"  replied  Betsy,  laughing. 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  do !  for  I  have  become  a  very  serious  man. 
I  regulate  not  only  my  own  family  affairs,  but  also  other 
people's,"  said  he,  with  a  significant  expression  in  his 
face. 

"Ah!  r  am  delighted  to  hear  it,"  replied  Betsy, 
instantly  knowing  that  he  referred  to  Anna. 

Going  back  into  the  "  hall,"  they  stood  in  a  corner. 

"  He  is  killing  her,"  she  whispered,  with  conviction. 
"  It  is  impossible,  impossible...." 

"  I  am  very  glad  that  you  think  so,"  replied  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  shaking  his  head  with  sympathetic  com- 
miseration.    "That  is  why  I  am  in  Petersburg." 

"  The  whole  town  are  talking  about  it,"  said  she ;  "this 
situation  is  intolerable.  She  is  fading  away  before  our 
very  eyes.  He  does  n't  understand  that  she  is  one  of 
those  women  whose  feelings  cannot  be  treated  lightly. 
One  of  two  things,  —  either  he  ought  to  take  her  away, 
and  act  decidedly,  or  else  be  divorced.  But  this  is  kill- 
ing her." 

"Yes,  yes.... exactly ...."  said  Oblonsky,  with  a  sigh. 


ANNA    KARENINA  249 

■'  I  have  come  for  that ;  that  is  to  say,  not  entirely  for 
that ....  I  have  just  been  made  chamberlain,  so  I  had  to 
show  my  gratitude ;  but  the  main  thing  was  to  arrange 
this  matter." 

"Well!  may  the  Lord  help  you!  "  said  Betsy. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  accompanied  the  Princess  Betsy 
to  the  door,  once  more  kissed  her  wrist  just  above  her 
glove,  where  the  pulse  beats,  and  after  paying  her  such  an 
impudent  compliment  that  she  did  not  know  whether 
to  laugh  or  take  offense,  he  left  her  to  go  to  his  sister. 
He  found  her  in  tears. 

In  spite  of  the  exuberance  of  his  lively  spirits,  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  fell  instantly  and  with  perfect  genuineness 
into  the  tone  of  sympathetic  and  poetical  tenderness 
which  suited  his  sister's  frame  of  mind.  He  asked  how 
she  felt,  and  how  she  had  passed  the  day. 

"  Wretchedly,  very  wretchedly  !  Night  and  day,  the 
future  and  the  past,  all ....  wretched,"  she  replied. 

"  It  seems  to  me,  you  have  yielded  to  the  blues.  You 
must  have  courage ;  look  life  in  the  face.  It  is  hard,  I 
know,  but...." 

"  I  have  heard  that  some  women  love  men  for  their 
very  vices,"  began  Anna,  suddenly;  "but  I  hate  him 
for  his  virtue.  I  cannot  live  with  him.  Understand 
me,  the  sight  of  him  has  a  physical  effect  on  me  which 
drives  me  out  of  my  mind.  I  cannot,  cannot  live  with 
him  !  What  shall  I  do .-"  I  have  been  unhappy  before, 
and  I  thought  it  impossible  to  be  more  so,  but  this  horrible 
state  of  things  surpasses  all  that  I  could  have  imagined. 
Can  you  believe  that,  though  I  know  how  good  and  per- 
fect he  is,  and  how  unworthy  of  him  I  am,  still  I  hate 
him !  I  hate  him  for  his  magnanimity.  There  is  abso- 
lutely nothing  left  for  me  but  to ...." 

She  was  going  to  add  "  die,"  but  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
did  not  let  her  finish. 

"  You  are  ill  and  nervous,  believe  me ;  you  exagger- 
ate everything.  There  is  really  nothing  so  very  ter- 
rible." 

And  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  smiled.  No  one  except 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  meeting  such  despair,  would  have! 


250  ANNA    KARENINA 

ventured  to  smile,  — for  it  would  have  seemed  rude,  — but 
his  smile  was  so  full  of  kindness,  and  an  almost  effemi- 
nate sweetness,  that,  instead  of  irritating,  it  was  calm- 
ing and  soothing ;  his  gentle  soothing  words  and  smile 
acted  like  oil  of  sweet  almonds.  Anna  at  once  felt  the 
effect. 

"No,  Stiva,"  said  she,  "I  am  lost,  lost!  worse  than 
lost.  And  yet,  I  am  not  yet  lost :  I  cannot  still  say 
that  all  is  over ;  on  the  contrary,  I  feel  that  all  is  not  yet 
over.  I  seem  like  a  cord  too  tightly  stretched,  which 
must  break.  But  the  end  has  not  yet  come,  and  it  will 
be  terrible." 

"  No,  no  ;  the  cord  can  be  carefully  unstrung.  There 
is  no  difficulty  without  some  way  out  of  it." 

"  I  have  thought  it  over,  and  thought  it  over,  and  I 
see  only  one...." 

Again  he  saw  by  her  look  of  dismay  that  the  one  way 
that  she  meant  was  death,  and  again  he  did  not  allow 
her  to  finish. 

"  No,  listen  to  me  ;  you  cannot  judge  of  your  position 
so  well  as  I.  Let  me  tell  you  frankly  my  opinion."  He 
smiled  again  cautiously,  with  his  almond-oily  smile.  "  I 
will  begin  at  the  beginning :  you  married  a  man  twenty 
years  older  than  yourself,  and  you  married  without  love, 
—  or,  at  least,  without  knowing  what  love  was.  It  was 
a  mistake  —  as  well  admit  it." 

"  A  terrible  mistake  !  "  said  Anna, 

"  But,  I  repeat  it,  it  was  an  accomplished  fact.  You 
then  had,  let  us  say,  the  misfortune  to  fall  in  love  —  not 
with  your  husband ;  that  was  a  misfortune,  but  that,  too, 
was  an  accomplished  fact.  Your  husband  knew  it,  and 
forgave  it."  After  each  sentence  he  stopped,  as  if  to 
give  her  time  to  reply,  but  she  said  nothing.  "  Now, 
the  question  is,  can  you  continue  to  live  with  your  hus- 
band .-*  do  you  wish  it .''  does  he  wish  it  ?  " 
i*i;I  know  nothing  about  it,  nothing." 

'"  But  you  yourself  have  just  said  that  you  could  no 
longer  endure  him." 

"  No,  I  did  not  say  so.  I  deny  it.  I  know  nothing, 
I  understand  nothing." 


ANNA    KARENINA  251 

■  ^'  Yes  !  but  allow  me ...." 

"You  cannot  understand  it.  I  feel  that  I  am  precipi- 
tated, head  first,  into  an  abyss,  and  I  may  not  save  my. 
self.     I  cannot.'' 

"  You  will  see  that  we  can  prevent  you  from  falling, 
and  from  being  crushed.  I  understand  you.  I  feel  that 
you  are  not  able  to  express  your  feelings,  your  desires." 

"I  desire  nothing,  nothing' — only  to  end  all  this." 

"  He  sees  this,  and  knows  it.  Do  you  suppose  that 
he  does  n't  feel  the  strain  as  much  as  you  do  ?  You 
suffer,  he  suffers ;  and  what  way  of  escape  is  there 
from  all  this  torture  ?  Then,  when  a  divorce  would 
settle  everything...." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  with  difficulty  expressed  his 
principal  idea,  and  looked  to  Anna  to  see  what  effect  it 
would  have. 

She  said  nothing  and  shook  her  head  disapprovingly. 
But  by  the  expression  of  her  face,  which  suddenly  lighted 
up  with  something  of  her  former  beauty,  he  saw  that,  if 
she  did  not  wish  this,  it  was  because  the  thought  of  its 
being  realized  was  too  enticing. 

"  I  am  awfully  sorry  for  you  !  how  happy  I  should  be 
if  I  could  arrange  it  for  you !  "  said  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch. "  Don't  say  a  word !  If  God  will  only  permit 
me  to  express  all  that  I  feel !  I  am  going  to  find  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch." 

Anna  looked  at  him  out  of  her  brilliant,  thoughtful 
eyes,  and  did  not  reply. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  went  into  his  brother-in-law's 
cabinet,  with  the  solemn  face  which  he  tried  to  assume 
when  he  sat  in  his  official  chair  at  a  council-meeting. 
Alekself  Aleksandrovitch,  with  his  arms  behind  his  back, 
was  walking  up  and  down  the  room,  considering  the 
same  thing  that  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  been  discuss- 
ing with  his  wife. 

"  Shall  I  disturb  you .?  "  asked  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 


a^  ANNA   KARENINA 

suddenly  feeling  an  unwonted  embarrassment.  In  order 
to  conceal  his  embarrassment,  he  took  a  new  cigar-case 
out  of  his  pocket,  smelt  of  the  leather,  and  took  out  a 
cigarette. 

"  No.  Do  you  wish  to  see  me  .■* "  asked  Aleksei 
Aleksandrovitch,  reluctantly. 

"Yes  ....I  would  like  ....I  must....  yes,  I  must  have  a 
talk  with  you,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  surprised  at 
his  confusion. 

This  feeling  was  so  strange  and  unexpected  to  him, 
that  he  did  not  recognize  in  it  the  voice  of  conscience, 
warning  him  that  what  he  hoped  to  do  was  evil.  He 
recovered  himself  with  an  effort,  and  conquered  the 
weakness  which  took  possession  of  him. 

"  I  hope  that  you  believe  in  my  love  for  my  sister, 
and  in  my  sincere  sympathy  and  regard  for  you,"  said 
he,  and  his  face  grew  red. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  listened,  and  made  no  reply ; 
but  his  face  struck  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  by  its  expres- 
sion of  humility  and  pain. 

**  I  intended,  I  came  on  purpose,  to  speak  with  you 
about  my  ^ster,  and  the  situation  in  which  you  and  she 
are  placed,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  still  struggling 
with  his  unusual  embarrassment. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  smiled  sadly,  looked  at  his 
brother-in-law,  and,  without  replying,  went  to  the  table, 
took  up  a  half-written  letter,  and  handed  it  to  him. 

"  I  can  think  of  nothing  else.  This  is  what  I  began 
to  write,  thinking  that  I  could  express  myself  better  in 
a  letter,  for  my  presence  irritates  her,"  said  he,  giving 
him  the  letter. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  took  the  paper,  and  looked  with 
perplexity  and  surprise  at  his  brother-in-law's  dull  eyes, 
which  were  fixed  on  him  ;  then  he  read  :  — 

I  see  that  my  presence  is  disagreeable  to  you ;  painful  as 
it  is  for  me  to  recognize  it,  I  know  that  it  is  so,  and  it  cannot 
be  otherwise.  I  do  not  blame  you.  God  knows  that,  during 
your  illness,  I  resolved  to  forget  the  past,  and  to  begin  a  new 
life.  I  am  not  sorry,  I  never  shall  be  sorry,  for  what  I  did  then. 
I  desired  only  one  thing,  —  your  salvation,  the  salvation  of  your 


ANNA    KARENINA  253 

soul,  and  now  I  see  that  I  have  not  succeeded.  Tell  me 
yourself,  what  will  give  you  true  peace  and  happiness,  and  I 
will  submit  to  whatever  you  may  deem  just  and  right. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  gave  the  letter  back  to  his 
brother-in-law  ;  and  with  the  same  perplexity,  he  simply 
stared  at  his  brother-in-law,  not  knowing  what  to  say. 
This  silence  was  so  uncomfortable  to  both  that  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch's  lips  trembled  convulsively,  while  he  did 
not  take  his  eyes  from  Karenin's  face. 

"  That  is  what  I  wanted  to  say  to  her,"  said  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch,  turning  away. 

"Yes,  yes,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  but  he  could 
not  go  on,  the  tears  so  choked  his  utterance.  "  Yes, 
yes,  I  understand  you." 

"  I  should  like  to  know  what  she  wishes,"  said  he,  at 
last. 

"I  am  afraid  that  she  herself  does  not  realize  her 
own  situation.  She  is  not  a  judge  of  the  matter,"  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  trying  to  recover  himself.  "  She 
is  crushed,  literally  crushed,  by  your  magnanimity  ;  if 
she  should  read  your  letter,  she  would  be  unable  to  say 
a  word,  and  could  only  bow  her  head  still  lower." 

"  Yes  !  But  what  is  to  be  done  in  such  a  case  ?  How 
can  it  be  settled  .-*     How  can  I  know  what  she  wishes  .■' " 

"If  you  will  allow  me  to  express  my  opinion,  I  think 
it  is  for  you  to  state  clearly  what  measure  you  believe 
necessary  to  put  an  end  to  this  situation  at  once." 

"Consequently,  you  think  it  ought  to  be  ended  at 
once  .-*  "  interrupted  Alekse'f  Aleksandrovitch.  "  But 
how } "  he  added,  passing  the  back  of  his  hand  over  his 
eyes  in  an  unusual  way.  "  I  see  no  possible  way  out 
of  it !  " 

"  There  is  a  way  out  of  every  difficulty,  however 
serious  it  may  be,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  rising,  and 
growing  more  animated.  "  There  was  a  time  when  you 
wished  for  a  divorce  ....  if  you  are  convinced  now  that 
you  can  never  be  happy  together  again  ....  " 

"  Happiness  may  be  understood  in  different  ways. 
Let  us  grant  that  I  agree  to  everything,  that  I  have  no 


?54  ANNA    KARENINA 

wishes  in  the  matter,  what  escape  is  there  from   oui 
situation  ? " 

"  If  you  wish  for  my  advice,"  said  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch-,  with  the  same  smooth,  almond-oily,  affectionate 
smile  with  which  he  had  spoken  to  his  sister ;  and  this 
smile  was  so  persuasive  that  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch, 
giving  himself  up  to  the  weakness  which  overpowered 
him,  was  involuntarily  inclined  to  believe  what  his 
brother-in-law  said.  "  She  will  never  say  what  her 
wishes  are.  But  there  is  one  thing  possible,  one  thing 
that  she  may  hope  for,"  continued  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch,  "  and  that  is  to  break  the  bonds  which  are  only 
the  cause  of  cruel  recollections.  In  my  opinion,  it  is 
indispensable  to  put  your  relations  on  an  entirely  new 
footing,  and  that  can  only  be  done  by  both  of  you  re- 
suming your  freedom." 

"  Divorce  !  "  interrupted  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch, 
^itfh  disgust. 

"Yes,  I  suppose  that  divorce ....  yes,  divorce,"  repeated 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  blushing.  "  Taking  everything 
into  consideration,  that  is  the  most  sensible  course  when 
two  married  people  find  themselves  in  such  a  situation 
as  yours.  What  is  to  be  done,  when  husband  and  wife 
find  that  living  together  is  impossible  ,■'  This  can  always 
be  brought  about." 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  drew  a  deep  sigh,  and  cov- 
ered his  eyes. 

"  There  is  only  one  consideration,  —  whether  one  of 
the  parties  wishes  to  marry  again.  If  not,  it  is  very 
simple,"  continued  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  recovering 
more  and  more  from  his  feeling  of  constraint. 

Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch,  with  his  face  distorted  by 
emotion,  muttered  something  to  himself,  but  made  no 
reply.  What  seemed  so  simple  to  Oblonsky,  he  had 
turned  over  a  thousand  thousand  times  in  his  mind,  and, 
instead  of  finding  it  very  easy,  found  it  utterly  impossible. 
Now  that  the  conditions  for  divorce  were  known  to  him, 
it  seemed  to  him  impossible,  because  the  sense  of  his 
personal  dignity,  as  well  as  his  respect  for  religion,  pre- 
vented him  from  confessing  to  a  fictitious  accusation  of 


ANNA    KARENINA  ^$ 

adultery  and  still  less  permitting  his  wife,  whom  he  had 
once  pardoned  and  still  loved,  to  be  disgraced  and  put 
to  shame.  Divorce  seemed  impossible  from  still  other 
and  even  more  important  reasons. 

What  would  become  of  their  son  ^  To  leave  him 
with  his  mother  was  impossible.  The  divorced  mother 
would  have  her  own  illegitimate  family,  in  which  the 
child's  position  and  training  would  be  wretched.  Should 
he  keep  the  child  for  himself  ?  But  he  knew  that  would 
be  an  act  of  vengeance,  and  vengeance  he  did  not  want 

But,  above  all,  what  made  divorce  impossible  in  his 
eyes  was  the  thought  that,  in  consenting  to  it,  he  him- 
self would  contribute  to  Anna's  destruction.  The  words 
spoken  by  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  when  he  was  in  Mos- 
cow, remained  graven  in  his  heart,  that  in  getting  a 
divorce,  he  was  thinking  only  of  himself,  and  forgetting 
that  it  would  be  her  irretrievable  ruin.  These  words, 
now  that  he  had  forgiven  her  and  had  become  attached  to 
the  children,  had  a  very  significant  meaning  to  him. 
To  consent  to  a  divorce,  to  give  Anna  her  liberty,  was 
to  cut  away  the  last  tie  that  bound  himself  to  life,  to 
her  children  whom  he  loved,  and  was  to  take  away  her 
last  help  in  the  way  of  salvation,  and  to  push  her  over 
the  precipice. 

If  she  became  a  divorced  woman,  he  knew  very  well 
that  she  would  be  united  to  Vronsky,  and  such  a  bond 
would  be  criminal  and  illegal ;  because  a  woman,  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  the  Church,  cannot  enter  into  a 
second  marriage  during  the  lifetime  of  her  husband. 

"  And  who  knows  but,  after  a  year  or  two,  either  he 
might  abandon  her,  or  she  might  form  a  new  liaison .'' " 
thought  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch ;  **  and  I,  having 
allowed  an  illegal  divorce,  should  be  responsible  for  her 
fall." 

He  had  gone  over  all  this  a  hundred  times,  and  was 
convinced  that  divorce  was  not  by  any  means  so  simple 
as  his  brother-in-law  would  make  it  out ;  that  it  was 
wholly  impossible. 

He  did  not  admit  a  word  of  what  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch  said ;  he  had  a  thousand  arguments  to  refute  such 


256  ANNA    KARENINA 

reasoning  ;  and,  notwithstanding  this,  he  listened,  feel- 
ing that  his  words  were  the  manifestation  of  that  irre- 
sistible force  which  ruled  his  life,  and  to  which  he  would 
finally  submit. 

"  The  only  question  is,  how,  on  what  conditions,  you 
will  consent  to  a  divorce ;  for  she  will  never  dare  to  ask 
anything  of  you,  and  will  give  herself  up  entirely  to  your 
magnanimity." 

"  My  God  !  my  God !  why  has  this  come  upon  me  ? " 
thought  Alekse'i  Aleksandrovitch ;  and,  as  he  remem- 
bered the  condition  of  divorce  in  which  the  husband 
assumed  the  blame,  from  shame  he  buried  his  face  in 
his  hands,  as  Vronsky  had  done. 

"  You  are  distressed  ;  I  understand  it ;  but  if  you  will 
consider ...." 

"  *  Whosoever  smiteth  thee  on  the  right  cheek,  turn 
to  him  the  other  also ;  and  if  any  man  would  take  away 
thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak  also,'  "  thought  Aleksef 
Aleksandrovitch.  —  "  Yes,  yes  !  "  he  cried,  in  his  piping 
voice.     "  I  will  take  all  the  shame  upon  myself ;  I  will 

even  give  up  my  son But  will  it  not  be  better  to  leave 

all  that  ?     However,  do  as  you  please."  .... 

And  turning  away  from  his  brother-in-law,  that  he 
might  not  see  his  face,  he  sat  down  near  the  window. 
He  was  grieved  ;  he  was  ashamed ;  but  with  this  grief 
and  shame  he  felt  a  sense  of  happiness  and  emotion  in 
the  consciousness  of  his  own  humility. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  touched. 

"Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  be  assured  that  she  will 
appreciate  your  generosity,"  said  he,  after  a  pause.  "  It 
is,  without  doubt,  the  will  of  God,"  he  added ;  but  he 
felt,-  as  soon  as  the  words  were  out  of  his  mouth,  what  a 
foolish  remark  it  was,  and  he  could  hardly  restrain  a 
smile  at  his  own  foolishness. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  would  have  replied,  but 
tears  prevented  him. 

"  This  trial  comes  by  fate,  and  it  must  be  accepted. 
I  accept  it  as  an  accomplished  fact,  and  I  will  try  to 
help  you  and  her,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

When  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  left  his  brother-in-law's 


ANNA    KARENINA  257 

cabinet,  he  was  touched,  but  this  fact  did  not  prevent 
him  from  being  delighted  at  having  settled  this  matter ; 
for  he  was  certain  that  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  would 
not  go  back  on  his  word.  His  satisfaction  suggested  a 
conundrum  which  he  could  ask  his  wife  and  intimate 
friends  :  — 

"What  is  .the  difference  between  me  and  a  field-mar- 
shal ?  The  field-marshal  makes  divorces,  and  nobody  is 
the  better  for  it ;  while  I  make  divorces,  and  three  peo- 
ple are  better  off Or,  rather,  what  resemblance  is 

there  between  me  and  a  iield-marshal  ?  Where  ....but 
by  and  by  I  '11  improve  on  it,"  he  said  to  himself  with  a 
smile. 


CHAPTER   XXni 

Vronsky's  wound  was  dangerous,  although  it  did  not 
reach  the  heart.  He  hung  for  several  days  between  life 
and  death.  When  for  the  first  time  he  was  in  a  condi- 
tion to  talk,  only  Varia,  his  brother's  wife,  was  in  his 
room. 

"  Varia !  "  said  he,  looking  at  her  gravely,  "  I  shot 
myself  accidentally.  Now  please  never  speak  to  me 
about  this,  but  tell  every  one  so ;  otherwise  it  will  seem 
too  stupid !  " 

Varia  bent  over  him  without  replying,  examining  his 
face  with  a  happy  smile.  His  eyes  were  bright,  but  no 
longer  feverish,  but  their  expression  was  stern. 

"  Well !  Thank  the  Lord  !  "  she  replied.  "  Are  you 
suffering .'' " 

"A  little  on  this  side,"  said  he,  pointing  to  his  chest. 

"  Let  me  change  the  dressing,  then." 

Squinting,  he  silently  watched  her  change  it,  and 
when  she  had  finished,  he  said  :  — 

"  I  am  not  delirious  now.  See  to  it,  I  beg  of  you, 
that  nobody  says  that  I  shot  myself  intentionally." 

"  Nobody  says  so.     I  hope,  however,  that  after  this 
you  will  not  shoot  yourself  accidentally  again,"  she  said 
with  a  questioning  smile. 
VOL.  II. — 17 


158  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Probably  I  shall  not ;  but  it  would  have  been 
better...." 

And  he  smiled  gloomily. 

In  spite  of  these  words  and  this  smile  which  so 
alarmed  Varia,  when  the  inflammation  had  subsided 
and  he  began  to  recover,  he  felt  that  he  was  free  from 
a  part  of  his  misfortunes.  By  his  action  he  had  washed 
away,  as  it  were,  his  shame  and  humiliation,  which  had 
weighed  on  him  before.  Henceforth  he  could  think 
calmly  of  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch.  He  recognized  all 
his  magnanimity  without  being  crushed  by  it.  Besides, 
he  was  able  to  be  himself  again,  to  look  people  in  the 
face,  and  could  live,  governing  himself  by  his  customary 
habits.  What  he  could  not  tear  from  his  heart,  in  spite 
of  all  his  efforts,  was  the  regret,  bordering  on  despair, 
at  having  lost  Anna  forever;  since  he  was  firmly  re- 
solved, now  that  he  had  redeemed  his  fault  toward 
Karenin,  not  to  place  himself  between  the  repentant 
wife  and  her  husband.  But  he  could  not  put  out  of  his 
heart  the  regret  at  the  loss  of  her  love ;  he  could  not 
blot  out  the  memory  of  happy  moments  which  he  had 
spent  with  her,  and  not  half  appreciated  till  now,  and 
which  pursued  him  continually  in  all  their  fascina- 
tion. 

SerpukhovskoT  thought  of  sending  him  to  Tashkend, 
and  Vronsky  accepted  the  proposition  without  the  least 
hesitation.  But  the  nearer  the  time  for  his  leaving 
came,  the  more  cruel  seemed  the  sacrifice  to  what  he 
considered  his  duty. 

His  wound  was  healed,  and  he  had  already  gone  out 
and  was  engaged  in  making  his  preparations  for  his 
journey  to  Tashkend. 

"  To  see  her  once  more,  and  then  bury  myself  and 
die,"  he  thought ;  and  while  paying  his  farewell  visit 
to  Betsy,  he  expressed  his  wish  to  her. 

The  latter  set  out  at  once  as  an  ambassador  to  Anna, 
but  brought  back  her  refusal. 

"So  much  the  better,"  thought  Vronsky,  on  receiving 
her  reply ;  "  this  is  a  weakness  which  would  have  cost 
me  my  last  strength." 


ANNA    KARENINA  259 

The  next  morning  Betsy  herself  went  to  Vronsky, 
announcing  that  she  had  had,  through  Oblonsky,  posi- 
tive information  that  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  consented 
to  a  divorce,  and  that  consequently  Vfonsky  might  see 
Anna. 

Without  even  pausing  to  show  Betsy  from  his  room, 
forgetting  his  resolutions,  without  finding  out  when  he 
could  see  her,  or  where  her  husband  would  be,  Vronsky 
immediately  went  to  the  Karenins'.  He  flew  up  the 
steps,  not  seeing  anything  or  any  one,  and  with  hasty 
steps,  almost  running,  entered  Anna's  room,  and,  with- 
out even  noticing  whether  there  might  not  be  some  one 
else  in  the  room,  he  took  her  in  his  arms,  and  began 
covering  her  hands,  her  face,  and  her  neck  with  kisses. 

Anna  was  prepared  to  see  him  again,  and  had  made 
up  her  mind  what  to  say  to  him ;  but  she  had  no  time 
to  speak.  Vronsky's  passion  overpowered  her.  She 
wanted  to  calm  him,  to  calm  herself,  but  it  was  already 
too  late.  Her  lips  trembled  so  that  for  a  long  time  she 
was  unable  to  speak  a  word. 

"  Yes,  you  have  conquered  me ;  I  am  yours ! "  she 
succeeded  in  saying  at  last,  pressing  his  hand  to  her 
breast. 

"  So  it  had  to  be !  "  said  he,  "  and  as  long  as  we  live, 
it  must  be  so ;  I  know  it  now." 

"  It  is  true,"  she  replied,  growing  paler  and  paler  as 
she  put  her  arms  around  Vronsky's  neck.  "  However, 
there  is  something  terrible  in  this  after  what  has  hap- 
pened." ""'' 

"  All  that  will  be  forgotten,  forgotten  ;  we  shall  be  '^6' 
happy !     If  there  were  any  need  of  our  love  increasing, 
it  would  increase,  because  there  is  something  terrible 
about  it,"  said  he,  raising  his  head,  and  displaying  his 
strong  teeth  as  he  smiled. 

She  could  only  reply  with  a  smile,  —  not  with  words, 
—  with  her  eyes  which  expressed  such  love  for  him. 

"  I  do  know  you  with  your  short  hair.  You  are  lovely 
so !     Just  like  a  httle  boy  !     But  how  pale  you  are  !  " 

"Yes;  I  am  still  very  weak,"  she  replied,  smiling; 
and  her  lips  began  to  tremble  again. 


26o  ANNA    KARENINA 

"We  will  go  to  Italy;  you  will  grow  strong  there," 
said  he. 

"  Is  it  possible  that  we  could  be  like  husband  and 
wife,  alone,  by  ourselves  ? "  said  she,  looking  him  in  the 
eye. 

"  I  am  only  surprised  at  one  thing,  —  that  it  has  not 
always  been  so." 

"  Stiva  says  that  lie  will  consent  to  everything,  but  I 
will  not  accept  his  generosity,"  said  she,  looking  thought- 
fully above  Vronsky's  head.  "  I  do  not  wish  for  a  di- 
vorce. It  is  all  the  same  to  me  now.  I  only  wonder 
what  he  will  decide  with  regard  to  Serozha." 

Vronsky  could  not  understand  how,  in  these  first 
moments  of  their  reunion,  she  could  think  of  her  son 
and  of  divorce.     How  could  it  be  all  the  same  to  her.? 

"  Don't  speak  of  that,  don't  think  of  it,"  said  he,  turn- 
ing Anna's  hand  over  and  over  in  his,  to  draw  her  atten- 
tion to  him ;  but  she  did  not  look  at  him. 

"  Oh !  why  did  I  not  die  ?  it  would  have  been  so 
much  better  !  "  said  she ;  and  though  she  did  not  sob, 
the  tears  rolled  down  her  pale  cheeks  ;  she  tried,  never- 
theless, to  smile,  that  she  might  not  give  him  pain. 

Once  Vronsky  would  have  thought  it  impossible  and 
disgraceful  to  give  up  the  flattering  and  perilous  mission 
to  Tashkend,  but  now  he  refused  it  without  any  hesita- 
tion ;  then,  noticing  that  his  refusal  was  misinterpreted 
by  the  authorities,  he  gave  in  his  resignation. 

A  month  later,  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  was  left  alone 
with  his  son,  and  Anna  went  abroad  with  Vronsky,  with- 
out a  divorce,  and  resolutely  refusing  to  accept  one. 


PART    FIFTH 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  Princess  Shcherbatskaya  found  it  would  not 
be  possible  to  have  the  wedding  before  Lent, 
which  would  come  in  five  weeks,  because  the  trous- 
seau would  not  be  half  done  ;  but  she  could  not  help 
agreeing  with  Levin  that  after  Lent  it  might  be  too  late, 
as  an  old  aunt  of  the  prince's  was  very  ill  and  liable  to 
die,  and  then  mourning  would  still  further  postpone  it. 
So  having  decided  to  divide  the  trousseau  into  two  parts, 
—  one  large,  the  other  small,  —  the  princess  agreed  to 
have  the  wedding  before  Lent.  She  decided  that  she 
would  prepare  the  smaller  part  of  the  trousseau  at  once, 
and  send  the  larger  part  afterward,  and  she  was  very 
indignant  with  Levin  because  he  would  not  answer  her 
seriously  whether  this  would  suit  him  or  not.  This 
arrangement  was  all  the  more  convenient  because  the 
young  couple  intended  to  set  out  for  the  country  im- 
mediately after  the  ceremony,  and  would  not  need  the 
larger  part  of  the  things. 

Levin  continued  in  the  same  condition  of  lunacy,  in 
which  it  seemed  to  him  that  he  and  his  happiness  con- 
stituted the  chief  and  only  aim  of  creation,  and  that  it 
was  wholly  unnecessary  for  him  to  think  or  to  bother 
himself  about  anythirtg  but  that  his  friends  would 
arrange  everything  for  him.  He  did  not  even  make 
any  plans  or  arrangements  for  his  coming  life,  but  left 
others  to  decide  for  him,  knowing  all  would  be  admi- 
rable. His  brother,  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch,  and  the  princess  ruled  him  absolutely  ;  he  was 
satisfied  to  accept  whatever  they  proposed. 

His  brother  borrowed  the  money  that  he  needed  ;  the 
princess  advised  him  to  leave  Moscow  after  the  wed- 

261 


262  ANNA    KARENINA 

ding ;  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  advised  him  to  go  abroad. 
He  consented  to  everything. 

"  Make  whatever  plans  you  please,"  he  thought,  "  I 
am  happy;  and  whatever  you  may  decide  on,  my  joy 
will  be  neither  greater  nor  less." 

But  when  he  told  Kitty  of  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's 
suggestion  about  going  abroad,  he  was  surprised  to  see 
that  she  did  not  approve  of  it,  and  that  she  had  her 
own  very  decided  plans  for  the  future.  She  knew  that 
Levin's  heart  was  at  home  in  his  work,  and  although 
she  neither  understood  his  affairs,  nor  tried  to  under- 
stand them,  still  they  seemed  to  her  very  important ;  as 
their  home  would  be  in  the  country,  she  did  not  wish  to 
go  abroad  where  they  were  not  going  to  live,  but  in- 
sisted on  settling  down  in  the  country  where  their  home 
was  to  be.  This  very  firm  determination  surprised 
Levin ;  but  as  it  seemed  to  him  all  right,  he  begged 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who  had  excellent  taste,  to  go  to 
Pokrovsky  and  take  charge  of  the  improvements  in  his 
house.  It  seemed  to  him  that  that  belonged  to  his 
friend's  province. 

"By  the  way,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  one  day, 
after  his  return  from  the  country,  where  he  had  ar- 
ranged everything  for  the  young  couple's  reception, 
"  have  you  your  certificate  of  confession  ?  " 

"  No  ;  why  ?  " 

"You  can't  be  married  without  it." 

"  Ai',  ai',  af !  "  cried  Levin  ;  "but  it  is  nine  years  since 
I  have  been  to  confession  I  I  had  n't  even  thought 
of  it!" 

**  That  is  good !  "  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  laugh- 
ing, "  and  you  call  me  a  nihilist !  But  that  can't  be 
allowed  to  go  on  ;  you  must  prepare  for  the  sacrament !  " 

"When  .''  there  are  only  four  days  more  !  " 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  arranged  this  matter  also,  and 
Levin  prepared  for  his  devotions.  For  Levin  as  for 
any  man  who  is  an  unbeliever,  yet  respects  the  faith  of 
others,  it  was  very  hard  to  attend  and  participate  in  all 
religious  ceremonies.  Now  in  his  tender  and  sentimental 
franje  of  mind,  the  necessity  of  dissimulating  was  not 


ANNA   KARENINA  263 

only  odious  to  him,  it  was  well-nigh  impossible.  Now, 
he  would  be  obliged  either  to  lie  or  to  mock  at  sacred 
things,  at  a  time  when  his  heart  was  bursting,  when  he 
felt  at  the  height  of  bliss.  He  felt  that  he  could  do 
neither.  But  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts  to  persuade 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  that  there  must  be  some  other 
way  of  obtaining  a  certificate  without  being  forced  to 
confess,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  declared  that  it  was  im- 
possible. 

"  Yes,  but  what  harm  will  it  do  you .''  only  two  days  ! 
and  the  priest  is  a  capital,  bright  little  old  man.  He 
will  pull  this  tooth  for  you  without  your  knowing  it." 

During- the  first  mass  that  he  attended  Levin  did  his 
best  to  recall  the  strong  religious  impressions  of  his 
youth,  when  he  was  between  sixteen  and  seventeen 
years  old ;  but  he  found  that  this  was  perfectly  impos- 
sible. He  then  tried  to  look  on  religious  forms  as  an 
ancient  custom,  without  any  real  meaning,  something 
like  the  habit  of  making  calls ;  this  also  he  felt  that  he 
could  never  do.  Like  most  of  his  contemporaries. 
Levin  was  completely  undecided  in  regard  to  his  reli- 
gious views.  He  could  not  believe ;  at  the  same  time 
he  was  not  firmly  convinced  that  all  these  things  were 
unreasonable.  And  therefore  not  being  in  a  condition 
to  believe  in  the  efficacy  of  what  he  was  doing,  or  to 
look  on  it  with  utter  indifference  as  on  an  empty  for- 
mality, he  experienced  a  sense  of  pain  and  annoyance 
during  the  time  allotted  to  his  devotions  ;  his  conscience 
cried  out  that  to  do  what  he  himself  did  not  understand 
was  false  and  wicked. 

During  the  time  of  the  service,  he  listened  to  the 
prayers,  striving  to  attribute  to  them  some  significance 
which  should  not  be  in  too  open  contradiction  with  his 
convictions ;  but  finding  that  he  could  not  understand 
them,  but  was  compelled  to  criticize  them,  he  tried  not  to 
listen,  but  occupied  himself  with  his  thoughts  —  with  the 
observations  and  recollections  that  arose  in  his  mind  with 
extraordinary  vividness  during  the  solemn  night-office 
in  the  church.  He  stayed  through  mass,  vespers,  and 
evening  prayers  and  on  the  next  morning  he  rose  earlier 


264  ANNA    KARENINA 

than  usual,  and  came  at  eight  o'clock,  without  having 
eaten  anything,  to  morning  prayers  and  confession. 

There  was  no  one  in  the  church  except  a  mendicant 
soldier,  two  old  women,  and  the  officiating  priests.  A 
young  deacon  with  a  long,  thin  back  clearly  defined  in 
two  halves  beneath  his  short  cassock  came  to  meet  him, 
and  going  to  a  little  table  near  the  wall,  began  to  read 
prayers.  Levin,  hearing  him  repeat  in  a  hurried,  mo- 
notonous voice,  clipping  his  words,  the  words,  "  Lord, 
have  mercy  upon  us,"  ^  felt  that  his  thought  was  locked 
up  and  sealed,  and  that  to  touch  it  and  stir  it  now  was 
out  of  the  question,  since,  if  he  did,  confusion  would 
ensue ;  and  therefore  he  stood  behind  the  deacon,  not 
listening  and  not  trying  to  fathom  what  he  said,  but 
thinking  his  own  thoughts. 

"  What  a  wonderful  amount  of  expression  there  is 
about  her  hands,"  he  thought,  recalling  the  evening 
before,  which  he  had  spent  with  Kitty  at  the  table  in 
one  corner  of  the  drawing-room.  There  had  not  been 
much  to  talk  about,  as  was  usually  the  case  at  this  time ; 
she  had  rested  her  hand  on  the  table,  opening  and 
shutting  it,  and  laughing  as  she  made  this  motion.  He 
remembered  how  he  had  kissed  this  hand  and  then  ex- 
amined the  lines  that  crossed  the  pink  palm. 

"■Have  mere'  on  us  again,"  thought  Levin,  making  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  and  bowing,  while  he  noticed  the 
deacon's  supple  movements,  as  he  prostrated  himself 
in  front  of  him.  "  Then  she  took  my  hand,  and  in  turn 
examined  it.  'You  have  a  famous  hand,'  she  said  to 
me."  He  looked  at  his  own  hand,  and  then  at  the 
deacon's,  with  its  stubbed  fingers.  "  Yes  !  Now  it  will 
soon  be  over.  No ;  he  is  beginning  another  prayer. 
Yes ;  he  is  bowing  to  the  ground ;  that  always  comes 
just  before  the  end." 

The  deacon  took  the  three-ruble  note,  discreetly 
slipped  into  his  hand,  under  his  rough  shaggy  cuff,  and 
promised  to  register  Levin's  name ;  then  quickly  clack- 
ing in  his  new  boots  across  the  flagstones  of  the  empty 
church,  he  went  to  the  altar.     In  a  moment  he  looked 

^  Gospodi  pomilut,  shortened  by  his  rapid  speech  mto  pomilos,  pomilos. 


ANNA    KARENINA  265 

out  and  beckoned  to  Levin.  The  thought  till  that  mo- 
ment locked  up  in  Levin's  brain  began  to  stir,  but  he 
made  haste  to  bring  it  to  order.  "  It  will  be  arranged 
somehow,"  he  said  to  himself  and  went  toward  the 
ambo.  He  mounted  several  steps,  turned  to  the  right, 
and  saw  the  priest,  a  little  old  man,  whose  thin  beard 
was  almost  white,  with  kindly  but  rather  weary  eyes, 
standing  near  the  reading-desk,  turning  over  the  leaves 
of  a  missal.  After  a  slight  bow  to  Levin,  he  began  to 
read  the  prayers ;  having  iinished  them,  he  kneeled  and 
faced  Levin :  — 

*'  Christ  is  here,  invisible  though,  to  hear  your  confes- 
sion," said  he,  pointing  to  the  crucifix.  "  Do  you  be- 
lieve all  that  the  Holy  Apostolic  Church  teaches  us  ? " 
he  continued,  turning  his  eyes  from  Levin's  face  and 
crossing  his  hand  under  his  stole. 

"  I  have  doubted,  I  still  doubt  everything ....  "  said 
Levin,  in  a  voice  which  sounded  disagreeable  to  his 
own  ears,  and  he  was  silent. 

The  priest  waited  a  few  moments  to  see  if  he  would 
say  anything  more,  then  closing  his  eyes  and  speaking 
rapidly  with  a  Vladimirsky  accent,  he  said :  — 

"  To  doubt  is  characteristic  of  human  weakness ;  we 
must  pray  the  Lord  Almighty  to  strengthen  you.  What 
are  your  principal  sins  ?  " 

The  priest  spoke  without  the  least  interruption,  and 
as  if  he  were  afraid  of  losing  time. 

"  My  principal  sin  is  doubt.  I  doubt  everything,  and 
I  am  generally  doubting." 

"  To  doubt  is  characteristic  of  human  weakness," 
said  the  priest,  using  the  same  words ;  "  what  do  you 
doubt  principally  ?  " 

"  Everything.  I  sometimes  even  doubt  the  existence 
of  God,"  said  Levin,  in  spite  of  himself,  horrified  at  the 
impropriety  of  what  he  was  saying.  But  his  words 
seemed  to  make  no  impression  on  the  priest. 

"  How  can  you  doubt  the  existence  of  God .'' "  he 
asked,  with  an  almost  imperceptible  smile. 

Levin  was  silent. 

"  What  doubts  can  you  have  about  the  Creator  when 


^66  ANNA   KARENINA 

you  contemplate  His  works  ? "  pursued  the  priest,  in  his 
quick  habitual  utterance,  "  Who  ornamented  the  celes- 
tial vault  with  its  stars  ?  who  decked  the  earth  with  all 
its  .beauty  ?  How  can  these  things  exist  without  a  Crea- 
tor?'.'   And  he  cast  a  questioning  glance  at  Levin. 

Levin  felt  that  it  would  be  out  of  place  to  enter  into 
a  philosophical  discussion  with  the  priest,  and,  therefore, 
in   his  reply   said  only  what  referred  directly  to   the 
question  :  — 
ttn'jil  do  not  know." 

"  You  do  not  know  ?  Then  how  can  you  doubt  that 
God  has  created  everything  ? "  asked  the  priest,  with  a 
light'hearted  perplexity. 

"  I  cannot  understand  it,"  replied  Levin,  blushing, 
and  feeling  that  his  words  were  stupid,  and  that  in  such 
a  position  they  could  not  be  other  than  stupid. 

"  Pray  to  God,  have  recourse  to  Him ;  the  Fathers  of 
the  Church  themselves  doubted,  and  asked  God  to 
strengthen  their  faith.  The  devil  has  mighty  power, 
and  we  should  resist  him.  Pray  to  God,  pray  to  God," 
repeated  the  priest,  rapidly. 

Then  he  kept  silent  for  a  moment,  as  if  he  were  buried 
in  thought. 

"  They  tell  me  that  you  intend  to  marry  the  daughter 
of  my  parishioner  and  spiritual  son,  the  Prince  Shcher- 
batsky,"  he  added  with  a  smile.  "  She  is  a  beautiful 
girl." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Levin,  blushing  for  the  priest.  "  Why 
does  he  need  to  ask  such  questions  at  confession  .■* "  he 
said  to  himself. 

And,  as  if  replying  to  his  thought,  the  priest  con- 
tinued :  — 

**  You  are  preparing  for  marriage,  and  perhaps  God 
may  grant  you  offspring.  Isn't  that  so.''  Now,  what 
education  will  you  give  to  your  little  children  if  you  do 
not  conquer  the  temptations  of  the  devil,  who  causes 
you  to  doubt  ? "  he  asked  with  gentle  reproach.  "  If 
you  love  your  children  as  a  good  father,  you  will  not 
only  wish  for  them  riches,  luxury,  and  honor,  but  still 
more,  their  salvation  and  their  spiritual  enlightenment 


ANNA   KARENINA  267 

by  the  light  of  truth ;  is  this  not  so  ?  How  will  you 
reply  to  the  innocent  child  who  asks  you,  '  Papasha, 
who  made  all  that  delights  me  on  the  earth,  —  the  water, 
the  sunshine,  the  flowers,  the  plants  ? '  Will  you  an- 
swer, '  I  know  nothing  about  it '  ?  Can  you  ignore 
what  the  Lord  God  in  His  infinite  goodness  has  revealed 
to  you  ?  And  if  the  child  asks  you,  '  What  awaits  me 
beyond  the  tomb  ? '  what  will  you  say  to  him  if  you 
know  nothing  ?  How  will  you  answer  him  ?  Will  you 
give  him  up  to  the  seductions  of  the  world  and  the 
devil  ?  That  is  not  right ! "  said  he,  stopping,  and 
turning  his  head  on  one  side,  looked  at  Levin  out  of 
his  kindly,  gentle  eyes. 

Levin  was  silent,  not  because  he  was  afraid  this  time 
to  enter  into  a  discussion  with  the  priest,  but  because 
nobody  had  ever  put  such  questions  to  him  before,  and 
because  he  thought  there  was  plenty  of  time  to  consider 
them  before  his  children  should  be  in  a  state  to  ques- 
tion him. 

*'  You  are  about  to  enter  upon  a  phase  of  life,"  con- 
tinued the  priest,  "  where  one  must  choose  his  path 
and  keep  to  it.  Pray  God  in  His  mercy  to  keep  and 
sustain  you ;  and  in  conclusion :  May  our  Lord  God, 
Jesus  Christ,  pardon  you,  my  son,  in  His  goodness  and 
loving-kindness  to  all  mankind."  And  the  priest,  end- 
ing the  formulas  of  absolution,  took  leave  of  him,  after 
giving  him  his  blessing. 

Levin,  returning  home  that  day,  felt  happy  enough 
at  the  thought  of  being  free  from  a  false  situation  with- 
out having  been  obliged  to  lie.  Besides,  there  remained 
with  him  a  vague  idea  that  what  that  good  and  gentle 
little  old  man  said  to  him  was  not  altogether  so  stupid 
as  he  at  first  had  thought  it  was  going  to  be,  and  that 
he  really  had  something  worth  clearing  up  sometime. 

"  Not  now,  of  course,"  he  thought,  "  but  later  on." 

Levin  felt  more  than  ever  at  this  time  that  there 
were  troubled  and  obscure  places  in  his  soul,  and  that, 
concerning  his  religion,  he  was  in  exactly  the  same 
position  which  he  so  clearly  saw  others  occupying,  and 
disliked,  and  which  he  blamed  his  friend  Sviazhsky  for. 


268  ANNA    KARENINA 

Levin  spent  that  evening  with  his  betrothed  at  Dolly's, 
and  in  trying  to  explain  to  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  the 
excitable  condition  in  which  he  found  himself,  was  very 
gay ;  he  said  that  he  was  like  a  dog  being  trained  to 
jump  through  a  hoop,  which,  delighted  at  having  learned 
his  lesson,  wags  his  tail,  and  is  eager  to  leap  over  the 
table  and  through  the  window. 


CHAPTER   II 

The  princess  and  Darya  Aleksandrovna  insisted  on 
strictly  observing  the  established  customs  ;  so  Levin  was 
not  to  see  his  "  bride  "  on  the  day  of  the  wedding,  and  he 
dined  at  his  hotel  with  three  bachelors,  who  met  in  his 
room  by  chance :  they  were  Sergyei"  Ivanovitch ;  Kata- 
vasof,  an  old  university  friend,  now  professor  of  natural 
sciences,  whom  Levin  had  met  on  the  street  and  brought 
home  to  dinner  ;  Chirikof,  his  shafer  or  best  man,  justice 
of  the  peace  at  Moscow,  and  Levin's  companion  in  bear- 
hunting. 

The  dinner  was  very  lively.  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  was 
in  the  best  of  spirits,  and  greatly  enjoyed  Katavasof's 
originality.  Katavasof,  feeling  that  his  originality  was 
appreciated  and  understood,  made  a  great  display  of  it 
and  Chirikof  added  his  share  of  gayety  to  the  conversa- 
tion. 

"  So,  here  is  our  friend  Konstantin  Dmitrievitch," 
said  Katavasof,  with  the  slow  speech  of  a  professor 
accustomed  to  talk  ex  cathedra  ;  "  what  a  talented  fellow 
he  was !  I  speak  of  him  in  the  past,  for  he  no  longer 
exists.  He  loved  science  when  he  left  the  university ; 
he  took  an  interest  in  humanity ;  now  he  employs  half 
his  faculties  in  deceiving  himself,  and  the  other  half  in 
apologizing  for  the  deception." 

"  I  never  met  a  more  confirmed  enemy  of  marriage 
than  you,"  said  Sergyef  Ivanovitch. 

"  No,  I  am  not  its  enemy ;  I  am  a  friend  of  the  dis- 
tribution of  labor.  People  who  cannot  do  anything 
ought  to  be  the  ones  to  propagate  the  race.     All  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  269 

rest  should  devote  themselves  to  their  intellectual  devel- 
opment and  welfare.  That  is  my  opinion.  I  know  a 
great  many  people  are  inclined  to  confound  these  two, 
but  I  am  not  of  the  number." 

"How  delighted  I  should  be  to  hear  that  you  were  in 
love  !  "  exclaimed  Levin.  "  Pray  invite  me  to  your  wed- 
ding." 

"  But  I  am  already  in  love." 

"  Yes,  with  some  cuttlefish.  You  know,"  said  Levin, 
turning  to  his  brother,  "  Mikhail  Semyonuitch  has  writ- 
ten a  work  on  the  nutrition,  and  ....  " 

"  Now,  I  beg  of  you  not  to  confuse  matters !  It  is 
of  no  consequence  what  I  have  written ;  but  it  is  a  fact 
that  I  love  a  cuttlefish." 

"  That  need  not  prevent  your  loving  a  wife." 

"  No ;  but  my  wife  would  object  to  my  loving  the 
cuttlefish." 

"  Why  so  .?  " 

"  You  will  see  how  it  will  be.  Now,  you  love  your 
farming,  hunting Well !  just  wait  awhile  !  " 

"  I  met  Arkhip  to-day,"  said  Chirikof  ;  "  he  says  that 
there  are  quantities  of  elk  at  Prudnoye,  and  two 
bears." 

"  Well !  you  may  hunt  them  without  me." 

"You  see  how  it  is,"  said  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  "You 
may  as  well  say  good-by  to  bear-hunting ;  your  wife 
won't  allow  it." 

Levin  smiled.  The  idea  that  his  wife  would  object 
to  his  hunting  seemed  so  delightful  that  he  was  ready 
to  renounce  the  pleasure  of  ever  meeting  a  bear  again. 

"  However,  I  am  sorry  to  hunt  those  two  bears  with- 
out you,"  said  Chirikof.  "  Do  you  remember  the  last 
time  at  Khapilovo  ?     The  hunting  was  marvelous." 

Levin  did  not  care  to  spoil  his  friend's  illusion  that 
life  would  be  worth  nothing  without  hunting,  and  so  he 
made  no  reply. 

"The  custom  of  saying  good-by  to  one's  bachelor 
life  is  not  without  meaning,"  said  Sergyel  Ivanovitch. 
"  However  happy  one  may  be,  a  man  regrets  his 
liberty." 


Vfo  ANNA    KARENINA 

"Confess  that,  like  Gogolevsky,  when  he  was  en- 
gaged, you  feel  like  jumping  out  of  the  window." 

"  Certainly  ;  but  he  won't  confess  it,"  said  Katavasof, 
with  a  loud  laugh. 

"The  window   is   open Come   now,  let  us  go  to 

Tver!  We  might  find  one  bear  in  her  lair.  Indeed, 
we  have  still  time  to  catch  the  five  o'clock  train,"  said 
Chirikof,  smiling.     "  Hear  them  laugh  !  " 

"  Well,  upon  my  honor,"  replied  Levin,  smiling,  too, 
"  I  cannot  discover  the  least  trace  of  regret  in  my  soul 
for  my  lost  hberty." 

"Yes!  your  soul  is  in  such  a  chaos  now  that  you 
cannot  find  anything  in  it,"  said  Katavasof.  "Wait  till 
it  becomes  calmer;  then  you  will  see." 

"  No,  if  I  felt  in  the  least  degree  that  there  was  noth- 
ing beyond  my  feeling  of  "  —  he  did  not  like  to  speak 
of  love  before  Katavasof  —  "of  happiness,  I  should 
regret  my  lost  freedom.  But  it  is  not  so  at  all ;  I  am 
even  delighted  at  my  loss  of  freedom." 

"You  are  a  hopeless  case,"  exclaimed  Katavasof. 
"  However,  let  us  drink  to  his  recovery,  or  let  us  at 
least  hope  for  him  that  one  per  cent  of  his  illusions  may 
be  accomplished.  And  even  that  would  be  such  happi- 
ness as  was  never  known  on  this  earth !  " 

Shortly  after  dinner  the  guests  separated,  to  dress  for 
the  wedding. 

When  he  was  left  alone,  and  had  a  chance  to  think 
over  the  conversation  of  these  bachelors.  Levin  again 
asked  himself  whether  he  really  regretted  the  liberty  of 
which  his  friends  had  just  been  talking,  and  he  smiled 
at  the  idea. 

"  Liberty }  why  liberty }  Happiness  for  me  consists  in 
loving,  in  thinking  her  thoughts,  in  wishing  her  wishes, 
without  any  liberty.     That  is  happiness !  " 

"  But  can  I  know  her  thoughts,  her  wishes,  her  feel- 
ings ? "  whispered  some  voice.  The  smile  disappeared 
from  his  face  and  he  fell  into  a  deep  study.  And  sud- 
denly a  strange  feeling  came  over  him  :  fear  and  doubt 
came  over  him  —  doubt  about  everything. 

"  Suppose  she  does  not  love  me  ?     What  if  she  is 


ANNA   KARENINA  271 

marrying  me  merely  for  the  sake  of  being  married  ? 
What  if  she  does  not  herself  know  what  she  is  doing  ? " 
he  asked  himself,  "  Will  she,  perhaps,  see  her  mistake, 
and  discover,  after  we  are  married,  that  she  does  not 
love  me,  and  that  she  never  can  love  me  ?  " 

And  strange,  even  painful,  thoughts  about  Kitty 
came  to  his  mind ;  he  began  to  be  violently  jealous  of 
Vronsky,  just  as  he  had  been  the  year  before ;  there 
came  up  before  him,  like  the  memory  of  yesterday,  that 
evening  when  he  had  seen  them  together,  and  he  sus- 
pected her  of  not  having  confessed  everything  to  him. 

He  quickly  sprang  up. 

"  No,"  said  he,  in  despair,  "  I  cannot  let  this  remain 
so !  I  will  go  and  find  her,  —  I  will  talk  with  her,  and 
say  to  her  again,  for  the  last  time :  '  We  are  free ;  is  it 
not  better  to  stop  just  where  we  are  ?  Anything  is 
better  than  lifelong  unhappiness,  shame,  distrust ! '  " 

And  with  despair  in  his  heart,  full  of  hatred  toward 
all  mankind,  toward  himself  and  Kitty,  he  left  the  hotel 
and  hastened  to  her  house. 

He  found  her  in  one  of  the  rear  rooms  sitting  on  a 
large  chest,  busy  with  her  maid,  looking  over  dresses  of 
all  colors,  spread  out  over  the  backs  of  the  chairs  and 
on  the  floor. 

"Akh!"  she  exclaimed,  beaming  with  joy  at  seeing 
him.  "  What  brings  thee .-'  What  brings  you .-'  "  Even 
up  to  this  last  day  she  sometimes  said  tui,  sometimes 
viii.  "  I  was  not  expecting  you  !  I  am  just  disposing 
of  my  maiden  wardrobe." 

"Ah!  that  is  good!"  he  replied,  frowning  at  the 
maid. 

"Run  away,  Duniasha ;  I  will  call  you,"  said  Kitty; 
and  as  soon  as  she  had  gone  she  asked,  using  the  sec- 
ond person  of  the  pronoun,  "  What  is  the  matter  with 
thee  ?"  this  time  resolutely.  She  remarked  her  lover's 
strange,  excited,  and  gloomy  face,  and  was  seized  with 
fear. 

"  Kitty,  I  am  in  torture,  and  I  cannot  suffer  alone  1 " 
he  said  to  her  with  despair  in  his  voice,  stopping  in 
front  of  her  and  looking  into  her  eyes  in  a  beseeching 


272  ANNA   KARENINA 

way.  He  at  once  saw  by  her  face,  so  sincere  and  lov- 
ing, that  nothing  whatever  would  result  from  his  deter- 
mination ;  yet  he  felt  an  urgent  need  of  being  reassured 
from  her  own  lips. 

"  I  came  to  tell  you  that  it  is  not  yet  too  late ;  that 
everything  can  even  now  be  taken  back." 

"  What .''  I  do  not  understand.  What  is  the  matter 
with  thee.'' " 

"  I  am  —  as  I  have  said  and  thought  a  thousand  times 
before  —  I  am  not  worthy  of  you.  You  once  could  not. 
consent  to  marry  me.  Think  of  it !  Perhaps  you  are 
mistaken  now.  Think  of  it  well.  You  cannot  love  me 
....if....  it  is  better  to  acknowledge  it,"  he  continued, 
without  looking  at  her.  "  I  shall  be  miserable,  but  no 
matter ;  let  people  say  what  they  please ;  anything  is 
better  than  unhappiness  ! ....  But  anything  is  better  now, 
while  there  is  yet  time  ....  " 

"  I  do  not  understand  you,"  she  replied,  frightened. 
"You  mean  you  want  to  take  back  your  word ....  break 
off  our....  " 

"  Yes,  if  you  do  not  love  me." 

"You  must  be  insane  !  "  she  exclaimed,  red  with  vexa- 
tion. But  the  sight  of  Levin's  piteous  face  arrested 
her  anger ;  and  pushing  the  frocks  from  one  of  the 
chairs,  she  sat  down  near  him. 

"  What  are  you  thinking  of  .''     Tell  me  all." 

"  I  think  that  you  cannot  love  me.  Why  should  you 
love  me  ? " 

"  Bozhe  mof !  what  can  I  do  } "  ....  said  she ;  and  she 
burst  into  tears. 

"  Akh  !  what  have  I  done  ? "  he  cried  instantly,  and 
throwing  himself  on  his  knees,  he  covered  her  hands 
with  kisses. 

When  the  princess  came  into  the  room  five  minutes 
later,  she  found  them  completely  reconciled.  Kitty  had 
not  only  convinced  him  of  her  love,  but  in  answer  to  his 
question  she  had  explained  to  him  why  she  loved  him. 
She  said  that  she  loved  him  because  she  understood  him 
perfectly  ;  because  she  knew  that  he  could  love,  and  that 
all  he  loved  was  good  and  beautiful. 


I 


ANNA    KARENINA  273 

Levin  found  the  explanation  perfectly  satisfactory. 
When  the  princess  came  in,  they  were  sitting  side  by 
side  on  the  big  chest,  looking  over  the  frocks,  and  dis- 
cussing their  fate.  Kitty  wanted  to  give  Duniasha  the 
brown  frock  that  she  wore  the  day  Levin  proposed  to 
her ;  and  he  insisted  that  it  should  not  be  given  to  any 
one,  and  that  Duniasha  should  have  the  blue  frock. 

"  But  don't  you  see  that  she  is  a  brunette,  and  the 
blue  frock  will  not  be  becoming  to  her  ? ....  I  have 
thought  it  all  over."  .... 

When  she  learned  why  Levin  was  there,  the  princess 
was  half  vexed  at  him,  and  sent  him  home  to  make  his 
own  toilet  and  leave  Kitty  in  peace,  as  Charles  was 
going  to  dress  Kitty's  hair. 

"  She  is  quite  excited  enough,"  said  she ;  "  she  has 
eaten  nothing  for  days,  and  is  losing  all  her  beauty ; 
and  here  you  come  to  trouble  her  with  your  foolishness. 
Come,  go  away  now,  my  dear." 

Levin  went  back  to  the  hotel,  guilty  and  ashamed,  but 
reassured.  His  brother,  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  and 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  in  full  dress,  were  already  wait- 
ing with  holy  images  to  bless  him.  There  was  no  time 
to  be  lost.  Darya  Aleksandrovna  had  to  go  home  again 
to  get  her  son  perfumed  and  curled  for  the  occasion ; 
the  child  was  to  carry  the  sacred  image  before  the 
bride.  Then  one  carriage  must  be  sent  for  the  shafer 
or  best  man,  while  another  was  to  come  to  the  hotel  for 

Sergyei'  Ivanovitch This  day  was  full  of  complications. 

One  thing  was  certain,  that  no  delay  was  permissible, 
for  it  was  already  half-past  six. 

The  ceremony  of  the  benediction  was  anything  but 
solemn.  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  assumed  a  comically 
grave  attitude  beside  his  wife,  raised  the  sacred  image, 
and  obliged  Levin  to  kneel  before  it,  while  he  blessed 
him  with  an  affectionate  and  wicked  smile ;  at  last  he 
kissed  him  three  times ;  and  Darya  Aleksandrovna  did 
the  same  very  hastily,  for  she  was  in  a  great  hurry  to 
get  away,  and  in  great  perplexity  about  the  carriage 
arrangements. 

"  Well !     This  is  what  we  will  do :  you  go  for  him  in 

VOL.  II.  —  18 


274  ANNA    KARENINA 

our  carriage,  and  perhaps  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  will  be  so 
good  as  to  come  immediately,  and  to  send  back  his."  .... 

"  Certainly,  with  pleasure." 

"  We  will  come  back  together.  Has  the  luggage  been 
sent.''"  asked  Stepan  Arkady evitch. 

"Yes,"  replied  Levin;  and  he  called  Kuzma  to  help 
him  dress. 


CHAPTER  III 

A  THRONG  of  people,  principally  women,  surrounded 
the  church,  brilliantly  lighted  for  the  wedding ;  those 
who  could  not  get  inside  were  pushing  up  around  the 
windows  and  elbowing  one  another  as  they  strove  to 
look  through  the  gratings. 

Already  more  than  twenty  carriages  stood  in  a  line 
in  the  street,  under  the  supervision  of  policemen.  A 
police  officer  stood  at  the  entrance  in  brilliant  uniform, 
unmindful  of  the  cold.  Carriages  kept  driving  up 
and  departing;  now  ladies  in  full  dress,  holding  up 
their  trains ;  now  men  taking  off  their  hats,  or  kipis. 
In  the  church  itself  both  chandeliers  and  all  the  can- 
dles before  the  images  were  already  burning.  The 
golden  gleam  on  the  red  background  of  the  ikonostas, 
and  the  gilded  chasing  of  the  ikons,  and  the  silver  of  the 
candelabra  and  of  the  censers,  and  the  flaggings  of  the 
floor,  and  the  tapestries  and  the  banners  suspended  in 
the  choir  and  the  steps  of  the  pulpit,  and  the  old  dingy 
missals,  and  the  priestly  robes,  were  all  flooded  with 
light. 

On  the  right-hand  side  of  the  warm  church,  amid  the 
brave  array  of  dress-coats,  uniforms,  and  white  neck- 
ties, and  satin,  silk,  and  velvet  robes ;  of  coiffures, 
flowers,  and  bare  necks  and  arms,  and  long  gloves, 
there  was  a  constant  flow  of  restrained  but  lively  con- 
versation, which  echoed  strangely  beneath  the  high, 
vaulted  roof. 

Whenever  the  door  opened  with  a  plaintive  creak  the 
murmur  ceased,  and  every  one  turned  around,  hoping 


ANNA   KARENINA  275 

at  last  to  see  the  bridal  pair.  But  the  door  had  already 
opened  more  than  ten  times,  and  each  time  it  proved 
to  be  some  belated  guest,  or  guests,  admitted  among  the 
number  of  the  friends  on  the  right,  or  some  spectator 
who  had  been  clever  enough  to  deceive  or  elude  the 
police  officer,  and  sat  down  among  the  strangers  on  the 
left. 

The  friends  and  strangers  had  passed  through  every 
phase  of  waiting ;  at  first  they  supposed  that  the  bride 
and  bridegroom  would  be  there  any  minute,  and  did  not 
attach  any  importance  to  the  delay ;  then  they  began 
to  look  around  at  the  door  more  and  more  frequently, 
wondering  what  could  have  happened ;  at  last  the  delay 
began  to  be  awkward,  and  the  relatives  and  invited 
guests  tried  to  assume  an  air  of  indifference,  as  if  they 
were  absorbed  in  their  conversation. 

The  archdeacon,  as  ii.  to  let  people  know  that  his 
time  was  precious,  every  now  and  then  gave  an  impa- 
tient cough,  which  made  the  windows  rattle ;  in  the 
choir  the  singers,  tired  of  waiting,  could  be  heard,  now 
trying  their  voices,  and  now  blowing  their  noses ;  the 
priest  kept  sending,  now  a  sacristan,  now  a  deacon,  to 
find  out  if  the  bridegroom  was  coming,  and  appeared 
himself  more  and  more  frequently  at  the  side  doors  in 
his  lilac  cassock  with  its  embroidered  sash. 

Finally  a  lady  looked  at  her  watch,  and  said  to  the 
one  sitting  next  her,  "  This  is  very  strange  !  "  And  im- 
mediately all  the  invited  guests  began  to  express  their 
surprise  and  discontent  aloud.  One  of  the  shafers,  or 
best  men,  went  to  see  what  had  happened. 

During  ail  this  time  Kitty,  in  her  white  dress,  long 
veil,  and  wreath  of  orange  blossoms,  was  standing  in  the 
"  hall "  of  the  Shcherbatsky  mansion  with  her  sister, 
Madame  Lvova,  and  her  nuptial  godmother,^  looking 
out  of  the  window,  and  had  been  waiting  for  half  an 
hour  for  the  shafer  to  announce  the  bridegroom's  arrival 
at  the  church. 

Levin,  meanwhile,  in  black  trousers,  but  without 
either  coat  or  waistcoat,  was  walking  up  and  down  his 

1  Posazhonaya  maf. 


276  ANNA   KARENINA 

room  at  the  hotel,  opening  the  door  every  minute  to 
look  out  into  the  corridor.  But  in  the  corridor  nothing 
like  what  he  wanted  was  to  be  seen,  and,  wringing  his 
hands  in  despair,  he  would  pour  forth  his  complaints  to 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who  was  calmly  smoking. 

"  Did  you  ever  see  a  man  in  such  a  horribly  absurd 
situation  ?  " 

"  Yes,  abominable  ! "  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  with 
his  tranquil  smile.  "  But  be  calm ;  they  will  have  it 
here  very  soon." 

"  No,  hang  it ! "  said  Levin,  with  restrained  fury, 
"And  these  idiotic  open  waistcoats.  Absolutely  use- 
less!" he  added,  looking  at  his  tumbled  shirt-bosom. 
"And  what  if  my  trunks  have  already  gone  to  the 
railway  station  .''  "  he  exclaimed  in  despair. 

"  Then  you  can  wear  mine." 

"  I  might  have  done  that  in  the  first  place." 

"  Don't  be  ridiculous ....  wait ;  it  is  sure  to  come  all  right." 

The  fact  was  that  when  Levin  began  to  dress,  Kuzma, 
his  old  servant,  was  supposed  to  have  taken  out  his 
dress-coat,  his  waistcoat,  and  all  that  was  necessary. 

"  But  the  shirt !  "  cried  Levin. 

"  You  have  your  shirt  on,"  replied  Kuzma,  with  an 
innocent  smile. 

Kuzma  had  not  thought  to  provide  a  clean  shirt,  and, 
having  received  his  orders  to  pack  everything  up  and 
take  them  to  the  Shcherbatskys'  house,  from  which  the 
young  couple  was  to  start  away  that  same  evening,  he 
had  done  so,  leaving  out  only  his  dress-suit.  The  one 
that  Levin  had  worn  all  day  was  tumbled,  and  unfit  to 
wear  with  his  open  waistcoat ;  it  would  take  too  long 
to  send  to  the  Shcherbatskys'.  They  sent  out  to  buy 
one  ;  the  lackey  returned  empty-handed  —  everything 
was  shut  up  :  it  was  Sunday.  A  shirt  was  brought  from 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch' s  house  —  it  was  ridiculously  broad 
and  short ;  at  last,  in  despair,  he  had  to  send  to  the 
Shcherbatskys'  to  have  his  trunks  opened.  So,  while 
the  people  were  waiting  in  the  church,  the  unfortunate 
groom,  like  a  wild  beast  in  a  cage,  was  ramping  with 
despair  up  and  down  his  room,  looking  out  into  the 


ANNA   KARENINA  277 

corridor,  and  in  his  horror  and  despair  imagining  what 
Kitty  might  be  thinking  all  this  time. 

Finally  the  guilty  Kuzma  rushed  into  the  room  all  out 
of  breath,  with  the  shirt  in  his  hand. 

"  I  got  there  just  in  time,  as  they  were  carrying  off 
the  trunks  !  "  he  exclaimed. 

In  three  minutes  Levin  rushed  through  the  corridor, 
without  daring  to  look  at  his  watch,  for  fear  of  increas- 
ing his  agony  of  mind. 

"  You  can't  change  anything,"  said  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch,  with  a  smile,  following  leisurely.  "  I  told  you  it 
would  come  out  all  right." 


CHAPTER   IV 

**  Here  they  come  !  —  There  he  is  !  —  Which  one  ?  Is 
it  the  youngest  .-*  Just  look  at  her !  Poor  little  matushka, 
more  dead  than  alive !  "  was  murmured  through  the 
crowd,  as  Levin,  having  met  the  bride  at  the  entrance, 
came  into  the  church  with  her. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  told  his  wife  the  reason  of  the 
delay,  and  a  smile  passed  over  the  congregation  as  it 
was  whispered  about.  Levin  neither  saw  any  one  nor 
anything,  but  kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  his  bride. 

Every  one  said  that  she  had  grown  very  homely  dur- 
ing these  last  days,  and  certainly  she  did  not  look  so 
pretty  under  her  bridal  wreath  as  usual ;  but  such  was 
not  Levin's  opinion.  He  looked  at  her  high  coiffure, 
with  the  long  white  veil  attached,  and  white  flowers,  at 
her  high  plaited  collar  encircling  her  slender  neck  in  a 
peculiarly  maidenly  fashion,  and  just  showing  it  a  little 
in  front,  —  her  remarkably  graceful  figure ;  and  she 
seemed  more  beautiful  to  him  than  ever.  But  it  was 
not  because  the  flowers  or  her  veil  or  her  Paris  gown 
added  anything  to  her  beauty,  but  because  of  the  expres- 
sion of  her  lovely  face,  her  eyes,  her  lips,  with  their  in- 
nocent sincerity,  preserved  in  spite  of  all  this  adornment. 

"  I  was  beginning  to  think  that  you  had  made  up  your 
mind  to  run  away,"  she  said  to  him  with  a  smile. 


278  ANNA   KARENINA 

"What  happened  to  me  was  so  absurd  that  I  am 
ashamed  to  tell  you  about  it,"  he  replied,  reddening,  and 
he  was  compelled  to  turn  to  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  who 
came  up  at  that  moment. 

"The  tale  of  the  shirt  is  a  good  one,"  said  Sergyef 
Ivanovitch,  throwing  back  his  head  with  a  laugh. 

"Yes,  yes,"  replied  Levin,  without  understanding  a 
word  which  had  been  said. 

"  Well,  Kostia,  now  is  the  time  to  make  a  serious  de- 
cision," said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  pretending  to  look 
greatly  scared.  "  The  question  is  a  grave  one,  and  you 
must  appreciate  its  full  importance.  I  have  been  asked 
whether  the  candles  shall  be  new  ones,  or  those  that 
have  been  partly  burned;  the  difference  is  ten  rubles," 
he  added,  pursing  his  lips  in  a  smile.  "  I  have  decided 
about  it,  but  I  am  afraid  that  you  will  not  approve  of  it." 

Levin  knew  that  there  was  some  joke  about  it,  but 
he  could  not  smile. 

"  What  will  you  decide  on }  new  ones,  or  old  ones  ?  — 
that  is  the  question." 

"Yes,  yes;  new  ones." 

"  Well,  I  am  very  glad.  The  question  is  settled," 
said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "  Of  how  little  importance 
a  man  is  at  such  a  time  as  this ! "  he  murmured  to 
Chirikof,  while  Levin  drew  near  to  his  bride,  after 
looking  at  her  in  a  bewildered  way. 

"  Notice,  Kitty,  who  first  sets  foot  on  the  carpet ! " 
said  the  Countess  Nordstone,  stepping  up  to  her.  — 
"You  look  your  best,"  she  added,  addressing  Levin. 

"  Are  you  frightened  ? "  asked  Marya  Dmitrievna,  an 
old  aunt. 

"  You  are  n't  cold,  are  you  ?  You  look  pale.  Bend 
forward  a  moment,"  said  Madame  Lvova,  raising  her 
beautiful  round  arms  to  repair  some  disarrangement  of 
her  sister's  flowers. 

Dolly  came  up,  and  tried  to  say  something ;  but  she 
could  not  speak,  and  burst  into  tears  and  laughed  un- 
naturally. 

Kitty  looked  at  those  around  her  as  absent-mindedly 
as  Levin. 


ANNA    KARENINA  279 

During  this  time  the  officiating  clergymen  had  put  on 
their  sacerdotal  robes,  and  the  priest,  accompanied  by 
the  deacon,  came  to  the  lectern  placed  at  the  entrance 
of  the  sacred  doors.  The  priest  addressed  a  few  words 
to  Levin ;  but  Levin  failed  to  understand  what  he  said. 

"  Take  the  bride's  hand  and  go  forward,"  whispered 
his  best  man  to  him. 

For  a  long  time  he  was  unable  to  make  out  what  was 
expected  of  him.  For  a  long  time  they  tried  to  coach 
him  and  were  ready  to  give  it  up,  because  he  did  the 
opposite  of  what  he  was  told.  Finally,  he  compre- 
hended that  he  was  to  take  Kitty's  right  hand  with  his 
right  hand,  without  changing  his  position.  When  at 
last  he  took  his  bride  by  her  hand  in  the  proper  way,  the 
priest  advanced  a  few  steps,  and  stopped  in  front  of  the 
lectern.  The  relatives  and  invited  guests  followed  the 
young  couple  with  a  murmur  of  voices  and  a  rustling  of 
trains.  Some  one  stooped  down  to  arrange  the  bride's 
train ;  in  the  church,  a  silence  so  profound  reigned  that 
the  drops  of  wax  could  be  heard  falling  from  the  candles. 

The  old  priest,  in  a  calotte,  his  white  hair  shining  like 
silver,  drawn  back  behind  his  ears,  drew  forth  his  little 
wrinkled  hands  from  beneath  his  heavy  silver  chasuble, 
ornamented  with  a  cross  of  gold,  approached  the  lectern, 
and  turned  over  the  leaves  of  the  missal. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  came  softly  and  spoke  in  his 
ear,  made  a  sign  to  Levin,  and  then  stepped  back. 

The  priest  hghted  two  candles  decorated  with  flowers, 
and,  holding  them  slanting  in  his  left  hand,  so  that  the 
wax  slowly  fell  from  them,  turned  toward  the  young 
couple.  It  was  the  same  old  man  who  had  heard  Lev- 
in's confession.  He  looked  at  the  bride  and  bridegroom 
out  of  his  sad,  weary  eyes,  and  then,  with  a  sigh,  blessed 
Levin  with  his  right  hand ;  then,  with  especial  tender- 
ness, placed  his  fingers  on  Kitty's  bended  head,  gave 
them  the  candles,  and  taking  the  censer  moved  quietly 
away. 

"  Is  this  all  real  ? "  thought  Levin,  and  he  glanced  at 
his  bride.  He  looked  down  somewhat  from  above  on 
her  profile,  and  by  the  motion  of  her  lips  and  her  eye- 


28o  ANNA    KARENINA 

brows  he  knew  that  she  felt  his  look.  She  did  not  raise 
her  head ;  but  the  high-plaited  collar  which  reached  to 
her  little  pink  ear  trembled  a  little.  He  saw  that  she 
was  stifling  a  sigh,  and  her  hand,  imprisoned  in  its  long 
glove,  trembled  as  it  held  the  candle. 

The  whole  affair  of  the  shirt,  his  late  arrival,  his  con- 
versation with  his  relatives  and  friends,  their  displeas- 
ure, his  ridiculous  position,  —  everything  at  once  vanished 
from  his  memory,  and  he  was  conscious  of  a  mixed  feel- 
ing of  terror  and  joy. 

The  archdeacon,  a  tall,  handsome  man,  his  hair  curl- 
ing all  around  his  head  and  wearing  a  stikhar,  or  sur- 
plice, of  silver  cloth,  came  briskly  forward,  and  with  the 
customary  gesture  raised  his  stole  with  two  fingers,  and 
stopped  before  the  priest. 

"  Bless  us,  O  Lord !  "  ^  slowly,  one  after  the  other, 
rocking  the  atmosphere  into  billows  of  sound,  echoed 
the  solemn  syllables. 

"  May  the  Lord  bless  you  now  and  through  all  ages," 
replied  the  old  priest  in  a  sweet  and  musical  voice,  still 
turning  over  the  leaves. 

And  the  response,  chanted  by  the  invisible  choir,  filled 
the  church  to  the  very  roof  of  the  vault  with  a  deep,  full 
sound,  which  increased,  then  ceased  for  a  moment,  and 
softly  died  away. 

They  prayed  as  usual  for  the  eternal  repose  and  wel- 
fare of  their  souls,  for  the  synod,  and  the  emperor,  and 
then  for  the  servants  of  God,  Konstantin  and  Yekate- 
rina,  that  day  about  to  wed. 

"  Let  us  pray  the  Lord  to  send  them  His  love.  His 
peace,  and  His  aid,"  the  whole  church  seemed  to  say  in 
the  voice  of  the  archdeacon. 

Levin  listened  to  these  words,  and  was  impressed  by 
them. 

"  How  did  they  know  that  aid  was  exactly  what  I 
need .-'  Yes,  aid.  What  can  I  know,  what  can  I  do, 
without  aid }"  he  thought,  recalling  his  recent  doubts 
and  fears. 

When  the  deacon  had  ended  the  liturgy,  the  priest, 

1  Bla-go-slo-vi  vla-duika  I 


ANNA    KARENINA  281 

with  a  book  in  his  hand,  turned  toward  the  brida) 
couple :  — 

"  O  God  Eternal,  who  unitest  by  an  indissoluble 
bond  those  who  are  separate,"  he  read,  in  a  strong 
melodious  voice,  "  Thou  who  didst  bless  Isaac  and  Re- 
becca, and  showest  Thy  mercy  to  their  descendants, 
bless  also  these  Thy  servants,  Konstantin  and  Yeka- 
terina,  and  pour  forth  Thy  benefits  upon  them.  Because 
Thou  art  a  merciful  and  beneficent  God,  we  offer  Thee 
the  glory !  To  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the 
Holy  Ghost,  as  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is  now,  and  ever 
shall  be ....  " 

"  Amen,"  again  chanted  the  invisible  choir. 

" '  Who  unitest  by  an  indissoluble  bond  those  who  are 
separate  ! '  How  those  profound  words  respond  to  what 
one  feels  at  such  a  time !  Does  she  understand  it  as  I 
do  ? "  thought  Levin. 

And  looking  down  he  gazed  into  her  eyes. 

From  the  expression  of  Kitty's  face  he  concluded 
that  she  did  feel  it  as  he  did ;  but  he  was  mistaken  : 
she  scarcely  comprehended  the  words  of  the  service,  and 
during  the  time  of  the  espousal  did  not  even  hear  them. 
She  could  not  hear  them  or  comprehend  them,  so  power- 
ful was  the  single  feeling  which  filled  her  heart  and 
kept  increasing  all  the  time.  This  feeling  was  one  of 
delight  at  the  perfect  fulfilment  of  what  had  been  tak- 
ing place  in  her  heart  during  the  past  month  and  a  half, 
and  during  those  six  weeks  had  made  her  happy  and 
restless  by  turns. 

From  that  day  when,  in  her  cinnamon-colored  gown, 
in  the  "hall"  of  their  house  on  the  Arbatsky,  she  had 
silently  approached  Levin  to  give  herself  wholly  to  him, 
from  that  day,  from  that  moment,  she  felt  a  complete 
rupture  had  been  made  with  all  her  past  life,  and  another 
existence,  new  and  unknown,  without,  however,  changing 
her  outward  life,  had  begun.  These  six  weeks  had  been 
at  once  a  very  happy  and  very  trying  time.  Her 
whole  life,  her  hopes  and  desires,  were  all  concentrated 
on  this  man,  whom  she  did  not  even  yet  fully  under- 
stand, to  whom  she  was  united  by  a  sentiment  which 


a82  ANNA    KARENINA 

she  understood  still  less,  and  which  attracted  her  and 
repelled  her  by  turns,  and  at  the  same  time  she  had 
gone  on  living  in  the  conditions  of  her  former  life.  Liv- 
ing this  old  life,  she  was  horrified  at  herself,  at  her  com- 
plete and  invincible  indifference  toward  her  whole  past : 
to  things,  to  habits,  even  to  her  relatives,  whom  she 
loved,  and  who  loved  her,  her  mother,  who  was  pained 
by  her  indifference,  and  her  gentle  father,  whom  she 
had  loved  more  than  any  one  else  in  the  world.  At  one 
moment  she  was  horrified  at  this  indifference,  at  the 
next  she  was  filled  with  joy  at  that  which  had  brought 
her  to  such  a  feeling.  She  could  not  imagine  or  desire 
anything  except  life  with  this  man ;  but  this  new  life 
had  not  yet  begun,  and  she  could  form  no  definite  idea 
of  it.  It  was  only  an  expectation,  a  fear  and  joy  of 
something  new  and  unknown.  And  now  this  expecta- 
tion, as  well  as  her  remorse  for  not  regretting  the  past, 
were  at  an  end,  and  the  new  life  was  beginning.  This 
new  and  unknown  future  could  not  fail  to  be  alarming, 
but  whether  it  was  alarming  or  not,  it  was  only  the  ful- 
filment of  what  had  taken  place  in  her  soul  six  weeks 
before,  only  the  sanctification  of  what  had  been  taking 
place  in  her  soul  for  a  long  time. 

The  priest,  turning  to  the  lectern  again,  with  difficulty 
took  off  Kitty's  little  ring,  and  passed  it  as  far  as  the  first 
joint  of  Levin's  finger. 

"  I  unite  thee,  Konstantin,  servant  of  God,  to  Yekate- 
rina,  servant  of  God ; "  and  he  repeated  the  same  formula 
in  placing  a  large  ring  on  Kitty's  delicate  little  rosy 
finger,  pathetic  in  its  weakness. 

The  bridal  pair  tried  to  understand  what  was  expected 
of  them,  but  each  time  made  a  mistake,  and  the  priest 
corrected  them  in  a  low  voice.  At  last  the  priest,  bless- 
ing them  with  his  fingers,  again  gave  Kitty  the  large 
ring,  and  Levin  the  small  one,  and  again  they  got  con- 
fused, and  twice  passed  the  rings  from  hand  to  hand, 
failing  to  interchange  them  as  they  should  have  done. 

Dolly  Chirikof  and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  stepped  out 
to  assist  them  in  their  difficulty.  The  people  around 
them  smiled  and  whispered;  but  the  tenderly  solemn 


1 


ANNA   KARENINA  283 

expression  on  the  faces  of  the  young  couple  did  not 
change.  On  the  contrary,  even  when  they  were  blun- 
dering with  the  rings,  they  looked  more  serious  and 
solemn  than  before ;  and  the  smile  on  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch's  face  died  away,  as  he  whispered  to  them  that 
they  were  to  put  on  their  own  rings.  It  seemed  to  him 
that  a  smile  might  be  offensive  to  them. 

"  O  Thou  who,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  hast 
created  man,  male  and  female,"  continued  the  priest, 
after  the  ceremony  of  the  rings,  "  and  hast  given  to  man 
the  woman  to  be  his  aid  and  delight,  therefore,  O  Thou, 
our  Lord  God,  who  hast  given  Thy  blessing  to  Thy  chosen, 
to  Thy  servants,  our  fathers,  to  Thine  inheritance,  do 
Thou  bless  Thy  servants  Konstantin  and  Yekaterina,  and 
confirm  their  nuptials  in  faith  and  concord  and  truth 
and  love ! " 

Levin's  breast  heaved;  disobedient  tears  filled  his 
eyes.  He  kept  feeling  more  and  more  that  all  his 
thoughts  on  marriage,  his  visions  of  how  he  should 
dispose  his  life,  had  hitherto  been  infantile,  and  that 
there  was  something  that  had  never  been  comprehen- 
sible to  him  ;  and  now  he  understood  its  meaning  less 
than  ever,  although  he  was  now  wholly  in  its  power. 


CHAPTER  V 

All  Moscow,  all  the  relatives  and  acquaintances, 
were  at  the  church.  And  during  the  time  of  the  mar- 
riage service,  in  the  brilliant  light  that  flooded  the  church, 
in  that  throng  of  handsomely  dressed  women  and  girls, 
and  of  men  in  white  neckties,  in  swallow-tails,  or  in  uni- 
form, there  was  a  decorously  subdued  conversation,  es- 
pecially among  the  men,  for  the  women  were  absorbed  in 
observing  all  the  details  of  a  ceremony  which  is  always 
so  full  of  interest  for  them. 

A  little  group  of  friends  surrounded  the  bride,  and 
among  them  were  her  two  sisters,  Dolly,  and  the  beauti- 
ful Madame  Lvova  just  returned  from  abroad.  l 


284  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Why  is  Mary  in  lilac  at  a  wedding  ?  It  is  almost 
mourning,"  said  Madame  Korsunsky. 

*'  With  her  complexion  it 's  her  only  salvation,"  re- 
plied Madame  Drubetsky.  "  But  I  wonder  why  they 
had  the  ceremony  in  the  evening  ?  That  savors  of  the 
merchant." 

"  It  is  pleasanter.  I,  too,  was  married  in  the  evening," 
said  Madame  Korsunsky,  sighing,  and  recalling  how 
beautiful  she  had  been  on  that  day,  and  how  ridiculously 
in  love  with  her  her  husband  had  been,  and  how  it  was 
all  so  different  now  ! 

"  They  say  that  those  who  have  been  best  men  more 
than  ten  times  never  marry.  I  tried  to  make  myself 
proof  against  marriage,  in  this  way,  but  the  place  was 
taken,"  said  Count  Siniavin  to  the  handsome  young 
Princess  Charskaya,  who  had  designs  on  him. 

A  smile  was  her  only  reply.  She  was  looking  at 
Kitty,  and  thinking  how  and  when  she  would  stand 
with  Count  Siniavin  in  Kitty's  place ;  and  how  she 
would  then  remind  him  of  the  joke  that  he  had 
made. 

Shcherbatsky  confided  to  the  old  Freflina  Nikolayeva 
his  intention  to  place  the  crown  on  Kitty's  head-dress  to 
bring  her  good  luck. 

"  There  is  no  need  of  wearing  a  head-dress,"  replied 
Freflina  Nikolayeva,  who  had  long  ago  decided  that 
if  the  old  widower  whom  she  was  setting  her  cap  for 
should  offer  himself,  she  would  be  married  very  simply. 
"  I  don't  like  this  display." 

Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  was  talking  with  Darya  Dmi- 
trievna,  jestingly  declaring  that  the  fashion  of  wedding 
tours  was  becoming  widespread  because  young  couples 
were  always  rather  bashful. 

"  Your  brother  may  well  be  proud  of  his  choice.  She 
is  charming.     You  must  envy  him." 

"  The  time  has  gone  by  for  that,  Darya  Dmitrievna," 
he  replied,  and  an  unexpected  expression  of  sadness 
overspread  his  face. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  telling  his  sister-in-law  his 
pun  on  divorce. 


ANNA    KARENINA  285 

"  Somebody  ought  to  arrange  her  wreath,"  replied  the 
latter,  without  Hstening. 

"  What  a  pity  that  she  has  grown  so  ugly !  "  said  the 
Countess  Nordstone  to  Madame  Lvova.  "After  all,  he 
isn't  worth  her  little  finger,  is  he  ?  " 

"  I  don't  agree  with  you ;  I  am  very  much  pleased 
with  him,  and  not  only  because  he  is  going  to  be  my 
beaii-frkre,''  repHed  Madame  Lvova.  "  How  well  he 
appears !  It  is  so  difficult  to  appear  well  at  such  a  time 
and  not  to  be  absurd.  He  is  neither  ridiculous  nor  stiff ; 
one  feels  that  he  is  touched." 

"  Did  you  expect  this  marriage  ?  " 

"  Almost.     He  has  always  been  in  love  with  her." 

"  Well,  we  shall  see  which  will  be  the  first  to  step  on 
the  carpet.     I  have  advised  Kitty  to  look  out  for  that." 

"That  makes  no  difference,"  replied  Madame  Lvova; 
"  in  our  family  we  are  all  submissive  wives." 

"  But  I  have  taken  pains  to  keep  mine  under  the 
thumb.  —  How  is  it  with  you,  Dolly  .''  " 

Dolly  was  standing  near  them,  and  heard  them,  but 
she  did  not  reply.  She  was  affected;  tears  filled  her 
eyes,  and  she  could  not  have  uttered  a  word  without 
crying.  She  was  glad  for  Kitty  and  Levin  ;  she  was 
thinking  of  her  own  wedding ;  and  as  she  glanced  at 
the  brilliant  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  she  forgot  the  real 
state  of  things,  and  only  remembered  his  first,  innocent 
love.  She  was  thinking,  too,  of  other  women,  —  her 
relatives  and  acquaintances,  —  whom  she  remembered 
at  this  important  and  solemn  hour  of  their  lives ;  how 
they,  like  Kitty,  stood  under  the  crown ;  how  they  re- 
nounced the  past  with  joy,  and  began  a  mysterious 
future,  with  hope  and  fear  in  their  hearts.  Among  the 
number  she  recalled  her  dear  Anna,  the  details  of  whose 
approaching  divorce  she  had  just  heard ;  she  had  seen 
her  enveloped  in  a  white  veil,  as  pure  as  Kitty,  with  her 
wreath  of  orange-blossoms.  And  now  }  "  It  is  terribly 
strange  !  "  she  whispered. 

The  sisters  and  friends  were  not  the  only  ones  to 
follow  with  interest  the  minutest  details  of  the  cere- 
mony ;  there  were  women  among  the  strangers  looking 


286  ANNA    KARENINA 

on,  who  held  their  breath,  for  fear  of  losing  a  single 
movement  of  bride  or  bridegroom,  and  who  replied 
absent-mindedly  to  the  jokes  or  idle  remarks  of  the 
men,  often  not  even  hearing  them, 

"  Why  is  she  so  troubled  ?  Are  they  marrying  her 
against  her  will  ?  " 

"  Against  her  will  ?  to  such  a  handsome  man  ?  Is  he 
a  prince  ? " 

"  Is  that  her  sister  in  white  satin  ?  There !  Just 
hear  the  deacon  howl,  '  Let  her  fear  her  husband  ' !  " 

**  Are  the  singers  from  Chudof  ? "  ^ 

"  No  ;  from  the  synod." 

"I  have  asked  the  servant  about  it.  He  says  that 
her  husband  is  going  to  take  her  away  to  his  estate. 
Awfully  rich,  they  say.  That  is  why  she  is  marrying 
him." 

"They  make  a  handsome  pair." 

"And  you  pretend  to  say,  Marya  Vasilievna,  that 
they  don't  wear  crinolines^  any  longer.  Just  look  at 
that  one  in  a  puce-colored  dress !  You  would  say  she 
was  an  ambassador's  wife  by  the  way  she  is  dressed. 
Do  you  see  now  ?" 

"  What  a  sweet  little  creature  the  bride  is !  —  like  a 
lamb  for  the  slaughter.  You  may  say  what  you  please, 
I  can't  help  pitying  her." 

Such  were  the  remarks  of  the  spectators  who  had 
succeeded  in  getting  past  the  door  of  the  church. 


CHAPTER  VI 

As  the  service  of  espousal  was  coming  to  an  end,  one 
of  the  officiating  priests  spread  a  piece  of  rose-colored 
silk  in  front  of  the  lectern,  in  the  center  of  the  church, 
the  choir  chanted  an  artistic  and  complicated  psalm,  in 
which  the  tenor  and  bass  sang  responsively,  and  the 
priest,  turning  to  the  young  couple,  attracted  their  atten- 
tion to  the  piece  of  rose-colored  fabric. 

*  A  monastery,  famous  for  its  singers. 

*  The  speaker  calls  it  karnalin  instead  of  krinolin. 


ANNA   KARENINA  287 

They  were  both  familiar  with  the  superstition  that 
whichever  one  of  a,  bridal  couple  first  sets  foot  on  the 
carpet  becomes  the  real  head  of  the  family,  but  neither 
Kitty  nor  Levin  remembered  anything  about  it  after 
they  had  gone  a  few  steps,  And  they  did  not  hear  the 
remarks  exchanged  about  them,  or  the  discussions  be- 
tween those  who  thought  that  he  was  the  first  and  those 
who  were  sure  that  they  touched  it  simultaneously. 

After  the  customary  questions  as  to  their  willingness 
to  enter  into  the  bonds  of  matrimony,  and  would  they 
plight  their  mutual  troth,  and  their  answers,  which 
sounded  strangely  loud  to  their  own  ears,  a  new  office 
began.  Kitty  listened  to  the  words  of  the  prayers  and 
tried  to  understand  them,  but  she  could  not.  The  far- 
ther the  ceremony  proceeded,  the  more  her  heart  over- 
flowed with  triumphant  joy,  which  prevented  her  from 
fixing  her  attention. 

They  prayed  to  God  that  "  the  pair  might  have  the 
gift  of  chastity,  and  might  rejoice  in  the  sight  of  many 
sons  and  daughters  ;  "  they  recalled  how  God  had  made 
"the  first  woman  from  Adam's  side,"  that  "the  woman 
must  leave  father  and  mother  and  cling  to  her  husband, 
and  they  twain  shall  be  one  flesh,"  and  that  this  is  a 
great  miracle ;  they  prayed  God  "  to  give  them  fecun- 
dity and  prosperity,  as  he  had  blessed  Isaac  and  Re- 
becca, Joseph,  Moses,  and  Sephora,  and  to  let  them  see 
their  children  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation." 

"  All  this  is  lovely,"  thought  Kitty,  as  she  heard  these 
words  ;  "  all  this  is  just  as  it  should  be."  And  a  smile 
of  happiness,  which  was  reflected  on  the  faces  of  all 
who  saw  her,  shone  on  her  fair,  lovely  face. 

"  Put  it  entirely  on,"  were  the  words  heard  in  every 
part  of  the  church,  as  the  priest  brought  forward  the 
crowns,  and  Shcherbatsky,  in  his  three-button  gloves, 
tremblingly  held  the  wreath  high  above  Kitty's  head. 

"  Put  it  on,"  whispered  the  latter,  smiling. 

Levin  turned  round,  and  was  struck  by  the  radiant 
joy  wliich  filled  her  face,  and  the  same  feeling,  in  spite 
of  himself,  took  possession  of  him;  he  felt,  like  her, 
happy  and  serene. 


288  ANNA   KARENINA 

They  listened  with  joy  in  their  hearts  to  the  reading 
of  the  Epistle,  and  the  archdeacon's  voice  echoing  the 
jast  verse,  fully  appreciated  by  the  strangers,  who  were 
impatiently  waiting  for  it.  Joyfully  they  drank  the 
warm  red  wine  and  water  from  the  flat  cup,  and  they 
felt  still  more  joyful  when  the  priest,  throwing  back  his 
chasuble,  led  them  around  the  lectern,  holding  both 
their  hands  in  his,  while  the  bass  sang,  at  the  top  of  his 
voice,  Isa'iye  likiii.  Shcherbatsky  and  Chirikof,  carry- 
ing the  crowns,  smiling  and  constantly  treading  on  the 
bride's  train,  now  straggled  behind,  now  bumped  into 
the  crowned  couple,  as  the  priest  paused  in  front  of  the 
relics.  The  gleam  of  joy  on  Kitty's  face  seemed  to  be 
communicated  to  all  present.  Levin  was  sure  that  the 
deacon  and  the  priest  fell  under  its  influence  as  well  as 
himself. 

When  the  crowns  had  been  taken  from  their  heads, 
the  priest  read  the  last  prayers  and  congratulated  the 
young  couple.  Levin  looked  at  Kitty  and  thought  he 
had  never  seen  her  so  beautiful ;  it  was  the  beauty  of 
that  new  radiance  of  happiness  which  transformed  her ; 
he  wanted  to  say  something  to  her,  but  did  not  know 
whether  the  ceremony  was  yet  over  or  not.  The  priest 
relieved  him  from  his  uncertainty,  and  said  gently  to 
him,  with  a  kindly  smile :  — 

"  Kiss  your  wife,  and  you,  kiss  your  husband,"  and 
he  took  their  candles. 

Levin,  with  circumspection,  kissed  his  wife's  smiling 
lips,  gave  her  his  arm,  and  went  out  of  the  church  with 
a  new  and  strange  feeling  of  being  suddenly  very  near 
to  her.  He  had  not  believed,  he  could  not  believe,  that 
all  this  was  reality.  Nor  until  their  astonished  and  timid 
eyes  met  did  he  believe  it,  because  he  felt  that  they  were 
indeed  one. 

That  same  evening,  after  the  supper,  the  young  couple 
started  for  the  country. 


ANNA    KARENINA  289 


CHAPTER  VII 

Vronsky  and  Anna  had  been  traveling  together  in 
Europe  for  three  months.  They  had  visited  Venice, 
Rome,  Naples ;  and  now  they  were  just  arrived  at  a 
small  Italian  city,  where  they  intended  to  make  a  con- 
siderable stay. 

At  the  hotel  the  head  butler,  a  regular  Adonis  of  a 
man,  who  wore  his  thick  pomaded  hair  parted  behind 
from  the  neck,  and  a  dress-coat  with  a  wide  expanse  of 
white  shirt-front  and  watch-charms  over  his  rotund 
belly,  was  standing  with  his  hands  thrust  into  his 
pockets,  scornfully  blinking  his  eyes,  and  giving  curt 
answers  to  a  gentleman  who  had  entered  the  hotel. 
Hearing  steps  on  the  other  side  of  the  entrance,  the 
head  butler  turned  around,  and,  seeing  the  Russian 
count,  who  rented  his  most  expensive  apartments,  he 
respectfully  drew  his  hands  out  of  his  pockets,  and,  with 
a  low  bow,  informed  the  count  that  a  messenger  had 
come  to  say  that  the  palazzo  was  at  his  service.  The 
agent  was  ready  to  sign  the  agreement. 

"Ah!  I  am  very  glad,"  said  Vronsky.  "Is  madame 
at  home  .■* " 

"  She  has  been  out,  but  she  has  returned,"  replied  the 
butler. 

Vronsky  took  off  his  wide-brimmed  soft  hat,  and 
wiped  his  heated  forehead  with  his  handkerchief,  and 
smoothed  his  hair,  which  was  so  arranged  as  to  hide  his 
bald  spot.  Then,  casting  a  hasty  glance  at  the  stranger, 
who  had  stopped,  and  was  looking  at  him  earnestly,  he 
started  to  go. 

"  This  gentleman  is  a  Russian,  and  was  inquiring  for 
you,"  said  the  head  butler. 

With  a  mingled  feeling  of  vexation  because  he  never 
could  get  away  from  acquaintances,  and  of  pleasure  at 
the  idea  of  any  distraction  from  his  monotonous  exis- 
tence, Vronsky  once  more  looked  at  the  gentleman,  who 
had  started  to  go  and  then  stopped,  and  at  one  and  the 
same  time  their  eyes  met. 
VOL.  II.  — 19 


290  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Golenishchef ! " 

"  Vronsky ! " 

It  was  indeed  Golenishchef,  one  of  Vronsky's  school- 
mates in  the  Corps  of  Pages.  He  had  belonged  to  the 
liberal  party  in  the  Corps,  and,  after  his  graduation,  he 
had  taken  a  civil  rank,  and  had  not  served.  The  com- 
rades had  entirely  drifted  apart  since  their  graduation,  and 
had  met  only  once.  At  that  meeting  Vronsky  had  per- 
ceived that  Golenishchef  looked  down  from  the  lofty 
heights  of  his  chosen  liberal  profession  on  Vronsky's 
profession  and  career.  Consequently,  Vronsky  at  that 
meeting  with  Golenishchef  had  given  him  that  cold 
and  haughty  reception  with  which  it  was  his  fashion 
to  treat  people,  as  much  as  to  say :  "  You  may  like  or 
dislike  my  manner  of  life,  but  it  is  absolutely  of  no  con- 
sequence to  me ;  you  must  respect  me  if  you  want  to 
know  me."  Golenishchef  had  been  scornfully  indiffer- 
ent to  Vronsky's  manner.  That  meeting,  it  would  seem, 
should  have  driven  them  still  farther  apart;  yet  now, 
at  the  sight  of  each  other,  they  each  uttered  a  cry  of 
delight.  Vronsky  had  never  realized  how  glad  he  would 
be  to  see  Golenishchef  ;  but  the  fact  was  that  he  did  not 
know  how  bored  he  was.  He  forgot  the  unpleasant 
impression  of  their  previous  meeting,  and  with  mani- 
fest pleasure  extended  his  hand  to  his  old  comrade. 
And  likewise  a  look  of  satisfaction  succeeded  the 
troubled  expression  on  Golenishchef's  face. 

"  How  glad  I  am  to  see  you !  "  said  Vronsky,  with  a 
friendly  smile  which  showed  his  handsome  white  teeth. 

"  I  heard  the  name  Vronsky,  but  which ....  I  did  not 
know ....  I  am  very,  very  glad." 

"  But  come  in.     Well,  what  are  you  doing .-'  " 

"  Oh,  I  have  been  living  here  for  more  than  a  year, 
working." 

"  Ah !  "  said  Vronsky,  with  interest.  "  But  come  in." 
,  And,  according  to  the  habit  of  Russians,  instead  of 
saying  in  Russian  what  he  did  not  wish  to  be  under- 
stood by  servants,  he  said  in  French :  - — 

"  Do  you  know  Madame  Karenin .''  We  have  been 
traveling  together.     I  was  just  going  to  her  room." 


ANNA   KARENINA  291 

And  while  he  was  speaking  he  studied  Golenishchef  s 
face. 

"Ah!  I  did  not  know,"  remarked  Golenishchef,  care- 
lessly; but  he  did  know,     "  Have  you  been  here  long  ?  " 

"  I  ?  Oh,  this  is  the  fourth  day,"  replied  Vronsky, 
continuing  to  study  his  companion. 

"  Yes !  He  is  a  gentleman,  and  looks  upon  things  in 
the  right  light,"  he  said  to  himself,  giving  a  favorable 
interpretation  to  Golenishchef's  way  of  turning  the  con- 
versation ;  "  he  can  be  presented  to  Anna;  his  views  are 
all  right" 

Vronsky,  during  this  three  months  which  he  had  been 
spending  with  Anna  abroad,  had  felt  every  time  that  he 
met  with  new  acquaintances  a  hesitation  as  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  would  look  on  his  relations  with  Anna, 
and  for  the  most  part  the  men  had  looked  on  them  "  in 
the  right  light."  If  he  or  they  had  been  asked  what 
they  meant  by  the  expression  "  in  the  right  light,"  they 
would  have  found  it  hard  to  tell.  In  reality,  those  that 
according  to  Vronsky  looked  on  it  "  in  the  right  light  " 
had  never  looked  on  it  at  all,  but  as  a  general  thing  con- 
tented themselves  with  a  wise  discretion,  not  asking 
questions  or  making  allusions,  and  behaved  altogether 
as  well-bred  people  behave  when  presented  with  delicate 
and  complex  questions  such  as  surround  life  on  all  sides. 
They  pretended  that  they  fully  appreciated  the  meaning 
and  significance  of  the  situation,  recognized  and  even 
approved  of  it,  but  considered  it  ill-judged  and  super- 
fluous to  explain  it. 

Vronsky  instantly  saw  that  Golenishchef  was  one  of 
these  discreet  people,  and  was  therefore  glad  to  meet 
him. 

In  fact  Golenishchef  behaved  toward  Madame  Karenin 
when  he  was  introduced  to  her  in  exactly  the  manner 
that  Vronsky  demanded ;  it  evidently  cost  him  no  effort 
to  avoid  all  words  that  would  lead  to  any  awkwardness. 

He  had  never  seen  Anna  before,  and  was  dehghted 
with  her  beauty,  and  still  more  with  the  perfect  sim- 
plicity with  which  she  accepted  the  situation.  She 
flushed  when  she  saw  Vronsky  come  in  with  Goleni- 


292  ANNA    KARENINA 

shchef ,  and  this  infantile  color  which  spread  over  her 
frank  and  lovely  face  pleased  him  immensely.  But  he 
was  delighted  because  from  the  very  first,  as  if  purposely, 
even  in  the  presence  of  a  stranger,  which  might  have 
caused  restraint,  she  called  Vronsky  Aleksef,  and  told 
how  they  had  just  rented  a  house  which  the  people 
called  a  palazso,  and  how  she  was  going  to  occupy  it  with 
him.  The  simple  and  straightforward  facing  of  their 
situation  was  delightful  to  Golenishchef.  Perceiving 
Anna's  happy  and  vivacious  manner,  knowing  Aleksef 
Aleksandrovitch  and  Vronsky,  it  seemed  to  him  that  he 
thoroughly  understood  her.  It  seemed  to  him  that  he 
understood  what  she  herself  did  not  understand :  how 
she  could  desert  her  unhappy  husband  and  her  son,  and 
lose  her  good  repute,  and  still  feel  animated,  gay,  and 
happy. 

"  It  is  in  the  guide-book,"  said  Golenishchef,  speak- 
ing of  the  Palazzo  which  Vronsky  called  by  name. 
"  There  is  a  superb  Tintoretto  there.  In  his  latest 
manner." 

"  Do  you  know  that }  It  is  splendid  weather ;  let 's 
go  over  and  look  at  it  again,"  said  Vronsky,  addressing 
Anna. 

"  I  should  like  to  very  much.  I  will  go  and  put  on 
my  hat.  Did  you  say  it  was  hot  .-*  "  said  she,  pausing  at 
the  door  and  looking  back  to  Vronsky.  And  again  the 
bright  color  came  into  her  face. 

Vronsky  saw  by  her  look  that  she  was  uncertain  how 
he  wished  to  treat  Golenishchef,  and  that  she  was  afraid 
that  her  behavior  might  not  be  what  he  desired. 

He  looked  at  her  long  and  tenderly.  Then  he  re- 
plied :  — 

"  No,  not  very." 

And  it  seemed  to  her  that  she  comprehended  him 
perfectly,  and  especially  that  he  was  satisfied  with  her, 
and,  replying  with  a  smile,  she  went  out  with  a  quick 
and  graceful  motion. 

The  friends  looked  at  each  other,  and  there  came 
into  the  faces  of  both  an  expression  of  embarrassment, 
as  if  Golenishchef,  admiring  her,  wished  to  make  some 


ANNA    KARENINA  295 

complimentary  remark,  and  had  not  the  courage,  while 
Vronsky  both  wished  and  feared  to  hear  it. 

"  Well,  then,"  Vronsky  began,  so  that  some  conversa- 
tion might  be  started,  "  so  you  are  settled  here  ?  Are 
you  still  interested  in  the  same  pursuits?"  he  asked, 
remembering  that  he  had  been  told  that  Golenishchef 
was  writing  something. 

"  Yes ;  I  have  been  writing  the  second  part  of  the 
'Two  Origins,'  "  replied  Golenishchef,  kindling  with  de- 
light at  this  question  ;  "  that  is,  to  be  more  exact,  I  am 
not  writing  yet,  but  have  been  collecting  and  preparing 
my  materials.  It  will  be  far  more  extended,  and  will  touch 
on  almost  all  questions.  At  home,  in  Russia,  they  can't 
understand  that  we  are  successors  of  Byzantium,"  and 
he  began  a  long  and  vehement  explanation. 

Vronsky  at  first  felt  awkward  because  he  did  not 
know  about  the  first  part  of  the  "Two  Origins,"  about 
which  the  author  spoke  as  if  it  were  something  well 
known.  But  afterward,  as  Golenishchef  began  to  de- 
velop his  thought,  and  Vronsky  saw  what  he  meant,  then, 
even  though  he  did  not  know  about  the  "  Two  Origins," 
he  listened  not  without  interest,  for  Golenishchef  spoke 
well. 

But  Vronsky  was  surprised  and  annoyed  at  the  irrita- 
ble excitement  under  which  Golenishchef  labored  while 
talking  about  the  object  that  absorbed  him.  The  longer 
he  spoke,  the  brighter  grew  his  eyes,  the  more  animated 
were  his  arguments  in  refutation  of  imaginary  oppo- 
nents, and  the  more  angry  and  excited  the  expression  of 
his  face. 

Vronsky  remembered  Golenishchef  at  the  School  of 
Pages,  —  a  lad  of  small  stature,  thin,  nervous,  agile,  a 
good-hearted  and  gentlemanly  lad,  always  at  the  head 
of  his  class,  and  he  could  not  understand  the  reasons 
for  such  irascibility  and  he  did  not  approve  of  it.  And  it 
especially  displeased  him  that  Golenishchef,  a  man  of  good 
social  standing,  should  put  himself  down  on  the  level 
of  these  common  scribblers,  and  get  angry  with  them 
because  they  criticized  him.  Was  it  worth  while  .-'  It  dis- 
pleased him  ;  but,  nevertheless,  he  felt  that  Golenishchef 


294  ANNA    KARENINA 

was  making  himself  miserable  and  he  was  sorry  foi 
him. 

This  imhappiness,  almost  amounting  to  insanity,  was 
particularly  noticeable  on  his  mobile  and  rather  hand- 
some face,  while  he  went  on  so  hurriedly  and  heatedly 
expressing  his  thoughts  that  he  did  not  notice  Anna's 
return. 

As  Anna  came  in,  wearing  her  hat  and  with  a  mantle 
thrown  over  her  shoulders,  and  stood  near  them,  twirl- 
ing her  sunshade  in  her  lovely,  slender  hand,  Vronsky 
felt  a  sense  of  relief  in  turning  away  from  Golenishchef's 
feverish  eyes  fixed  keenly  on  him,  and  looked  with  an 
ever  new  love  at  his  charming  companion,  radiant  with 
life  and  gayety. 

It  was  hard  for  Golenishchef  to  come  to  himself,  and 
at  first  he  was  surly  and  cross ;  but  Anna,  who  was  flat- 
teringly amiable  toward  every  one,  for  such  at  this 
time  was  her  disposition,  quickly  brought  him  into 
sympathy  with  her  gay  and  natural  manner.  After  es- 
saying various  topics  of  conversation,  she  brought  him 
round  to  painting,  about  which  he  spoke  very  well,  and 
she  listened  to  him  attentively.  They  walked  over  to 
\}s\Q.  palazzo  and  made  a  thorough  inspection  of  it. 

"I  am  very  glad  of  one  thing,"  said  Anna  to  Goleni- 
shchef; "Aleksef  will  have  a  nice  atelier.  Of  course 
you  '11  take  this  room  .''  "  she  added,  turning  to  Vronsky 
and  speaking  to  him  in  Russian,  using  the  familiar  tni 
(thou)  as  if  she  already  looked  on  Golenishchef  as  an  inti- 
mate, before  whom  it  was  not  necessary  to  be  reserved. 

"  Do  you  paint .''  "  asked  Golenishchef,  turning  viva- 
ciously to  Vronsky. 

"  Yes,  I  used  to  paint  long  ago,  and  now  I  am  going 
to  take  it  up  again,"  replied  Vronsky,  with  color. 

•*  He  has  great  talent,"  cried  Anna,  with  a  radiant 
smile.  "  Of  course  I  am  not  a  judge.  But  good  judges 
say  so." 


ANNA    KARENINA  295 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Anna,  during  this  first  period  of  freedom  and  rapid 
convalescence,  felt  herself  inexcusably  happy  and  full 
of  joyous  life.  The  memory  of  her  husband's  unhappi- 
ness  did  not  poison  her  pleasure.  This  memory  in  one 
way  was  too  horrible  to  think  of.  In  another,  her  hus- 
band's unhappiness  was  the  cause  of  a  happiness  for 
her  too  great  to  allow  regret.  The  memory  of  every- 
thing that  had  followed  since  her  sickness,  the  reconcili- 
ation with  her  husband,  the  quarrel,  Vronsky's  wound, 
his  sudden  appearance,  the  preparations  for  the  divorce, 
the  flight  from  her  husband's  home,  the  separation  from 
her  son,  —  all  this  seemed  like  a  delirious  dream,  from 
which  she  awoke  and  found  herself  abroad  alone  with 
Vronsky.  The  recollection  of  the  injury  which  she  had 
done  her  husband  aroused  in  her  a  feeling  akin  to  dis- 
gust, and  like  that  which  a  drowning  man  might  experi- 
ence after  having  pushed  away  a  person  clinging  to 
him.  The  other  person  was  drowned.  Of  course,  what 
had  been  done  was  evil,  but  it  was  the  only  possible 
salvation,  and  it  was  better  not  to  return  to  those  horri- 
ble memories. 

One  consoling  argument  in  regard  to  her  conduct 
occurred  to  her  at  the  first  moment  of  the  rupture,  and 
now,  whenever  she  thought  of  all  that  had  passed,  she 
went  over  this  argument. 

"  I  have  done  my  husband  an  irrevocable  injury,"  she 
said  to  herself,  "  but  at  least  I  get  no  advantage  from 
his  misfortune.  I  also  suffer  and  shall  suffer.  I  give 
up  all  that  was  dearest  to  me ;  I  give  up  my  good  name 
and  my  son.  I  have  sinned,  and  therefore  I  do  not 
desire  happiness,  do  not  desire  a  divorce,  and  I  accept 
my  shame  and  the  separation  from  my  son." 

But,  however  sincere  Anna  was  when  she  reasoned 
thus,  she  had  not  suffered.  She  had  felt  no  shame. 
With  that  tact  which  both  she  and  Vronsky  possessed 
to  perfection,  they  had  avoided,  while  abroad,  any  meet- 
ing with  Russian  ladies,  and  they  had  never  put  them< 


296  ANNA   KARENINA 

selves  into  any  false  position,  but  had  associated  onl}! 
with  those  who  pretended  to  understand  their  situation 
much  better  than  they  themselves  did.  Nor  even  the 
separation  from  her  son,  whom  she  loved,  caused  her 
any  pain  at  this  time.  Her  baby,  her  daughter,  was  so 
lovely  and  had  so  filled  her  heart  since  only  the  daughter 
was  left  to  her,  that  she  rarely  thought  of  the  son. 

The  joy  of  living  caused  by  her  convalescence  was  so 
keen,  the  conditions  of  her  existence  were  so  new  and 
delightful,  that  Anna  felt  inexcusably  happy.  The 
more  she  came  to  know  Vronsky,  the  more  she  loved 
him.  She  loved  him  for  his  own  sake  and  for  his  love 
for  her.  The  complete  surrender  to  him  was  a  delight. 
His  presence  was  always  a  joy  to  her.  All  the  traits  of 
his  character  as  she  came  to  know  them  better  and  bet- 
ter became  to  her  inexpressibly  dear.  His  appearance, 
now  that  he  dressed  in  civil  attire  instead  of  uniform, 
was  as  entrancing  to  her  as  for  a  young  girl  desperately 
in  love.  In  all  he  said,  thought,  or  did,  she  saw  some- 
thing noble  and  elevated.  She  herself  often  felt  fright- 
ened at  this  excessive  worship  of  him.  She  tried  in 
vain  to  find  any  imperfection  in  him.  She  did  not  dare 
to  confess  to  him  her  own  inferiority,  lest  he,  knowing 
it,  should  love  her  less.  And  now  there  was  nothing 
that  she  feared  so  much,  although  there  was  not  the 
slightest  occasion  for  it,  as  to  lose  his  love.  But  she 
could  not  fail  to  be  grateful  to  him  for  the  way  he 
treated  her  or  to  show  him  how  much  she  prized  it. 

Although  in  her  opinion  he  had  shown  such  a  decided 
vocation  for  statesmanship,  in  which  he  would  certainly 
have  played  an  important  part,  and  had  sacrificed  his  am- 
bition for  her,  still  he  had  never  expressed  the  slightest 
regret.  He  was  more  than  ever  affectionately  re- 
spectful, and  careful  that  she  should  never  feel  in  the 
slightest  degree  the  compromising  character  of  her 
position.  This  man,  so  masculine,  not  only  never 
opposed  her,  but  moreover  it  might  be  said  that  he  had 
no  will  besides  hers,  and  his  only  aim  seemed  to  be  to 
anticipate  her  desires.  And  she  could  not  but  appreci- 
ate this,  though  this  very  assiduity  in  his  attentions,  this 


ANNA   KARENINA  297 

atmosphere  of  solicitude  which  he  threw  around  her, 
was  sometimes  oppressive  to  her. 

Vronsky,  meantime,  notwithstanding  the  complete 
realization  of  all  that  he  had  desired  so  long,  was  not 
entirely  happy.  He  soon  began  to  feel  that  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  desires  was  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
mountain  of  pleasure  which  he  had  anticipated.  This 
realization  now  proved  to  him  the  eternal  error  made  by 
men  who  imagine  their  happiness  lies  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  their  desires.  During  the  first  of  the  time  after 
he  had  begun  to  live  with  her,  and  had  put  on  his 
citizen's  clothes,  he  experienced  all  the  charm  of  a  free- 
dom such  as  he  had  never  known  before  and  the  free- 
dom of  love,  and  he  was  satisfied  with  that ;  but  not  for 
long.  He  soon  began  to  feel  rising  in  his  soul  the  desire 
of  desires  —  toska,  melancholy,  homesickness,  etmui. 
Involuntarily,  he  began  to  follow  every  light  caprice  as 
if  they  were  serious  aspirations  and  ends. 

It  was  necessary  to  fill  sixteen  hours  each  day  with 
some  occupation,  living,  as  they  did,  abroad,  in  perfect 
freedom,  away  from  the  social  and  military  duties  that 
took  Vronsky 's  time  at  Petersburg.  He  could  not  think 
of  indulging  in  the  pleasures  such  as  he  had  enjoyed  as 
a  bachelor  during  his  previous  trips  abroad,  for  one  ex- 
periment of  that  kind  —  a  scheme  of  a  late  supper  with 
some  acquaintances  —  reduced  Anna  to  a  most  unex- 
pected and  uncomfortable  state  of  dejection.  The  enjoy- 
ment with  foreign  or  Russian  society  was  impossible  on 
account  of  the  peculiarity  of  their  relation.  And  to 
amuse  himself  with  the  curiosities  of  the  country  was 
not  to  be  spoken  of,  not  only  because  he  had  already 
seen  them,  but  because  as  a  Russian  and  a  man  of  sense, 
he  could  not  find  in  them  that  immense  importance  that 
the  English  are  pleased  to  attach  to  them. 

And  as  a  hungry  animal  throws  itself  on  everything 
that  presents  itself,  hoping  to  find  in  it  something  to  eat, 
so  Vronsky,  with  perfect  spontaneity,  attacked,  now 
politics,  now  new  books,  now  painting. 

As,  when  he  was  young,  he  had  shown  some  inclination 
toward  art,  and,  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  his  money, 


^98  ANNA    KARENINA 

had  begun  to  collect  engravings,  he  had  tried  his  hand 
at  painting.  And  now  he  took  it  up  again,  and  employed 
in  it  that  unexpended  superfluity  of  energy  which  de- 
manded employment.  He  had  the  capacity  for  appre- 
ciating art,  and  he  thought  that  this  was  all  that  an  artist 
needed.  After  having  for  some  time  hung  doubtful 
which  he  would  choose,  —  the  religious,  the  historical, 
genre,  or  the  realistic,  —  he  actually  began  to  paint.  He 
understood  all  kinds,  and  could  get  inspiration  from  each  ; 
but  he  could  not  imagine  that  it  was  possible  to  be  entirely 
ignorant  of  the  various  styles  of  art  and  to  draw  inspira- 
tion directly  from  what  is  in  the  soul  itself,  not  caring 
what  may  be  the  result  or  to  what  famous  school  it  may 
belong.  As  he  did  not  know  this,  and  drew  his  inspira- 
tion, not  directly  from  life,  but  from  life  as  expressed 
in  art,  so  he  became  easily  and  speedily  inspired,  and 
with  equal  ease  and  rapidity  succeeded  in  making  what 
he  undertook  to  paint  a  very  good  resemblance  to  that 
style  which  he  was  trying  to  imitate. 

More  than  all  others,  the  graceful  and  effective 
French  school  appealed  to  him,  and  in  this  style  he 
began  a  portrait  of  Anna  in  an  Italian  costume ;  and 
this  portrait  seemed  to  him  and  to  all  that  saw  it  very 
successful. 

CHAPTER   IX 

The  old,  dilapidated  palazzo  into  which  they  movec^ 
supplied  Vronsky  with  the  agreeable  illusion  that  he 
was  not  so  much  a  Russian  proprietor,  a  shtalmefster  in 
retirement,  as  he  was  an  enlightened  amateur  and  pro- 
tector of  art,  in  his  own  modest  way  an  artist,  who  had 
sacrificed  society,  his  ties,  his  ambition,  for  a  woman's 
love.  This  ancient  palace,  with  its  lofty  stuccoed  ceil- 
ings, its  frescoed  walls,  its  mosaic  floors,  its  yellow  tapes- 
tries, its  thick,  yellow  curtains  at  the  high  windows,  its 
vases  on  mantelpiece  and  consoles,  its  carved  doors,  and 
its  melancholy  halls  hung  with  paintings,  lent  itself  readily 
to  his  illusion. 

This  new  rdle  which  Vronsky  had  chosen,  together 
with  their  removal  to  the  palazzo  and  acquaintance  with 


ANNA    KARENINA  299 

several  interesting  persons,  which  came  about  through 
Golenishchef,  made  the  first  part  of  this  period  very 
enjoyable.  Under  the  instruction  of  an  ItaHan  pro- 
fessor of  painting,  he  made  some  studies  from  nature, 
and  he  took  up  the  study  of  Italian  life  during  the 
Middle  Ages.  Medieval  Italian  life  became  so  fasci- 
nating to  him  that  he  began  to  wear  his  hat  and  throw 
his  plaid  over  his  shoulders  in  the  medieval  style,  which 
was  very  becoming  to  him. 

"  Here  we  are  alive,  and  yet  we  know  nothing,"  said 
Vronsky  one  morning  to  Golenishchef,  who  came  in  to 
see  him.  "  Have  you  seen  Mikhailof's  ^  painting  ?"  he 
asked,  and  at  the  same  time  handed  him  a  Russian 
paper  just  received,  and  indicated  an  article  on  this 
artist,  who  was  living  in  that  very  city,  and  had  just 
completed  a  picture  about  which  many  reports  had  long 
been  in  circulation,  and  which  had  been  sold  on  the 
easel.  The  article  severely  criticized  the  government 
and  the  academy  that  an  artist  of  such  genius  was  left 
without  any  encouragement  and  aid. 

"  I  have  seen  it,"  replied  Golenishchef.  "  Of  course 
he  is  not  without  talent,  but  his  tendencies  are  abso- 
lutely false.  He  always  shows  the  Ivanof-Strauss- 
Renan  conception  of  Christ  and  religious  art." 

"  What  is  the  subject  of  his  painting  ? "  asked  Anna. 

"  *  Christ  before  Pilate.'  The  Christ  is  a  Jew  with  all 
the  realism  of  the  new  school." 

And  as  this  subject  was  a  favorite  one  with  him,  he 
began  to  develop  his  ideas. 

"  I  cannot  understand  how  they  can  fall  into  such  a 
gross  mistake.  The  type  of  the  Christ  in  art  was  clearly 
represented  by  the  old  masters.  Accordingly,  if  they 
want  to  paint,  not  God,  but  a  sage  or  a  revolutionist,  let 
them  take  Franklin  or  Socrates,  or  Charlotte  Corday,  — 
but  not  Christ.  They  take  the  very  person  whom  art 
should  not  attempt  to  portray,  and  then ...." 

"Is  it  true  that  this  Mikhailof  is  in  such  poverty?" 
asked  Vronsky,  who  felt  that  in  his  quality  of  Russian 

^  Count  Tolstoi  may  possibly  refer  to  the  great  artist  Gay,  one  of  whose 
pictures  was  exhibited  in  this  country  a  number  of  years  ago.' — Ed. 


L 


300  ANNA   KARENINA 

Maecenas  he  ought  to  find  some  way  of  aiding  the  artist, 
whether  his  painting  was  good  or  not. 

"  It  is  doubtful.  He  is  a  famous  portrait  painter. 
Have  you  not  seen  his  portrait  of  Madame  Vasilchikof  ? 
But  it  seems  he  does  n't  care  to  paint  portraits  any  longer, 
and  perhaps  that  is  the  reason  he  is  in  need.  I  say 
that...." 

"  Could  n't  we  ask  him  to  paint  Anna  Arkadyevna's 
portrait  .■* " 

"  Why  mine  .■•  "  she  demanded.  "  After  your  portrait 
of  me,  I  want  no  other.  It  would  be  better  to  let  him 
paint  Ani  [so  she  called  her  daughter],  or  her,"  she 
added,  looking  out  of  the  window  at  the  pretty  Italian 
nurse,  who  was  just  taking  the  baby  into  the  garden. 
And  at  the  same  time  she  gave  Vronsky  a  furtive 
glance.  This  pretty  Italian  woman,  whose  face  Vronsky 
had  taken  as  a  model  for  a  picture,  was  the  only  secret 
woe  in  Anna's  life.  Vronsky  painted  her  picture,  ad- 
mired her  beauty  and  her  medieval  quaintness,  and 
Anna  did  not  dare  to  confess  to  herself  that  she  feared 
she  was  going  to  be  jealous,  and  was  accordingly  all  the 
more  kind  to  her  and  her  little  boy. 

Vronsky  also  looked  out  of  the  window,  and  at  Anna's 
eyes,  and,  instantly  turning  to  Golenishchef,  said :  — 

"  And  so  you  know  this  Mikhailof  ?  " 

"  I  have  met  him.     But  he  is  an  original  —  a  cJmdak 

—  without  any  education,  you  know,  one  of  these  new- 
fashioned  savages  such  as  you  meet  with  nowadays  — 
you  know  them  —  these  free-thinkers,  who  rush  headlong 
into  atheism,  materialism,  universal  negation.  Once," 
Golenishchef  went  on  to  say,  either  not  noticing  or  not 
wishing  to  notice  that  both  Vronsky  and  Anna  were 
ready  to  speak,  "  once  the  free-thinker  was  a  man  edu- 
cated in  the  conceptions  of  religion,  law,  and  morality, 
who  did  not  ignore  the  laws  by  which  society  is  regu- 
lated, and  who  reached  freedom  of  thought  only  after 
long  struggles.     But  now  we  have  a  new  type  of  them, 

—  free-thinkers  who  grow  up  without  even  knowing 
tJhat  there  are  such  things  as  laws  in  morality  and 
religion,  who  will  not  admit  that  sure  authorities  exist, 


ANNA    KARENINA  301 

and  who  possess  only  the  sentiment  of  negation ;  in  a 
word,  savages.  Mikhaflof  is  one  of  these.  He  is  the 
son  of  a  major-domo,  or  ober-lakei'?^  Moscow,  and  never 
had  any  education.  When  he  entered  the  academy,  and 
had  made  a  reputation,  he  was  wiUing  to  be  taught,  for 
he  is  not  a  fool ;  and,  with  this  end  in  view,  he  turned  to 
that  source  of  all  learning,  — the  magazines  and  reviews. 
Now  you  know  in  the  good  old  times,  if  a  man  —  let  us 
say  a  Frenchman  —  wanted  to  get  an  education,  he 
would  study  the  classics, — the  preachers,  the  tragic 
poets,  the  historians,  the  philosophers ;  and  you  can  see 
all  the  intellectual  labor  that  involved.  But  nowadays 
he  turns  to  negative  literature,  and  succeeds  very  speed- 
ily in  getting  a  smattering  of  such  a  science.  And, 
again,  twenty  years  ago,  he  would  have  found  in  this 
same  literature  traces  of  the  struggle  against  the 
authorities  and  secular  traditions  of  the  past ;  he  would 
have  understood  from  this  dispute  that  there  was  some 
thing  else.  But  now  he  turns  directly  to  a  literature 
where  the  old  traditions  are  of  no  avail  at  all,  but  men 
say  up  and  down  there  is  nothing  —  natural  selection, 
Evolution,  struggle  for  existence,  negation,  and  all.  In 
my  article.... " 

"  Do  you  know,"  said  Anna,  after  exchanging  several 
glances  with  Vronsky,  and  noticing  that  he  was  not  in- 
terested in  the  artist's  education,  but  was  occupied  only 
with  the  thought  of  helping  him  and  getting  him  to 
paint  the  portrait.  "What  do  you  say  ?  "  said  she,  reso- 
lutely cutting  short  Golenishchef's  verbiage,  "  let  us  go 
and  see  him." 

Golenishchef ,  after  deliberating,  readily  consented ; 
and,  as  the  artist  lived  in  a  remote  quarter,  they  had  a 
carriage  called.  An  hour  later,  Anna,  occupying  the 
same  seat  in  the  calash  with  Golenishchef  and  Vronsky, 
drove  up  to  an  ugly  new  house  in  a  distant  part  of  the 
city.  When  they  learned  from  the  concierge's  wife,  who 
came  to  receive  them,  that  Mikhaflof  permitted  visitors 
to  his  studio,  but  that  he  was  now  at  his  lodgings  a  few 
steps  distant,  they  sent  her  to  him  with  their  cards,  and 
begged  to  be  admitted  to  see  his  paintings. 


304  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER  X 

The  painter  Mikhaflof  was  at  work  as  usual,  when 
the  cards  of  Count  Vronsky  and  Golenishchef  were 
brought  him.  He  had  been  painting  all  the  morning 
in  his  studio  on  his  great  picture,  but,  when  he  reached 
his  house,  he  became  enraged  with  his  wife  because  of 
her  failure  to  make  terms  with  their  landlady,  who  de- 
manded money. 

"  I  have  told  you  twenty  times  not  to  go  into  explana- 
tions with  her.  You  are  a  fool  anyway ;  but  when  you 
try  to  argue  in  Italian,  you  are  three  times  as  much  of 
a  fool,"  said  he,  at  the  end  of  a  long  dispute. 

"  Why  do  you  get  behindhand  so .''  It  is  not  my  fault 
If  I  had  any  money....  " 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  give  me  some  peace ! "  cried 
Mikhailof,  his  voice  thick  with  tears ;  and,  putting  his 
hands  over  his  ears,  he  hastily  rushed  to  the  workroom, 
separated  from  the  sitting-room  by  a  partition,  and 
bolted  the  door.  **  She  has  n't  any  common  sense,"  he 
said  to  himself,  as  he  sat  down  at  his  table,  and,  opening 
a  portfolio,  addressed  himself  with  feverish  ardor  to  a 
sketch  which  he  had  already  begun. 

He  never  worked  with  such  zeal  and  success  as  when 
his  life  went  hard,  and  especially  when  he  had  been 
quarreling  with  his  wife.  "  Akh !  it  must  be  some- 
where !  "  he  said  to  himself,  as  he  went  on  with  his  work. 
He  had  begun  a  study  of  a  man  seized  with  a  fit  of 
anger.  He  had  made  the  sketch  some  time  before ; 
but  he  was  dissatisfied  with  it.  "No,"  said  he,  "that 
one  was  better ....  but  where  is  it .-'".. ..He  went  back 
to  his  wife  with  an  air  of  vexation,  and,  without  looking 
at  her,  asked  his  eldest  daughter  for  the  piece  of  paper 
which  he  had  given  her.  The  paper  with  the  sketch  on 
it  was  found,  but  it  was  soiled  and  covered  with  drops 
of  tallow.  Nevertheless,  he  took  it  as  it  was,  laid  it  on 
the  table,  examined  it  from  a  distance,  squinting  his 
eyes ;  then  suddenly  he  smiled,  with  a  satisfied  gesture. 

"  So !   so ! "   he  cried,  taking  a  pencil,  and  drawing 


ANNA    KARENINA  303 

some  rapid  lines.  One  of  the  tallow  spots  gave  his 
sketch  a  new  aspect. 

He  sketched  in  this  new  pose,*  and  suddenly  remem- 
bered the  prominent  chin  and  energetic  face  of  the  man 
of  whom  he  bought  his  cigars,  and  instantly  he  gave 
his  design  the  same  kind  of  a  face  and  prominent  chin. 
He  laughed  with  delight.  The  figure  ceased  to  be 
something  vague  and  dead,  but  became  animated,  and 
took  a  form  which  could  not  be  bettered.  This  figure 
was  alive,  and  was  clearly  and  indubitably  delineated. 
It  was  possible  to  correct  the  sketch  in  conformity  with 
the  demands  of  this  figure ;  it  was  possible  and  even 
requisite  to  set  the  legs  in  a  different  way,  to  make  an 
absolute  change  in  the  position  of  the  left  arm,  to  re- 
arrange the  hair ;  but  after  he  had  finished  these  cor- 
rections he  made  no  changes  in  the  figure  but  only 
cleared  away  what  concealed  it.  He,  as  it  were,  took 
from  it  the  veils  behind  which  it  was  not  wholly  visible. 
Each  new  stroke  only  the  more  exposed  the  entire  fig- 
ure in  all  its  energetic  power,  just  as  it  had  suddenly 
appeared  to  him  in  the  spot  made  by  the  wax.  He 
laughed  with  delight.  He  was  carefully  finishing  his 
design  when  the  two  cards  were  brought  him. 

"  I  will  come  instantly,"  he  replied. 

He  went  to  his  wife. 

"  There,  come,  Sasha,  don't  be  vexed,"  he  said,  with 
a  smile  tender  and  timid.  "  You  were  wrong ;  so  was 
I.     I  will  settle  matters." 

And,  having  made  his  peace  with  her,  he  put  on  an 
olive-green  overcoat  with  velvet  collar,  took  his  hat,  and 
went  to  his  studio.  His  successfully  completed  sketch 
was  already  quite  forgotten,  now  he  was  delighted  and 
surprised  by  the  visit  of  these  stylish  Russians  who  had 
come  to  see  him  in  a  carriage. 

In  the  depth  of  his  soul  his  opinion  on  the  painting 
which  was  on  his  easel  at  that  time  was  as  follows :  — 

"  No  one  has  ever  painted  another  like  it."  He  did 
not  believe  that  his  painting  was  better  than  all  the 
Raphaels ;  but  he  knew  that  no  one  had  ever  put  into 
a  picture  what  he  had  tried  to  put  into  this  one.     This 


304  ANNA   KARENINA 

he  knew  assuredly,  and  had  known  it  ever  since  he  had 
begun  to  paint  it.  Nevertheless,  the  criticisms  of  others, 
whatever  they  were,  possessed  for  him  an  enormous 
weight  and  stirred  him  to  the  depths  of  his  soul.  Any 
remark,  however  insignificant,  which  showed  that  the 
critic  saw  even  the  smallest  part  of  what  he  himself  saw 
in  this  picture,  stirred  him  to  the  depths  of  his  soul.  He 
felt  that  his  critics  had  a  depth  of  insight  superior  even 
to  his  own,  and  he  expected  to  have  them  discover  in 
his  picture  new  features  that  had  escaped  his  own 
observation. 

And  often  in  the  judgments  of  visitors  who  came  to 
look  at  it,  it  seemed  to  him,  he  discovered  this.  He 
hurried  to  the  door  of  his  studio,  and,  in  spite  of  his 
emotion,  was  struck  by  the  soft  radiance  of  Anna,  who 
was  standing  in  the  shadow  of  the  portico  and  listening 
to  something  which  Golenishchef  was  saying  to  her,  and 
at  the  same  time  eagerly  watching  the  artist's  approach. 
The  artist,  without  definite  consciousness  of  it,  instantly 
stowed  away  in  the  pigeonholes  of  his  brain  the  impres- 
sion she  made  on  him,  to  make  use  of  it  some  day,  just 
as  he  had  used  the  tobacconist's  chin. 

The  visitors,  whose  ideas  of  Mikhailof  had  been 
greatly  modified  by  Golenishchef's  description  of  him, 
were  still  more  disenchanted  when  they  saw  him.  Mi- 
khaflof  was  a  thick-set  man,  of  medium  height,  and  with 
a  nimble  gait,  and  in  his  cinnamon-colored  hat,  his  olive- 
green  coat,  and  his  trousers  worn  tight  when  the  style 
was  to  wear  them  loose,  produced  an  unfavorable  im- 
pression, increased  by  the  vulgarity  of  his  broad  face 
and  the  mixture  of  timidity  and  pretentious  dignity 
which  it  expressed. 

"  Do  me  the  honor  to  enter,"  he  said,  trying  to  as- 
sume an  air  of  indifference,  and,  going  to  the  vestibule, 
he  took  a  key  out  of  his  pocket  and  opened  the  door. 


ANNA   KARENINA  305 


CHAPTER   XI 

As  they  entered  the  studio,  Mikhailof  again  glanced 
at  his  guests,  and  stored  away  in  his  memory  the  expres- 
sion of  Vronsky's  face,  especially  its  cheek-bones.  Not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  this  man's  artistic  sense  was 
always  at  work  storing  up  new  materials,  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  his  emotion  grew  greater  and  greater 
as  the  crucial  moment  for  their  criticism  of  his  work 
approached,  still  he  quickly  and  shrewdly  gathered  from 
almost  imperceptible  indications  his  conclusions  regard- 
ing his  three  visitors. 

"  That  one  [meaning  Golenishchef]  must  be  a  Rus- 
sian resident  in  Italy."  Mikhailof  did  not  remember 
either  his  name  or  the  place  where  he  had  met  him, 
or  whether  he  had  ever  spoken  to  him ;  he  remembered 
only  his  face,  as  he  remembered  all  the  faces  that  he 
had  ever  seen,  but  he  also  remembered  that  he  had  once 
before  classed  him  in  the  immense  category  of  preten- 
tiously important  but  really  expressionless  faces.  An 
abundance  of  hair  and  a  very  high  forehead  would  make 
the  casual  observer  take  him  to  be  a  man  of  importance, 
but  his  face  had  an  insignificant  expression  of  puerile  agi- 
tation concentrated  in  the  narrow  space  between  his  eyes. 

Vronsky  and  Anna  were,  according  to  Mikhaflof's 
intuition,  rich  and  distinguished  Russians,  ignorant  of 
art,  like  all  rich  Russians  who  play  the  amateur  and  the 
connoisseur. 

"  They  have  undoubtedly  seen  all  the  old  galleries," 
he  thought,  "  and  now  are  visiting  the  studios  of  the  Ger- 
man charlatans  and  the  imbecile  English  pre-Raphael- 
ites,  and  have  come  to  me  in  order  to  complete  their 
survey." 

He  knew  very  well  the  fashion  in  which  the  dilettanti 

—  the  more  intellectual  they  were,  the  worse  they  were 

—  visited  the  studios  of  modern  painters,  with  the  single 
aim  of  having  the  right  to  say  that  art  was  declining, 
and  that,  the  more  you  study  the  moderns,  the  better 
you  see  how  inimitable  the  great  masters  of  old  were. 

VOL.  II.  —  20 


3o6  ANNA   KARENINA 

He  expected  all  this,  he  saw  it  in  their  faces,  and  he 
read  it  in  the  indifference  with  which  his  visitors  con- 
versed together  as  they  walked  up  and  down  the  studio, 
leisurely  examining  the  manikins  and  busts,  while  wait- 
ing for  him  to  take  the  covering  off  his  painting. 

But,  in  spite  of  this,  all  the  time  that  he  was  turning 
over  his  studies,  raising  his  window-blinds,  and  uncover- 
ing his  paintings,  he  experienced  a  powerful  emotion, 
and  all  the  more  so  because,  though  he  considered  that 
all  distinguished  and  wealthy  Russians  must  necessarily 
be  "  cattle  "  and  fools,  yet  Vronsky,  and  particularly 
Anna,  pleased  him. 

"  Here,"  he  said,  stepping  back  from  the  easel  and 
pointing  to  the  painting,  "is  the  'Christ  before  Pilate.' 
Matthew,  chapter  xxvii." 

He  felt  his  lips  tremble  with  emotion,  and  he  took  his 
place  behind  his  guests.  During  the  few  seconds,  dur- 
ing which  the  visitors  looked  silently  at  the  painting, 
MikhaYlof  also  looked  at  it  and  looked  at  it  with  the  in- 
difference of  a  stranger.  In  those  few  seconds  he  an- 
ticipated a  superior  and  infallible  criticism  from  these 
three  persons,  whom  but  a  moment  before  he  had  des- 
pised. He  forgot  all  that  he  had  thought  about  his 
painting  during  the  three  years  while  he  had  been  paint- 
ing it ;  he  forgot  all  those  merits  which  had  been  so 
indubitable  to  him  ;  he  looked  at  it  now  with  the  cold  and 
critical  look  of  a  stranger,  and  found  nothing  good  in  it. 
He  saw  in  the  foreground  the  irate  face  of  Pilate  and  the 
Christ's  serene  countenance,  and  in  the  middle  distance 
the  figures  of  Pilate's  servants,  and  among  them  John, 
looking  on  at  the  proceedings.  Each  face,  with  its  at- 
tempted expression,  with  its  faults,  with  its  rectifications, 
each  face  which,  with  its  own  peculiar  character,  had,  as 
it  were,  been  a  growth  from  himself,  and  had  cost  him  so 
much  travail  and  delight,  —  and  all  these  faces,  which  he 
had  changed  so  many  times  so  as  to  unify  them,  —  all  the 
shades  of  color,  all  the  nuances,  obtained  with  such  ex- 
traordinary pains,  —  all  this,  taken  together  and  looked 
at  in  such  a  way,  now  seemed  to  him  commonplace,  a 
thousand  fold  commonplace !     The  face  which  he  had 


1 


ANNA   KARENINA  307 

regarded  with  the  most  complacency  —  the  face  of  the 
Christ  in  the  very  center  of  the  picture,  which  had  roused 
his  enthusiasm  as  he  had  developed  it — was  wholly  spoilt 
for  him  when  he  looked  at  his  painting  with  their  eyes. 

He  saw  a  well-painted  picture,  —  nay,  not  even  well- 
painted,  —  for  now  he  clearly  detected  hosts  of  faults  in 
it  —  a  repetition  of  all  those  interminable  Christs  of 
Titian,  Raphael,  Rubens  —  and  the  same  soldiers  and 
Pilate !  All  about  it  was  trivial,  poor,  and  antiquated, 
and  even  badly  painted, — spotty  and  feeble!  They 
would  be  justified  in  repeating  politely  hypocritical  re- 
marks in  his  presence,  pitying  him  and  ridiculing  hiro 
after  they  were  gone ! 

The  silence,  which  in  reality  did  not  last  more  than  a 
minute,  seemed  to  him  intolerably  long,  and  to  abridge 
it  and  show  that  he  was  not  agitated,  he  made  an  effort, 
and  addressed  Golenishchef :  — 

"  I  think  that  I  have  had  the  honor  of  meeting  you 
before,"  said  he,  glancing  anxiously  first  at  Anna,  then 
at  Vronsky,  so  that  he  might  not  lose  for  an  instant  the 
changing  expression  of  their  faces. 

"  Certainly;  we  met  at  Rossi's  the  evening  when  that 
Italian  girl,  the  new  Rachel,  made  a  recitation ;  don't 
you  remember  ? "  replied  Golenishchef,  turning  away 
his  face  from  the  picture  without  the  least  show  of 
regret,  and  addressing  the  artist. 

Seeing,  however,  that  Mikhallof  was  expecting  him 
to  say  something  about  the  picture,  he  added  :  — 

"  Your  work  has  made  great  progress  since  the  last 
time  I  saw  it;  and  I  am  now,  just  as  I  was  then,  greatly 
impressed  with  your  Pilate.  You  have  represented  a 
good  but  feeble  man,  —  a  chinovnik  to  the  bottom  of 
his  soul,  —  who  is  absolutely  blind  to  what  he  is  doing. 
But  it  seems  to  me ....  " 

Mikhallof's  mobile  face  suddenly  lighted  up,  his  eyes 
gleamed,  he  wanted  to  reply ;  but  his  emotion  prevented 
him,  and  he  pretended  to  have  a  fit  of  coughing.  In 
spite  of  his  low  estimation  of  Golenishchef's  artistic  in- 
stinct, in  spite  of  the  insignificance  of  the  remark,  true 
though  it  was,   about  the  expression  of    Pilate's   face 


3o8  ANNA    KARENINA 

represented  as  the  face  of  a  functionary,  in  spite  of  the 
humiliation  which  such  a  remark  spontaneously  elicited 
at  the  first  sight  of  the  painting  implicitly  subjected 
him  to,  —  since  the  more  important  features  of  the  paint- 
ing were  left  unnoticed,  Mikhailof  was  in  raptures  over 
this  criticism.  Golenishchef  had  expressed  his  own 
conception  of  Pilate  !  The  fact  that  this  observation  was 
one  out  of  a  million  possible  observations,  all  of  which, 
as  Mikhadof  knew  perfectly  well,  would  be  true,  did 
not  diminish  for  him  the  significance  of  Golenishchef's 
remark.  He  suddenly  conceived  a  liking  for  his  guest, 
and  suddenly  flew  from  dejection  to  enthusiasm.  In- 
stantly his  whole  painting  became  vital  once  more  with 
a  life  inexpressibly  complex  and  profound.  He  again 
tried  to  say  that  he  himself  had  that  conception  of 
Pilate,  but  his  lips  trembled  so  that  he  had  no  control 
over  them,  and  he  could  not  say  a  word. 

Vronsky  and  Anna  were  talking  in  that  low  tone  of 
voice  peculiar  to  picture  exhibitions,  and  caused  by  the 
desire  not  to  say  anything  that  might  give  offense  to 
the  artist,  and,  more  than  all,  not  to  let  any  one  hear 
those  absurd  remarks  which  are  so  easily  made  in 
regard  to  art.  Mikhailof  thought  that  his  picture  was 
making  an  impression  on  them  also,  and  he  approached 
them. 

"  What  an  admirable  expression  the  Christ  has," 
said  Anna.  This  expression  pleased  her  more  than 
anything  else  in  the  painting,  and  she  felt  that  the 
Christ  was  the  principal  figure  in  it,  and  therefore  that 
this  eulogy  would  be  agreeable  to  the  artist.  She  added, 
"  One  can  see  that  he  pities  Pilate." 

This,  again,  was  one  of  those  million  accurate  but 
idle  observations  which  his  picture,  and  especially  the 
figure  of  the  Christ,  might  have  elicited.  She  said  that 
Christ  pitied  Pilate.  In  the  expression  of  the  Christ 
there  was  bound  to  be  an  expression  of  pity,  because 
there  was  in  it  the  expression  of  love,  a  supernal  color, 
a  readiness  for  death,  and  a  realization  of  the  idleness 
of  words.  Of  course,  Pilate  should  stand  for  the  func- 
tionary, the  chinovnik,  and  the  Christ  should  show  pit3f 


ANNA   KARENINA  309 

for  him,  —  since  one  is  the  incarnation  of  the  fleshly  life, 
the  other  of  the  spiritual  life.  All  this  and  much  be- 
sides flashed  through  Mikhai'lof's  mind.  And  once 
more  his  face  was  radiant  with  joy. 

"  Yes  !  And  how  that  figure  is  painted  !  how  much 
atmosphere  !  One  could  go  round  it,"  said  Golenishchef, 
evidently  showing  by  this  observation  that  he  did  not 
approve  of  the  design  and  scope  ^  of  the  figure. 

"  Yes ;  it  is  a  wonderful  masterpiece,"  said  Vronsky. 
"  How  alive  those  figures  in  the  background  are !  There 
is  technique  for  you ! "  he  added,  turning  to  Goleni- 
shchef, and  alluding  to  a  discussion  in  which  he  had 
avowed  his  discouragement  in  the  technique  of  the  art. 

"Yes,  yes;  very  remarkable,"  said  Golenishchef  and 
Anna,  simultaneously.  Notwithstanding  the  condition 
of  enthusiasm  to  which  he  had  risen,  the  remark  about 
technique  nettled  Mikhadof ;  he  scowled  and  looked  at 
Vronsky  with  an  angry  expression.  He  had  often  heard 
this  word  technique,  and  he  really  did  not  know  what 
was  meant  by  it.  He  knew  that  this  word  signified  the 
mechanical  ability  to  paint  and  sketch,  and  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  thing  painted.  He  had  often  noticed,  as 
in  the  present  case,  that  technical  skill  was  opposed  to 
the  intrinsic  merit  of  a  work,  as  if  it  were  possible  to 
paint  a  bad  picture  with  talent.  He  knew  that  it  re- 
quired great  attention  and  care  in  removing  the  cloth 
not  to  injure  the  work,  and  in  removing  all  the  covers; 
but  the  technique  of  painting  was  not  in  that.  If  in 
the  same  way  to  a  little  child  or  to  his  cook  were  re- 
vealed what  he  saw,  then  the  cook  or  the  child  would 
not  hesitate  to  express  what  they  saw.  But  the  most 
experienced  and  skilful  of  technicians  could  not  paint 
anything  by  mechanical  ability  only ;  it  requires  that 
the  realm  of  inspiration  ^  should  be  opened  before  him. 
Moreover,  he  saw  that  the  very  fact  of  talking  about 
technique  made  it  impossible  to  praise  him  for  it.  In 
everything  that  he  had  painted  and  was  painting   he 

*  Soderzhaniye  i  muisl,  literally,  "  tenor  and  thought." 
2  Granitsui  soderzhaniya,  literally  "  the  limits  or  boundaries  of  the  sub- 
ject, contents,  or  tenor." 


3IO  ANNA   KARENINA 

saw  the  glaring  faults  resulting  from  the  carelessness 
with  which  he  had  removed  the  covers  —  faults  impos- 
sible now  to  rectify  without  ruining  the  whole  produc- 
tion. And  in  almost  all  the  figures  and  faces  he  saw  the 
remains  of  veils  that  had  not  been  perfectly  removed, 
and  spoiled  the  painting. 

"The  only  criticism  that  I  should  dare  to  make,  if 
you  will  allow  me...."  said  Golenishchef. 

"  Oh !  I  should  be  very  glad ....  beg  you  to  favor  me," 
replied  MikhaYlof,  pretending  to  smile. 

"  It  is  that  you  have  painted  a  man  made  God,  and 
not  God  made  man.  However,  I  know  that  that  was 
your  intention." 

"  I  cannot  paint  any  Christ  that  is  not  in  my  heart," 
replied  Mikhallof,  gloomily. 

"  Yes,  but  in  that  case,  excuse  me,  if  you  will  allow 
me  to  express  my  thought....  Your  painting  is  so  beau- 
tiful, that  this  observation  can  do  it  no  harm  ;  and,  be- 
sides, it  is  my  own  individual  opinion.  You  look  on 
this  in  one  way.  Your  very  motive  is  peculiar.  Take 
Ivanof,  for  example,  —  I  imagine  that  if  the  Christ  is 
to  be  reduced  to  the  proportions  of  an  historical  figure, 
then  it  would  be  better  for  him  to  choose  a  new  histori- 
cal theme,  —  one  less  hackneyed." 

"  But  suppose  this  theme  is  the  grandest  of  all  for 
art .? " 

"  By  searching,  others  may  be  found  just  as  grand. 
But  the  fact  is,  art,  in  my  estimation,  cannot  suffer  dis- 
cussion ;  now  this  question  is  raised  in  the  minds  of 
believers  or  non-believers  by  Ivanof's  painting :  Is 
that  God,  or  not  God.-*  and  thus  the  unity  of  the  im- 
pression is  destroyed." 

"Why  so.''  It  seems  to  me  that  this  question  can  no 
longer  exist  for  enlightened  men,"  replied  Mikhailof. 

Golenishchef  was  not  of  this  opinion ;  and,  dwelling 
on  his  first  thought  about  the  unity  of  the  impression 
required  by  art,  he  made  an  onslaught  on  Mikhaflof. 

Mikhaflof  grew  excited,  but  could  not  say  anything 
in  defense  of  his  ideas. 


ANNA   KARENINA  311 


CHAPTER   XII 

Anna  and  Vronsk)'^,  wearying  of  their  friend's  learned 
loquacity,  exchanged  glances.  Finally  Vronsky,  with- 
out saying  anything  to  his  host,  went  over  to  a  small 
painting. 

"  Oh  !  How  charming !  What  a  gem  —  wonderful ! 
How  fascinating !  "  said  both  of  them  at  once. 

"What  pleases  them  so.?"  thought  Mikhadof.  He 
had  completely  forgotten  this  picture,  painted  three 
years  before.  He  had  forgotten  all  the  anguish  and 
joy  which  that  painting  had  caused  him  while  he  had 
been  working  at  it  day  and  night  for  days  at  a  time  — 
he  had  forgotten  about  it  as  he  always  forgot  about  his 
pictures  when  once  they  were  finished.  He  did  not 
even  like  to  look  at  it,  and  he  had  brought  it  out  only 
because  he  was  expecting  an  Englishman  who  had 
thought  of  purchasing  it. 

"  That  is  nothing,"  he  said  —  "  only  an  old  study." 

"  But  it  is  capital,"  replied  Golenishchef,  very  hon- 
estly, falling  under  the  charm  of  the  painting. 

Two  children  were  fishing  under  the  shade  of  a 
laburnum.  The  elder,  all  absorbed  in  his  work,  was 
cautiously  disentangling  his  float  from  a  bush.  The 
younger  one  was  lying  in  the  grass,  leaning  his  blond, 
frowzy  head  on  his  hand,  and  gazing  at  the  water  with 
great,  pensive  blue  eyes.    What  was  he  thinking  about .-' 

The  enthusiasm  caused  by  this  study  brought  back 
somewhat  of  Mikhailof 's  first  emotion ;  but  he  did  not 
love  the  vain  memories  of  the  past,  and,  therefore, 
pleasant  as  such  praise  was  to  him,  he  preferred  to 
take  his  guests  to  a  third  painting. 

But  Vronsky  asked  him  if  the  painting  was  for  sale  ; 
but  to  Mikhadof,  who  was  excited  by  the  presence  of 
visitors,  the  question  of  money  was  very  distasteful. 

"  It  was  put  up  for  sale,"  said  he,  darkly  frowning. 

After  his  visitors  had  gone,  Mikhailof  sat  down 
before  his  painting  of  Christ  and  Pilate,  and  mentally 
reviewed  all  that  had  been  said,  and  if   not  said   had 


312  ANNA   KARENINA 

been  understood  by  them.  And  how  strange !  the 
observations  which  seemed  so  weighty  when  they  were 
present,  and  when  he  put  himself  on  their  plane  of 
observation,  now  lost  all  significance.  He  began  to 
examine  his  work  with  his  artist's  eye,  and  soon  re- 
gained his  full  conviction  of  its  perfection  and  signifi- 
cance, so  that  he  could  shut  out  all  other  interests  and 
make  the  effort  necessary  for  his  best  work. 

The  foreshortening  in  the  leg  of  the  Christ  was  not 
quite  correct.  He  seized  his  palette  and  set  himself  to 
work,  and,  while  he  was  correcting  it,  looked  long  at  the 
figure  of  John,  which  seemed  to  him  to  show  the  highest 
degree  of  perfection  —  and  yet  his  visitors  had  not  even 
noticed  it !  Having  corrected  the  leg  of  the  Christ,  he 
tried  to  give  this  also  a  few  touches,  but  he  felt  too 
excited  to  do  it.  However,  he  could  not  work  when  he 
was  cool  any  better  than  he  could  when  he  was  too  near 
the  melting  point  or  when  he  was  too  clairvoyant.  It 
was  only  one  step  of  transition  from  indifference  to 
inspiration,  and  only  when  he  reached  this  was  work 
possible.  But  to-day  he  was  too  excited.  He  started 
to  cover  the  canvas.  Then  he  stopped,  and,  lifting  the 
drapery  with  one  hand,  he  smiled  ecstatically,  and 
looked  for  a  long  time  at  his  St.  John.  At  last,  tear- 
ing himself  from  his  contemplation,  he  let  the  curtain 
fall,  and  went  home,  weary  but  happy. 

Vronsky,  Anna,  and  Golenishchef,  returning  to  the 
palazzo,  were  very  lively  and  gay.  They  talked  about 
Mikhai'lof  and  his  paintings.  The  word  talent  was 
often  heard  as  they  talked  ;  they  meant  by  it  an  innate 
gift,  almost  physical,  independent  of  intellect  and  heart, 
and  they  tried  to  express  by  it  all  that  had  been  experi- 
enced by  the  artist.  It  seemed  as  if  they  needed  to 
have  a  term  which  should  express  something  of  which 
they  had  not  the  slightest  comprehension,  but  yet 
wanted  to  talk  about. 

"There  is  no  denying  his  talent,"  they  said,  "but  his 
talent  is  not  sufficiently  developed,  because  he  lacks 
intellectual  culture,  a  fault  common  to  all  Russian 
artists." 


ANNA    KARENINA  313 

But  the  painting  of  the  two  boys  appealed  to  their 
tastes,  and  again  and  again  they  recurred  to  it.  "  How 
charming !  How  natural  and  how  simple  !  And  he 
did  not  realize  how  good  it  was.  Certainly,  I  must  not 
fail  to  buy  it,"  said  Vronsky. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

MiKHAiLOF  sold  Vronsky  the  little  picture,  and  also 
agreed  to  paint  Anna's  portrait.  He  came  on  the  ap- 
pointed day  and  began  his  work. 

Even  on  the  fifth  sitting  the  portrait  struck  every  one, 
and  especially  Vronsky,  by  its  resemblance,  and  by  its 
peculiar  beauty.  It  was  remarkable  how  Mikhallof  was 
able  to  hit  upon  her  peculiar  beauty. 

"  One  must  know  her  and  love  her  as  I  love  her  to 
get  her  gentle  and  spiritual  expression,"  thought  Vron- 
sky ;  and  yet  he  found  in  Mikhailof's  portrait  exactly 
that  very  expression.  But  this  expression  was  so  faith- 
ful that  it  seemed  to  him  and  to  others  that  they  had 
always  known  it. 

"  I  have  spent  so  much  time,  and  never  get  ahead," 
said  Vronsky,  referring  to  his  own  portrait  of  Anna, 
"  and  he  has  only  to  look  at  her  to  paint  her.  That  is 
what  I  call  technique." 

"That  will  come,"  said  Golenishchef,  to  console  him; 
for  in  his  eyes  Vronsky  had  talent,  and,  moreover,  had 
a  training  which  ought  to  give  him  a  lofty  view  of  art. 
But  Golenishchef's  belief  in  Vronsky's  talent  was  sus- 
tained by  the  fact  that  he  needed  Vronsky's  praise  and 
sympathy  with  him  in  his  own  work,  and  he  felt  that 
the  praise  and  support  ought  to  be  reciprocal ;  it  was  a 
fair  exchange. 

In  a  stranger's  house,  and  especially  in  Vronsky's 
palazzOy  Mikhailof  was  an  entirely  different  man  from 
what  he  was  in  his  own  studio.  He  showed  himself 
almost  venomously  respectful,  as  if  he  were  anxious 
to  avoid  all  intimacy  with  people  whom  at  heart  he  did 
not  respect.     He  always  called  Vronsky   "your  excel- 


314  ANNA    KARENINA 

lency  " ;  ^  and,  in  spite  of  Vronsky's  and  Anna's  repeated 
invitations,  he  never  would  stay  to  dinner,  or  come  except 
at  the  hours  for  the  sitting.  Anna  was  even  more  gen- 
ial to  him  than  to  the  others,  and  grateful  for  her 
portrait ;  Vronsky  was  more  than  polite  to  him,  and  was 
anxious  for  his  criticism  on  his  paintings  ;  Golenishchef 
never  lost  an  opportunity  of  inculcating  sound  theories 
of  art :  still  Mikhaflof  remained  just  as  cool  as  ever  to 
them  all.  But  Anna  felt  that  he  liked  to  look  at  her, 
even  though  he  avoided  all  conversation  with  her. 
When  Vronsky  wanted  to  talk  about  his  own  work  he 
remained  obstinately  silent,  and  he  was  just  as  obsti- 
nately silent  when  he  was  shown  Vronsky's  painting 
and  pictures,  and  he  took  no  pains  to  conceal  the  weari- 
ness which  Golenishchef's  sermons  caused  him. 

On  the  whole  Mikhallof,  by  his  distant  and  disagree- 
able, as  it  were  hostile,  behavior,  was  very  unpopular 
with  them,  even  after  they  came  to  see  him  closer;  and 
they  were  glad  when  the  sittings  were  over,  and  the 
painter,  having  completed  an  admirable  portrait,  ceased 
to  come.  Golenishchef  was  the  first  to  express  a  thought 
which  all  had  been  thinking  :  that  Mikhatlof  was  envious 
of  Vronsky. 

"  We  will  agree  that  he  is  not  envious  because  he  has 
talent ;  but  he  is  vexed  to  see  a  wealthy  man,  of  high 
position,  a  count,  —  and  apparently  they  are  all  vexed 
at  that,  —  reaching  without  especial  trouble  the  skill 
to  paint  as  well,  if  not  better,  than  he,  though  he  has 
devoted  his  life  to  painting  ;  but,  above  all,  at  your 
mental  culture,  which  he  has  not." 

Vronsky  took  MikhaYlof's  part,  but  he  felt  at  heart 
that  his  friend  was  right ;  for  it  seemed  to  him  ex- 
tremely natural  that  a  man  in  an  inferior  position  should 
envy  him. 

The  two  portraits  of  Anna,  painted  from  the  life  by 
him  and  Mikhaflof,  might  have  shown  Vronsky  the 
difference  between  him  and  Mikhailof,  but  he  did  not 
see  it.  Only  after  Mikhaiflof  had  finished  his  portrait 
he  ceased  to  work  at  his,  having  decided  that  it  was  a 

*  FasAe  siyatelstvo. 


ANNA    KARENINA 


315 


superfluity ;  but  he  still  devoted  himself  to  his  painting 
of  medieval  life.  He  himself,  and  Golenishchef,  and 
Anna  especially,  felt  that  it  was  very  good,  because  it 
resembled  the  works  of  the  old  masters  far  more  than 
Mikhailof's  painting  did. 

Mikhailof,  meantime,  in  spite  of  the  pleasure  which 
he  took  in  doing  Anna's  portrait,  was  even  more  glad 
than  the  others  were  when  the  sittings  came  to  an  end, 
and  he  no  longer  had  to  hear  Golenishchef's  discourses 
about  art,  and  was  allowed  to  forget  Vronsky's  paint- 
ings. He  knew  that  it  was  impossible  to  prevent 
Vronsky  from  amusing  himself  with  painting ;  he  knew 
that  he,  and  all  other  dilettanti,  had  the  right  to  paint 
as  much  as  they  pleased ;  but  it  was  disagreeable  to  him. 
No  one  can  prevent  a  man  from  making  for  himself  a 
big  wax  doll,  and  kissing  it ;  but  if  this  man  takes  his 
doll  and  sits  in  the  presence  of  a  lover,  and  begins  to 
caress  his  doll  as  the  lover  caresses  the  woman  he  loves, 
then  it  becomes  unpleasant  to  the  lover.  Vronsky's 
painting  produced  on  him  a  similar  feeling ;  it  was  ridic- 
ulous and  vexatious,  pitiable  and  disgusting. 

Vronsky's  enthusiasm  for  painting  and  the  Middle 
Ages  was,  however,  of  short  duration ;  his  art  instinct 
was  strong  enough  to  prevent  him  from  finishing  his 
painting.  His  work  came  to  a  standstill.  He  had  a 
dim  consciousness  that  his  faults,  at  first  apparently 
trifling,  would  grow  more  and  more  grievous  if  he  went 
on.  The  same  thing  happened  to  him  that  happened 
to  Golenishchef,  who  was  conscious  that  he  had  nothing 
to  say,  and  kept  deceiving  himself  with  the  notion  that 
his  thought  was  not  yet  ripe,  that  he  was  training  it,  and 
collecting  materials.  But  this  made  Golenishchef  bitter 
and  irritable,  while  Vronsky  could  not  deceive  himself, 
or  torture  himself,  and,  least  of  all,  grow  irritable.  With 
his  habitual  decision  of  character,  without  seeking  to 
justify  himself  or  to  offer  explanations,  he  simply  gave 
up  his  painting. 

But,  without  this  occupation,  his  life  in  this  little 
Itahan  city  quickly  became  intolerable  ;  the  falaazo  sud- 
denly appeared  old  and  filthy ;  the  spots  on  the  curtains 


3i6  ANNA    KARENINA 

assumed  a  sordid  aspect ;  the  cracks  in  the  mosaics,  the 
broken  stucco  of  the  cornices,  the  eternal  Golenishchef, 
the  Itahan  professor,  and  the  German  tourist,  all  became 
so  unspeakably  wearisome  that  it  was  necessary  to  make 
a  change.  Accordingly  he  and  Anna,  who  was  surprised 
by  this  abrupt  disenchantment,  decided  to  return  to 
Russia  to  live  in  the  country.  Vronsky  wanted  to  pass 
through  Petersburg  to  make  business  arrangements  with 
his  brother,  and  Anna  was  anxious  to  see  her  son.  They 
decided  to  spend  the  summer  on  Vronsky's  large  patri- 
monial estate. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

''■■Levin  had  been  married  three  months.  He  was 
happy,  but  in  a  different  way  from  what  he  had  antici- 
pated. At  every  step  he  had  found  that  his  former 
expectations  were  illusory,  and  that  his  joy  lay  in  what 
he  had  not  anticipated.  He  was  happy,  but  as  he  went 
on  in  his  married  existence  he  discovered  at  each  step 
that  it  was  utterly  different  from  what  he  had  imagined 
it  would  be.  At  each  step  he  experienced  what  a  man 
would  experience  who  had  been  charmed  with  the  grace- 
ful and  joyful  motion  of  a  boat  on  the  sea,  and  after- 
wards should  find  himself  in  the  boat.  He  saw  that  it 
was  not  enough  to  sit  still  and  not  rock ;  it  was  neces- 
sary to  be  on  the  lookout,  never  for  a  moment  forgetful 
of  the  course,  to  think  of  the  water  under  his  feet,  to 
row,  —  and  rowing  for  unaccustomed  arms  is  hard  ;  easy 
enough  it  is  to  look  on,  but  it  is  hard,  very  hard,  to  work, 
even  though  it  be  very  agreeable. 

When  still  a  bachelor,  looking  at  the  conjugal  life  of 
others,  at  their  little  miseries,  quarrels,  jealousies,  he  had 
often  laughed  scornfully  in  his  heart  of  hearts.  In  his 
future  married  life  never  should  any  such  thing  happen ; 
even  all  the  external  forms  of  his  private  life  should  be 
in  every  respect  absolutely  different  from  that  of  others. 
And  lo,  and  behold,  instead  of  that,  his  life  with  his  wife 
not  only  refused  to  arrange  itself  peculiarly,  but,  on  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  317 

contrary,  was  wholly  made  up  of  those  very  same  insig- 
nificant trifles  which  he  had  formerly  so  despised,  but 
which  now,  in  spite  of  him,  assumed  an  extraordinary 
and  irrefutable  importance.  And  Levin  saw  that  the 
regulation  of  all  these  trifles  was  not  nearly  so  easy  as 
he  had  supposed  it  would  be.  Notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  Levin  supposed  he  had  the  most  delicate  com- 
prehension of  family  life,  he,  like  all  men,  had  imagined 
that  it  was  only  meant  as  the  gratification  of  his  love,  and 
that  nothing  should  prevent  it  and  that  no  petty  details 
ought  to  interfere  with  it.  According  to  his  idea,  he  was 
to  do  his  work,  and  rest  from  it  in  the  delights  of  love. 
His  wife  was  to  be  his  love,  and  that  was  all. 

But,  like  all  men,  he  forgot  that  she,  too,  had  to  work. 
His  surprise  was  great  to  find  how  this  charming  and 
poetic  Kitty,  in  the  first  weeks,  even  in  the  first  days,  of 
their  married  life,  could  be  thinking,  planning,  taking 
charge  of  the  table-cloths,  the  furniture,  the  mattresses, 
the  table  service,  the  kitchen.  Even  during  their  en- 
gagement he  was  dumfounded  at  the  decided  way  in 
which  she  refused  to  travel  abroad  and  at  her  determi- 
nation to  go  immediately  to  their  country  home,  as  if 
she  knew  what  was  needful,  and  could  think  of  other 
things  besides  her  love.  It  vexed  him  then,  and  now 
many  times  he  still  felt  vexed,  to  find  that  she  took 
upon  herself  these  petty  cares  and  labors. 

But  he  saw  that  it  was  unavoidable ;  and,  as  he  loved 
her,  although  he  could  not  see  why  she  did  such  things, 
and  although  he  laughed  at  her  for  doing  them,  he  could 
not  help  admiring.  He  laughed  to  see  how  she  disposed 
the  new  furniture  which  came  from  Moscow,  how  she 
rearranged  everything  in  her  room  and  his,  how  she 
hung  the  curtains,  provided  for  the  guest-rooms  and  the 
rooms  that  Dolly  would  have,  directed  her  new  cham- 
bermaid, how  she  ordered  the  old  cook  to  provide  for 
dinner,  how  she  discussed  with  Agafya  Mikhaflovna, 
whom  she  removed  from  the  charge  of  the  provisions. 

He  saw  how  the  old  cook  smiled  gently  as  he  received 
fantastic  orders,  impossible  to  execute ;  he  saw  how 
Agafya  Mikhaflovna  shook  her  head  pensively  at  the 


31^  ANNA   KARENINA 

new  measures  introduced  by  her  young  mistress  into 
the  larder,  he  saw  how  wonderfully  charming  she  was 
when  she  came  to  him,  half  laughing,  half  crying,  to 
complain  because  her  maid,  Masha,  insisted  on  treating 
her  like  a  child,  and  no  one  would  heed  her  orders.  It 
all  seemed  to  him  charming,  but  strange,  and  he  thought 
it  would  be  better  if  it  were  otherwise. 

He  could  not  comprehend  the  sense  of  metamorphosis 
which  she  felt  at  finding  herself  the  mistress,  permitted 
to  see  to  the  preparation  of  cauliflower  and  kvas,  or 
confections,  to  spend  all  the  money  she  wanted,  and  to 
command  whatever  pastry  she  pleased,  after  having 
always  had  her  parents  to  restrain  her  fancies. 

She  was  now  making  joyful  preparations  for  the  ar- 
rival of  Dolly  and  the  children,  and  was  thinking  of  the 
pies  which  she  would  have  made  for  them,  and  how  she 
would  surprise  Dolly  with  all  her  new  arrangements.  She 
herself  could  not  have  given  any  reasons  for  it,  but  it  was 
a  fact  that  the  details  of  housekeeping  had  an  irresistible 
attraction  for  her.  She  foresaw  evil  days  to  come,  in- 
stinctively f eehng  the  approach  of  spring ;  and  knowing 
that  unhappy  days  would  also  surely  come,  she  prepared 
her  little  nest  as  well  as  she  could,  and  made  haste  both 
to  build  it  and  to  learn  how  to  build  it. 

This  zeal  for  trifles,  so  entirely  opposed  to  Levin's 
lofty  ideal  of  happiness,  seemed  to  him  one  thing  that 
disillusioned  him ;  while  this  same  activity,  the  meaning 
of  which  escaped  him,  but  which  he  could  not  help  lov- 
ing, was  one  of  the  things  that  gave  him  new  delight. 

The  quarrels  were  also  a  disenchantment  and  a  charm ! 
Never  had  it  entered  into  Levin's  head  that  between 
him  and  his  wife  there  could  be  any  relations  other  than 
those  of  gentleness,  respect,  tenderness ;  and  here,  even 
in  their  honeymoon,  they  were  disputing,  so  that  Kitty 
declared  that  he  did  not  love  her,  that  he  was  selfish, 
and  burst  into  tears  and  wrung  her  hands. 

The  first  of  these  little  differences  arose  in  conse- 
quence of  a  ride  which  Levin  took  to  see  a  new  farm ; 
he  stayed  half  an  hour  longer  than  he  had  said,  having 
missed  his  way  in  trying  to  come  home  by  a  shorter 


ANNA    KARENINA  319 

road.  He  rode  homeward,  thinking  only  of  her,  of  her 
love,  of  her  happiness ;  and  the  nearer  he  came  to  the 
house  the  more  his  heart  glowed  with  affection  for  his 
wife.  He  hurried  to  her  room  with  the  same  feeling, 
only  much  intensified,  as  he  had  experienced  on  the 
day  when  he  went  to  the  Shcherbatskys'  to  offer  himself. 
An  angry  expression,  such  as  he  had  never  seen  in  her 
face,  received  him.  He  was  going  to  kiss  her;  she 
pushed  him  away, 

"  What  is  the  matter  ? " 

"You've  been  enjoying...."  she  began,  wishing  to 
show  herself  cold  and  bitter. 

But  hardly  had  she  opened  her  mouth  when  the  ridic- 
ulous jealousy,  which  had  been  tormenting  her  for  half 
an  hour  while  she  had  been  waiting  for  him,  sitting  on 
the  window-seat,  broke  out  in  a  torrent  of  angry  words. 

He  then  began  for  the  first  time  to  understand  clearly 
what  before  he  had  seen  only  confusedly,  when  after  the 
crowning  they  went  out  of  the  church.  He  saw  that 
she  was  not  only  near  to  him,  but  that  he  did  not  know 
at  all  where  his  own  personality  began  or  her  person- 
ality ended.  He  felt  this  by  the  painful  sensation  of 
internal  division  which  he  experienced  at  that  instant. 
At  first  he  was  offended,  but  at  the  same  moment  he 
realized  that  he  had  no  right  to  be  offended,  because  she 
and  he  were  one  and  the  same  !  At  that  first  instant  he 
experienced  a  feeling  such  as  a  man  might  have  when, 
having  suddenly  received  a  sharp  blow  from  behind,  turns 
around  with  an  angry  desire  to  revenge  himself  on  the 
culprit,  and  discovers  that  he  has  accidentally  inflicted 
the  blow  on  himself,  that  there  is  no  one  to  be  angry  with, 
and  that  he  must  bear  the  pain  and  appease  it. 

Never  again  did  he  experience  this  feeling  with  such 
force,  but  this  first  time  it  was  long  before  he  could  give 
an  account  of  it.  A  natural  impulse  impelled  him  to 
exonerate  himself,  and  show  Kitty  how  wrong  she  was ; 
but  that  would  have  irritated  her  still  more  and  increased 
the  rupture  which  was  the  cause  of  all  their  unhappiness. 
A  natural  impulse  tempted  him  to  disavow  the  blame 
and  cast  it  at  her;  but  a  second  and  stronger  impulse 


320  ANNi^    KARENINA 

came  to  close  the  breach  as  quickly  as  possible  and  not 
let  it  grow  wider.  For  him  to  remain  under  the  shadow 
of  an  injustice  was  cruel ;  but,  under  the  pretext  of  a 
justification,  to  cause  her  pain  was  still  worse.  Like  a 
man  half  asleep,  wearied  with  pain,  he  wished  to  free  him- 
self from  it,  to  throw  off  the  painful  place  ;  but,  on  fully 
waking,  he  found  that  the  painful  place  was  himself. 
Patience  only  was  necessary  to  give  relief  to  the  pain, 
and  he  tried  to  apply  this  remedy'. 

Reconciliation  followed.  Kitty  felt  herself  in  the 
wrong,  and,  though  she  did  not  confess  it,  was  more 
than  ever  tender  to  him,  and  they  felt  a  new  and  doubled 
happiness  of  love.  But  this  did  not  prevent  these  dif- 
ferences from  coming  up,  and  coming  up  very  frequently, 
from  the  most  unexpected  and  insignificant  causes. 
These  collisions  often  arose  from  the  fact  that  they  were 
still  ignorant  of  what  was  indispensable  for  each,  and 
from  the  fact  that  during  all  this  first  period  they  both 
were  often  in  a  bad  frame  of  mind.  When  one  was 
happy  and  the  other  depressed,  then  peace  was  dis- 
turbed, but  when  they  both  happened  to  be  in  low  spirits, 
then  such  childish  things  were  sufficient  to  provoke  mis- 
understandings, that  they  could  not  even  remember 
afterward  what  they  were  quarreling  about.  It  is  true, 
when  they  were  both  in  good  spirits,  their  joy  of  life  was 
doubled.  But  nevertheless  this  first  period  was  a  trying 
time  for  them  both.  All  those  early  days,  they  felt  with 
especial  vividness  the  strain,  just  as  if  both  of  them 
were  pulling  in  contrary  ways  on  the  chain  that  bound 
them.  Especially  the  honeymoon,  from  which  Levin  ex- 
pected so  much,  was  far  from  honey-sweet,  but  remained 
in  the  memories  of  them  both  the  most  trying  and  humili- 
ating period  of  their  lives.  Both  of  them  afterwards 
tried  to  blot  from  their  memories  all  the  ugly,  shameful 
incidents  of  this  unhealthy  period,  during  which  they  so 
rarely  found  themselves  in  a  normal  state  of  mind,  were 
so  rarely  themselves. 

Life  became  better  regulated  only  after  their  return 
from  Moscow,  where  they  made  a  short  visit  in  the 
third  month  after  the  wedding. 


ANNA    KARENINA  321 


CHAPTER  XV 

They  were  just  back  from  Moscow,  and  enjoying  their 
solitude.  Levin  was  sitting  at  his  hbrary  table,  writing ; 
Kitty,  dressed  in  a  dark  violet  dress,  which  she  had  worn 
in  the  first  days  of  their  marriage,  and  which  Levin  had 
always  liked,  was  making  broderie  anglaise,  as  she  sat 
on  the  divan,  —  on  the  great  leather  divan  which  ever 
since  the  days  of  Levin's  father  and  grandfather  had 
stood  in  the  library. 

Levin  enjoyed  her  presence  while  he  was  writing  and 
thinking.  He  had  not  abandoned  his  occupations,  — 
his  farming,  and  the  treatise  in  which  the  principles 
of  his  new  method  of  conducting  his  estate  were  to  be 
evolved.  But,  as  before,  these  occupations  and  thoughts 
seemed  to  him  small  and  useless  in  comparison  with  the 
gloom  that  overshadowed  his  Hfe ;  so  now  they  seemed 
just  as  petty  and  unimportant  in  comparison  with  the 
life  before  him,  irradiated  as  it  was  with  the  full  light 
of  joy.  He  kept  up  his  occupations,  but  felt  now  that 
the  center  of  gravity  of  his  interests  had  shifted,  and 
that  consequently  he  looked  otherwise  and  more  clearly 
than  formerly  at  the  matter. 

In  former  days  this  occupation  seemed  like  the  salva- 
tion of  his  life ;  in  former  days  he  felt  that  without  it 
life  would  be  altogether  gloomy ;  now  these  occupations 
were  necessary  in  order  that  his  life  might  not  be  too 
monotonously  bright.  As  he  took  up  his  manuscript 
again,  reading  over  what  he  had  written,  he  felt  with  sat- 
isfaction that  the  work  was  worth  his  attention.  Many 
of  his  former  thoughts  seemed  to  him  exaggerated  and 
extravagant,  but  many  of  the  gaps  became  clearly  evi- 
dent to  him  as  he  reviewed  the  whole  subject.  He  was 
now  writing  a  new  chapter,  in  which  he  treated  of  the 
causes  for  the  unfavorable  condition  of  Russian  agri- 
culture. He  argued  that  the  poverty  of  the  country  was 
caused  not  entirely  by  the  unequal  distribution  of  the  land 
property  and  false  economical  tendencies,  but  that  this 
cooperated  with  the  abnormal  introduction  of  a  veneer 
VOL.  II. — 21 


J22  ANNA    KARENINA 

of  civilization,  especially  the  means  of  communication, 
the  railways,  which  produced  an  exaggerated  centraliza- 
tion in  the  cities,  the  development  of  luxury,  and  conse- 
quently the  creation  of  new  industries  at  the  expense  of 
agriculture,  an  extraordinary  extension  of  the  credit  sys- 
tem and  its  concomitant  —  stock  speculation.  It  seemed 
to  him  that  with  a  normal  development  of  riches  in  the 
empire  all  these  signs  of  exterior  civilization  would 
appear  only  when  the  cultivation  of  the  land  should 
have  attained  a  proportional  development,  when  it 
should  have  at  least  been  established  on  correct,  deter- 
mining conditions ;  that  the  wealth  of  a  country  ought 
to  increase  at  a  regular  ratio,  and  in  such  a  way  that 
agriculture  should  not  be  outstripped  by  other  branches 
of  wealth ;  that  the  means  of  intercommunication  ought 
to  be  developed  in  conformity  with  the  natural  develop- 
ment of  agriculture,  and  that  in  view  of  our  improper 
use  of  the  land,  the  railways,  constructed  not  by  reason 
of  actual  necessity,  but  from  political  motives,  were  pre- 
mature, and  instead  of  the  cooperation  which  they  were 
expected  to  give  to  agriculture,  they  arrested  it  by  encour- 
aging the  spread  of  manufacturing  and  the  credit  system  ; 
and  that,  therefore,  just  as  a  one-sided  and  premature 
development  of  one  organ  in  the  body  would  prevent  its 
general  development,  so  for  the  general  development  of 
wealth  in  Russia,  the  credit  system,  the  means  of  inter- 
communication, the  recrudescence  of  manufacturing  in- 
dustries, however  indispensable  they  may  have  been  in 
Europe,  where  they  are  opportune,  have  in  Russia  done 
nothing  but  harm  by  keeping  from  sight  the  most  im- 
portant question  as  to  the  organization  of  agriculture. 

While  Levin  was  writing,  Kitty  was  thinking  how  her 
husband,  on  the  evening  before  they  left  Moscow,  had 
watched  unnaturally  the  young  Prince  Charsky,  who, 
with  remarkable  lack  of  tact,  had  made  love  to  her. 
"  He  is  jealous,"  she  said  to  herself.  "  Bozhe  mof !  how 
good  and  stupid  he  is !  To  be  jealous  of  me !  If  he 
only  knew  that  for  me  they  are  all  like  Piotr  the  cook  !  " 
And  she  glanced  with  a  strange  feeling  of  proprietorship 
at  the  back  of  her  husband's  head  and  his  sunburnt  neck. 


ANNA    KARENINA  323 

*'  It  is  a  shame  to  interrupt  him,  but  he  has  plenty  of 
time.  I  must  see  his  face ;  will  he  feel  how  I  am  look- 
ing at  him  ?  I  will  wil/  for  him  to  turn  round.  There, 
I  will  make  him." 

And  she  opened  her  eyes  as  wide  as  she  could,  as  if 
to  concentrate  more  strength  into  her  gaze. 

"  Yes,  they  attract  all  the  best  sap  and  give  a  false 
appearance  of  wealth,"  murmured  Levin,  ceasing  to 
write,  and  conscious  that  she  was  looking  at  him  and 
smiling.     He  turned  around. 

"  What  is  it.''  "  he  asked,  smiling,  and  getting  up. 

"  He  did  turn  round,"  she  thought.  **  Nothing ;  I 
only  willed  to  make  you  turn  around,"  and  she  looked 
at  him  as  if  to  fathom  whether  he  was  vexed  or  not 
because  she  had  disturbed  him. 

"  Well,  how  good  it  is  to  be  alone  together !  For  me, 
at  least,"  said  he,  radiant  with  joy,  going  to  where  she  sat. 

"  I  am  so  happy  here !  I  never,  never,  want  to  go 
away  again,  especially  not  to  Moscow." 

"  But  what  were  you  thinking  about? " 

"I.''  I  was  thinking. ...no,  no;  go  on  with  your 
writing !  don't  let  your  mind  be  distracted,"  she  replied, 
pouting.  "  I  must  cut  all  these  eyelet-holes  now ;  do  you 
see? " 

And  she  took  her  scissors  and  began  to  snip. 

"  No ;  tell  me  what  you  were  thinking  about ! "  he 
insisted,  sitting  down  near  her,  and  following  all  the 
movements  of  her  little  scissors. 

"  Oh  !  What  was  I  thinking  about  ?  About  Moscow 
and  —  the  nape  of  your  neck !  " 

**  What  have  I  done  to  deserve  this  great  happiness  ? 
It  is  supernatural.  It  is  too  good,"  said  he,  kissing  her 
hand. 

"  To  me,  on  the  contrary,  the  happier  I  am  the  more 
natural  I  find  it !  " 

"  You  have  a  little  stray  curl,"  he  said,  turning  her 
head  around  carefully. 

"  A  stray  curl  ?  let  it  be.  We  must  think  about  seri- 
ous things." 

But   their   conference  was   interrupted;    and,  when 


324  ANNA   KARENINA 

Kuzma  came  to  announce  tea,  they  separated  as  if  they 
were  guilty. 

"  Are  they  returned  from  town  ? "  asked  Levin  of 
Kuzma. 

"They're  just  back, — they're  unpacking  the  things 
now." 

"  Come  as  quickly  as  you  can,"  said  Kitty,  going  from 
the  library. 

Levin,  left  alone,  shut  up  his  books  and  papers  in  a 
new  portfolio,  bought  by  his  wife,  washed  his  hands  in 
a  new  wash-basin  supplied  with  elegant  new  appurte- 
nances, also  bought  by  her,  and,  smiling  at  his  thoughts, 
nodded  his  head  disapprovingly ;  he  was  tormented  by 
a  feeling  which  resembled  remorse.  His  life  had  be- 
come too  indolent,  too  spoiled.  It  was  a  life  of  a  Cap- 
uan,  and  he  felt  ashamed  of  it.  "  To  live  so  is  not 
good,"  he  thought.  "  Here,  for  three  months,  I  have 
scarcely  done  a  thing !  To-day,  almost  for  the  first 
time,  I  have  set  about  anything  seriously,  and  what  was 
the  result  .-*  I  have  hardly  begun  before  I  give  it  up. 
I  even  neglect  my  ordinary  occupations.  I  don't  watch 
the  men.  I  don't  go  anywhere.  Sometimes  I  am  sorry 
to  leave  her ;  sometimes  I  see  that  she  is  out  of  spirits ; 
I  who  believed  that  existence  before  marriage  counted 
for  nothing,  and  that  life  only  began  after  marriage ! 
And  here,  for  three  months,  I  have  been  spending  my 
time  in  absolute  idleness.  This  must  not  go  on.  I 
must  do  something.  Of  course,  she  is  not  to  blame,  and 
one  could  not  lay  the  least  blame  on  her.  But  I  ought 
to  have  shown  more  firmness,  and  have  preserved  my 
manly  independence ;  otherwise,  I  shall  get  into  con- 
firmed bad  habits....  of  course,  she  is  not  to  blame....  " 

A  discontented  man  finds  it  hard  not  to  blame  some 
one  or  other  for  his  discontent,  and  generally  the  very 
person  who  is  nearest.  And  so  Levin  felt  vaguely  that 
while  the  fault  was  not  his  wife's  —  and  he  could  not 
lay  it  to  her  charge  —  it  was  owing  to  her  bringing  up ; 
it  was  too  superficial  and  frivolous.     "That  fool  of  a 

Charsky,  for  example I  know  she  wanted  to  get  rid 

of  him ;  but  she  did  not  know  how." 


ANNA   KARENINA  325 

Then  he  went  on  again  :  — 

"  Yes  !  Besides  the  petty  interests  of  housekeeping .... 
she  looks  out  for  those  and  enjoys  them ;  besides  her 
toilet  and  her  broderie  anglaise,  she  has  no  serious  inter- 
ests, no  sympathy  in  my  labors,  in  my  schemes,  or  for 
the  muzhiks,  no  taste  for  reading  or  music  ;  and  yet  she 
is  a  good  musician.  She  does  absolutely  nothing,  and 
yet  she  is  perfectly  content." 

Levin  in  his  heart  judged  her  thus,  and  did  not  com- 
prehend that  his  wife  was  making  ready  for  the  time  of 
activity  which  was  ere  long  to  come  to  her,  when  she 
would  be  at  once  wife,  mistress  of  the  house,^  mother, 
nurse,  teacher.  He  did  not  understand  that  she  knew 
this  by  intuition,  and  in  preparing  for  this  terrible  task 
could  not  blame  herself  for  these  indolent  moments, 
and  the  enjoyment  of  love,  which  made  her  so  happy, 
while  she  was  cheerily  building  her  nest  for  the  future. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

When  Levin  came  up-stairs  again  his  wife  was  sitting 
in  front  of  the  new  silver  samovar,  behind  the  new  tea- 
set,  reading  a  letter  from  Dolly,  with  whom  she  kept  up 
a  brisk  correspondence.  Old  Agafya  Mikhailovna,  with 
a  cup  of  tea,  was  cozily  sitting  at  a  small  table  beside 
her. 

"You  see  your  lady  has  asked  me  to  sit  here,"  said 
the  old  woman,  looking  affectionately  at  Kitty. 

These  last  words  showed  Levin  that  the  domestic 
drama  which  had  been  going  on  between  Kitty  and 
Agafya  Mikhailovna  was  at  an  end.  He  saw  that,  not- 
withstanding the  chagrin  which  Agafya  Mikhailovna 
felt  at  resigning  the  reins  of  government  to  the  new 
mistress,  Kitty  was  victorious,  and  had  just  made  peace 
with  her. 

"  Here  I  have  been  looking  over  your  letters,"  said 
Kitty,  handing  her  husband  an  illiterate-looking  en- 
velop.    "  I  think  it  is  from  that  woman  ....  you  know  ... 

^  Kkozdika  doma. 


326  ANNA    KARENINA 

of  your  brother's I  have  not  read  it,  but  this  is  from 

Dolly ....  imagine  it ;  she  has  been  to  take  Grisha  and 
Tania  to  a  children's  ball  at  the  Sarmatskys'.  Tania 
was  dressed  like  a  little  marchioness." 

But  Levin  was  not  listening.  With  a  flushed  face  he 
took  the  letter  from  Marya  Nikolayevna,  his  brother 
Nikolai's  discarded  mistress,  and  began  to  read  it.  This 
was  already  the  second  time  that  she  had  written  him. 
In  her  first  letter  she  told  him  that  Nikolai'  had  sent  her 
away  without  reason,  and  she  added,  with  touching  sim- 
plicity, that  she  asked  no  assistance  and  wanted  nothing, 
though  she  was  reduced  to  penury,  but  that  the  thought 
of  what  Nikolai"  Dmitritch  would  do  without  her  in  his 
feeble  condition  was  killing  her.  She  begged  his  brother 
to  look  out  for  him. 

Her  second  letter  was  in  a  different  tone.  She  said 
that  she  had  found  Nikolai  Dmitrievitch  and  was  living 
with  him  again  in  Moscow,  that  she  had  gone  with  him 
to  a  provincial  city,  where  he  had  received  an  appoint- 
ment. There  he  had  quarreled  with  the  chief,  and 
immediately  started  for  Moscow ;  but  on  the  way  he 
had  been  taken  so  violently  ill  that  he  would  probably 
never  leave  his  bed  again.  "  He  constantly  calls  for 
you,  and,  besides,  we  have  no  money,"  she  wrote. 

*'  Read  what  Dolly  writes  about  you,"  Kitty  began ; 
but,  when  she  saw  her  husband's  dejected  face,  she 
suddenly  stopped  speaking.     Then  she  said  :  — 

"What  is  it  —  what  has  happened.?  " 

"  She  writes  me  that  Nikolai,  my  brother,  is  dying. 
I  must  go  to  him." 

Kitty's  face  suddenly  changed.  The  thought  of 
Tania  as  a  little  marchioness,  of  Dolly,  and  all,  van- 
ished. 

"  When  shall  you  go  .''  " 

"  To-morrow." 

"  May  I  go  with  you  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Kitty !  what  an  idea ! "  he  replied,  reproach- 
fully. 

"  Why  w/iai  an  idea  ? "  she  exclaimed,  vexed  to  see 
her  proposal  received  with   such  bad  grace.     "Why, 


ANNA   KARENINA  327 

pray,  should  I  not  go  with  you  ?  I  should  not  hinder 
you  in  any  way.     I ....  " 

"  I  am  going  because  my  brother  is  dying,"  said 
Levin.     "  Why  should  you  go  .■*  " 

•'  For  the  same  reason  that  you  do."  .... 

"At  a  time  so  solemn  for  me,  she  thinks  only  of  the 
discomfort  of  being  left  alone,"  said  Levin  to  himself, 
and  this  excuse  for  taking  part  in  such  a  solemn  duty 
angered  him. 

"  It  is  impossible,"  he  replied  sternly. 

Agafya  Mikhailovna,  seeing  that  a  quarrel  was  immi- 
nent, quietly  put  down  her  cup  and  went  out.  Kitty 
did  not  even  notice  it.  Her  husband's  tone  wounded 
her  all  the  more  deeply  because  he  evidently  did  not 
believe  what  she  said. 

"  I  tell  you,  if  you  go,  I  am  going  too.  I  shall  certainly 
go  with  you.  I  certainly  am  going,"  said  she,  with 
angry  determination.  "  Why  is  it  impossible .''  Why 
did  you  say  that .-'  " 

"  Because  God  knows  when  or  in  what  place  I  shall 
find  him,  or  by  what  means  I  shall  reach  him.  You 
would  only  hinder  me,"  said  he,  doing  his  best  to  retain 
his  self-control. 

"  Not  at  all.  I  don't  need  anything.  Where  you 
can  go,  I  can  go  too,  and ....  " 

"  Well !  If  it  were  for  nothing  else,  it  would  be  be- 
cause of  that  woman,  with  whom  you  cannot  come  in 
contact." .... 

"  Why  not  ?  I  know  nothing  about  all  that,  and 
don't  want  to  know.  I  know  that  my  husband's  brother 
is  dying;  that  my  husband  is  going  to  see  him;  and  I 
am  going  too,  because  ....  " 

"  Kitty  !  don't  be  angry !  and  remember  that  in  such 
a  serious  time  it  is  painful  for  me  to  have  you  add  to 
my  grief  by  showing  such  weakness,  —  the  fear  of 
being  alone.  There,  now,  if  it  would  bore  you  to  be 
alone,  go  to  Moscow."  .... 

"  You  always  ascribe  to  me  such  miserable  senti- 
ments," she  cried,  choking  with  tears  of  vexation  and 
anger.     "I   am  not  so  weak....  I  know   that  it  is  my 


328  ANNA    KARENINA 

duty  to  be  with  my  husband  when  he  is  in  sorrow,  and 
you  want  to  wound  me  on  purpose.  You  don't  want  to 
take  me." .... 

"  No !  this  is  frightful !  to  be  such  a  slave !  "  cried 
Levin,  rising  from  the  table,  no  longer  able  to  hide  his 
anger;  at  the  same  instant  he  perceived  that  he  was 
doing  himself  harm. 

"  Why,  then,  did  you  get  married .-'  You  might  have 
been  free.  Why  —  if  you  repent  already .-'  "  —  and  Kitty 
fled  into  the  drawing-room. 

When  he  went  to  find  her,  she  was  sobbing. 

He  began  to  speak,  striving  to  find  words  not  to  per- 
suade her,  but  to  calm  her.  She  would  not  listen,  and 
did  not  allow  one  of  his  arguments.  He  bent  over  her, 
took  one  of  her  recalcitrant  hands,  kissed  it,  kissed  her 
hair,  and  then  her  hands  again ;  but  still  she  refused  to 
speak.  But  when,  at  length,  he  took  her  head  between 
his  two  hands  and  called  her  "  Kitty,"  she  softly  wept, 
and  the  reconciliation  was  complete. 

It  was  decided  that  they  should  go  together  on  the 
next  day.  Levin  told  his  wife  he  was  satisfied  that  she 
wished  nothing  but  to  be  useful,  and  agreed  that  Marya 
Nikolayevna's  presence  with  his  brother  would  not  be 
an  impropriety ;  but  at  the  bottom  of  his  heart  he  was 
dissatisfied  with  himself  and  with  her.  He  was  dis- 
satisfied with  her  because  she  would  not  let  him  go  alone 
when  it  was  necessary.  And  how  strange  it  was  for  him 
to  think  that  he  who  such  a  short  time  before  had  not 
dared  to  believe  in  the  possibility  of  such  a  joy  as  her 
loving  him,  now  felt  unhappy  because  she  loved  him  too 
well.  And  he  was  dissatisfied  with  himself  because  he 
had  yielded  in  such  a  weak  way.  In  the  depths  of  his 
heart  he  was  even  more  dissatisfied  to  think  of  the  in- 
evitable acquaintance  between  his  wife  and  his  brother's 
mistress.  The  thought  of  seeing  his  wife,  his  Kitty,  in 
the  same  room  with  this  woman,  filled  him  with  horror 
and  repulsion. 


ANNA    KARENINA  329 


CHAPTER  XVII 

The  inn  where  NikolaY  Levin  was  dying  was  one  of 
those  establishments  which  are  found  in  governmental 
cities,  built  on  a  new  and  improved  model,  with  the  very 
best  regard  for  neatness,  comfort,  and  even  elegance, 
but  which  the  public  frequenting  them  cause  to  degener- 
ate with  extraordinary  rapidity  into  filthy  grog-shops 
with  pretensions  to  modern  improvements  and  by  reason 
of  this  very  pretentiousness  become  far  worse  than  old- 
fashioned  inns  which  are  simply  filthy.  This  inn  had 
already  reached  this  condition.  The  soldier  in  dirty  uni- 
form, who  served  as  Swiss,  and  was  smoking  a  cigar- 
ette in  the  vestibule ;  the  perforated  cast-iron  staircase, 
gloomy  and  unpleasant ;  the  impertinent  waiter  in  a  dirty 
black  coat ;  the  common  "  hall  "  with  its  table  decorated 
with  a  dusty  bouquet  of  wax  flowers ;  the  dirt,  dust,  and 
slovenliness  everywhere  and  at  the  same  time  a  certain 
new  restlessness  and  self-sufficiency  characteristic  of 
these  railway  days  —  everything  about  this  inn  produced 
a  feeling  of  deep  depression  in  the  Levins  after  their 
recent  happiness  and  especially  from  the  fact  that  the 
wretched  condition  of  the  inn  was  wholly  irreconcilable 
with  what  was  waiting  for  them. 

As  usual,  after  they  had  been  asked  what  priced  rooms 
they  wanted,  it  proved  that  the  best  rooms  were  taken, 
—  one  by  the  supervisor  of  the  railroad,  another  by  a 
lawyer  from  Moscow,  the  third  by  Princess  Astavyeva 
from  the  country.  One  disorderly  bedroom  was  left 
for  them,  with  the  promise  that  they  should  have  the 
one  next  to  it,  when  evening  came.  Levin  took  his  wife 
to  it,  vexed  to  find  his  prognostications  so  speedily  real- 
ized, and  impatient  because  when  his  heart  was  over- 
whelmed with  emotion  at  the  thought  of  how  he  should 
find  his  brother,  he  was  obhged  to  get  settled  instead  of 
hurrying  to  his  brother. 

"  Go,  go !  "  said  Kitty,  with  a  melancholy  look  of 
contrition. 

He  left  her  without  saying  a  word,  and  just  outside 


330  ANNA    KARENINA 

the  door  he  ran  against  Mary  a  Nikolayevna,  who  had 
just  heard  of  his  arrival  but  had  not  ventured  to  knock 
at  his  room.  She  had  not  changed  since  he  last  saw  her 
in  Moscow.  She  wore  the  same  woolen  dress,  without 
collar  or  cuffs,  and  her  pock-marked  face  expressed  the 
same  unfailing  good  nature. 

"  Well !    How  is  he .?  tell  me !  " 

"  Very  bad.  He  does  n't  sit  up,  and  he  is  all  the 
time  asking  for  you.  You....  she....  Is  your  wife  with 
you  ? " 

I^evin  at  first  did  not  see  why  she  seemed  confused ; 
but  she  immediately  explained  herself. 

"I  am  going  to  the  kitchen,"  she  went  on  to  say; 
"he  will  be  glad;  he  remembers  seeing  her  abroad." 

Levin  perceived  ^  that  she  meant  his  wife,  and  did  not 
know  what  to  say. 

"  Come,"  said  he,  "  let  us  go  to  him." 

But  they  had  not  gone  a  step  before  the  chamber 
door  opened  and  Kitty  appeared.  Levin  grew  red  with 
vexation  and  mortification  to  see  his  wife  in  such  a  pre- 
dicament; but  Marya  Nikolayevna  was  still  more  con- 
fused, and  crouching  back  against  the  wall  ready  to  cry, 
she  caught  the  ends  of  her  apron  and  wound  it  around 
her  red  hands,  not  knowing  what  to  say  or  to  do. 

For  an  instant  Levin  saw  an  expression  of  lively 
curiosity  in  the  look  with  which  Kitty  regarded  this 
terrible  creature,  so  incomprehensible  to  her;  it  lasted 
but  a  moment. 

"  Tell  me !  what  is  it  ?  how  is  he  .-•  "  she  asked,  turning 
to  her  husband,  and  then  to  the  woman. 

"We  cannot  talk  in  the  corridor,"  replied  Levin,  look- 
ing with  an  expression  of  annoyance  at  a  gentleman 
who,  with  leisurely  steps,  as  if  on  his  own  business  bent, 
was  coming  along  the  corridor  just  at  this  time. 

"Well,  come  into  the  room,  then,"  said  Kitty,  address- 
ing the  apologetic  Marya  Nikolayevna;  then  seeing  the 
look  of  alarm  on  her  husband's  face,  she  added,  "  Or 

^  Marya  Nikolayevna  in  speaking  of  Nikola!  Levin  as  well  as  of  Kitty 
uses  the  third  person  plural,  a  form  of  exaggerated  obsequiousness  common 
with  persons  addressing  their  superiors. 


ANNA   KARENINA  331 

rather  go  —  go,  and  send  for  me,"  and  she  turned  back 
to  the  room. 

Levin  hastened  to  his  brother. 

He  had  never  expected  to  see  and  experience  what 
now  he  saw  and  experienced.  He  expected  to  find  him 
in  that  state  of  illusion  so  common  to  consumptives,  and 
which  had  so  struck  him  during  his  visit  the  preceding 
autumn.  He  expected  to  find  him  with  the  physical  indi- 
cations of  approaching  death  more  distinct  than  before 
—  greater  feebleness,  greater  emaciation,  but  practically 
about  the  same  state  of  things.  He  expected  that  he 
should  have  the  same  feeling  of  pity  for  this  well-beloved 
brother,  and  of  horror  at  the  presence  of  death,  —  only 
intensified.  He  was  quite  prepared  for  this.  But  what 
he  saw  was  absolutely  different. 

In  a  little,  close,  dirty,  ill-smelling  room,  the  paneled 
walls  of  which  were  covered  with  red  stains  of  expecto- 
ration, separated  by  a  thin  partition  from  another  room, 
where  conversation  was  going  on,  he  saw  lying  on  a 
wretched  bed  moved  out  from  the  wall  a  body  covered 
with  a  counterpane.  One  hand  huge  as  a  rake,  and  hold- 
ing in  a  strange  way  by  the  end  a  sort  of  long  and  slender 
bobbin,  was  on  the  outside  of  the  counterpane.  The 
head,  resting  on  the  pillow,  showed  the  thin  hair  glued 
to  his  temples,  and  a  strained,  almost  transparent  brow. 

"  Can  it  be  that  this  horrible  body  is  my  brother 
Nikolai  ? "  thought  Levin ;  but  as  he  came  near,  he  saw 
his  face  and  the  doubt  ceased.  In  spite  of  the  terrible 
change  that  had  taken  place,  it  was  enough  to  glance 
at  the  lively  eyes  turned  toward  him  as  he  entered,  or 
the  motions  of  his  mouth  under  the  long  mustache, 
to  recognize  the  frightful  truth  that  this  dead  body  was 
indeed  his  living  brother. 

Nikolaf's  gleaming  eyes  gazed  at  his  brother  with  a 
stern  and  reproachful  look.  His  look  seemed  to  bring 
living  relations  between  living  beings.  Konstantin  in- 
stantly felt  the  reproach  in  the  eyes  fixed  on  him  and 
regret  for  his  own  happiness. 

When  Konstantin  took  his  brother's  hand,  Nikolai 
smiled ;  but  the  smile  was  slight,  almost  imperceptible, 


332  ANNA    KARENINA 

and  in  spite  of  it  the  stern  expression  of  his  eyes  did 
not  change. 

"You  did  not  expect  to  find  me  so,"  said  he,  with 
effort. 

"Yes.... no,"  replied  Levin,  with  confusion.  "Why 
did  n't  you  let  me  know  sooner,  before  my  marriage .''  I 
had  inquiries  made  for  you  everywhere." 

He  wanted  to  keep  on  speaking,  so  as  to  avoid  a  pain- 
ful silence ;  but  he  did  not  know  what  to  say,  the  more 
as  his  brother  looked  at  him  without  replying,  and  seemed 
to  be  weighing  each  one  of  his  words.  Finally  he  told 
him  that  his  wife  had  come  with  him,  and  NikolaY  ap- 
peared delighted,  adding,  however,  that  he  was  afraid 
he  should  frighten  her  by  his  condition.  A  silence 
followed  ;  suddenly  Nikola'f  began  to  speak,  and  Levin 
felt  by  the  expression  of  his  face  that  he  had  something 
of  importance  to  tell  him,  but  he  spoke  only  of  his  health. 
He  blamed  his  doctor,  and  regretted  that  he  could  not 
have  consulted  a  celebrity  in  Moscow,  and  Levin  per- 
ceived that  he  was  still  hopeful. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  first  moment  of  silence,  Levin 
got  up,  wishing  to  escape  for  a  little  while  at  least  from 
these  cruel  impressions,  and  said  he  would  go  and  fetch 
his  wife. 

"  Good !  I  will  have  things  put  in  order  here.  It  is 
dirty  here  and  smells  bad,  I  imagine.  Masha,  you  attend 
to  this,"  said  the  sick  man,  with  effort.  "Yes!  and 
when  you  have  put  things  to  rights,  go  away,"  he  added, 
looking  at  his  brother  questioningly. 

Levin  made  no  reply,  but  as  soon  as  he  had  reached 
the  corridor  he  paused.  He  had  promised  to  bring  his 
wife,  but  now  as  he  recalled  what  he  himself  had  suf- 
fered, he  made  up  his  mind  to  persuade  her  that  she 
had  best  not  make  this  visit.  "  Why  torment  her  as  I 
am  tormented .'' "  he  asked  himself. 

"  Well,  how  is  it  ?  "  asked  Kitty,  with  frightened  face. 

"  Oh,  it  is  horrible,  horrible  !     Why  did  you  come  .''  " 

Kitty  looked  timidly,  compassionately,  at  her  husband 
for  a  few  seconds  without  speaking ;  then  going  to  him, 
she  put  both  hands  on  his  arm. 


ANNA    KARENINA  333 

"  Kostia,  take  me  to  him ;  it  will  be  easier  for  both 
of  us.  Take  me  and  leave  me  with  him,  please.  Can't 
you  see  that  it  is  far  harder  for  me  to  see  you  and  not 
to  see  him .-'  Perhaps  I  shall  be  useful  to  him,  and  to 
you  also.     I  beg  of  you,  let  me  go." 

She  besought  him  as  if  the  happiness  of  her  life  de- 
pended on  it. 

Levin  was  obliged  to  let  her  go  with  him,  but  in  his 
haste  he  completely  forgot  all  about  Marya  Nikolayevna. 

Kitty,  walking  lightly  and  showing  her  husband  a 
courageous  and  sympathetic  face,  stepped  quietly  into 
the  sick  man's  room  and  shut  the  door  noiselessly.  She 
went  with  light,  quick  steps  up  to  the  bed,  and  sat  down 
so  that  the  sick  man  would  not  have  to  turn  his  head, 
and  with  her  cool,  soft  hand  she  took  the  dying  man's 
enorm6us  bony  hand,  pressed  it,  and  employing  that 
tact  peculiar  to  women,  of  showing  sympathy  without 
wounding,  she  began  to  speak  to  him  with  a  gentle 
cheerfulness. 

"  We  saw  each  other  at  Soden  without  becoming 
acquainted ;  you  did  not  think  then  that  I  should  ever 
become  your  sister." 

"  You  would  not  have  known  me,  would  you  ? "  he 
said ;  his  face  was  lighted  up  with  a  smile  when  he  saw 
her  come  in. 

"  Oh,  yes,  indeed.  How  good  it  was  of  you  to  send  for 
us !  Not  a  day  has  passed  without  Kostia  speaking  of 
you.     He  has  been  very  anxious  about  you." 

But  the  sick  man's  animation  lasted  only  a  short  time. 

Kitty  had  not  finished  speaking  before  his  face  again 
assumed  that  expression  of  stern,  reproachful  envy  which 
the  dying  feel  for  the  living.  "i 

"  I  am  afraid  that  you  are  not  very  comfortable  here,^ 
said  she,  avoiding  the  look  which  he  gave  her,  and  ex- 
amining the  room. 

"We  must  ask  for  another  room,  and  be  nearer  to 
him,"  she  said  to  her  husband. 


334  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Levin  could  not  bear  to  look  at  his  brother,  could  not 
even  be  himself  and  feel  at  ease  in  his  presence.  When 
he  came  into  the  sick  man's  room,  his  eyes  and  his  mo- 
tions entirely  absorbed  him,  and  he  did  not  see  and  did 
not  realize  the  details  of  his  frightful  situation. 

He  perceived  the  horrid  odor,  he  saw  the  uncleanli- 
ness  and  disorder,  he  heard  the  sick  man's  groans,  and 
it  seemed  to  him  that  there  was  no  way  of  helping  it. 
It  did  not  occur  to  him  to  investigate  how  the  body  lay 
under  the  coverlid  ;  how  the  lean  long  legs,  the  thighs, 
the  back,  were  doubled  up  and  accommodated  ;  nor  did  he 
ask  whether  he  might  not  help  him  to  lie  more  easily 
and  do  something  to  improve  his  condition,  at  least  to 
make  a  bad  situation  less  trying. 

The  mere  thought  of  these  details  made  a  cold  chill 
run  down  his  back  ;  he  was  undoubtedly  persuaded  in 
his  own  mind  that  it  was  impossible  to  do  anything 
either  to  prolong  his  life  or  to  lighten  his  sufferings,  and 
the  sick  man,  feeling  instinctively  that  his  brother  was 
powerless  to  help  him,  was  irritated.  And  this  made  it 
all  the  harder  for  Levin.  To  be  in  the  sick-room  was 
painful  to  him  ;  to  be  away  from  it  was  still  worse. 
And  he  kept  leaving  the  room  under  various  pretexts, 
and  coming  back  again,  for  he  was  unable  to  stay  alone 
by  himself. 

Kitty  thought,  felt,  and  acted  in  an  entirely  different 
way  :  as  soon  as  she  saw  the  sick  man,  she  was  filled 
with  pity  for  him,  and  this  pity  in  her  womanly  heart, 
instead  of  arousing  a  sense  of  fear  or  repulsion  as  it  did 
in  her  husband's  case,  moved  her  to  act,  moved  her  to 
find  out  all  the  details  of  his  condition  and  to  amehorate 
them.  And  as  she  had  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  it 
was  her  duty  to  help  him,  neither  did  she  doubt  the 
possibility  of  it,  and  she  set  herself  to  work  without 
delay. 

The  details  the  mere  thought  of  which  repelled  her 
husband  were  the  very  ones  that  attracted  her  attention. 


ANNA    KARENINA  33s 

She  sent  for  a  doctor ;  she  sent  to  the  drug-store ;  she 
set  her  own  maid  and  Marya  Nikolayevna  to  sweeping, 
washing,  and  dusting,  and  she  even  helped  them  her- 
self. She  had  all  needless  articles  carried  away,  and 
she  had  them  replaced  by  things  that  were  needed. 
She  went  several  times  to  her  room,  paying  no  heed  to 
those  whom  she  met  on  the  way,  and  she  unpacked  and 
carried  with  her  sheets,  pillow-cases,  towels,  shirts. 

The  waiter  who  served  the  tad/e  d'hote  dinner  to  the 
engineers  several  times  came  with  surly  face  when  she 
rang  ;  but  she  gave  her  orders  with  such  gentle  author- 
ity that  he  never  failed  to  execute  them.  Levin  did 
not  approve  of  all  this.  He  did  not  believe  that  any 
advantage  would  result  from  it  for  the  sick  man.  More 
than  all,  he  was  afraid  that  it  would  worry  his  brother. 
But  Nikolai",  although  he  seemed  to  be  indifferent,  did 
not  lose  his  temper  and  only  felt  a  little  ashamed  and 
watched  with  a  certain  interest  everything  she  did  for 
him. 

When  Levin  came  back  from  the  doctor's,  whither 
Kitty  had  sent  him,  he  saw,  on  opening  the  door,  that, 
under  Kitty's  directions,  they  were  changing  the  sick 
man's  linen.  His  long  white  back  and  his  stooping 
shoulders,  his  prominent  ribs  and  vertebrae,  were  all 
uncovered,  while  Marya  Nikolayevna  and  the  lackey 
were  in  great  perplexity  over  the  sleeves  of  Nikolai's 
night-shirt,  into  which  they  were  vainly  striving  to  get 
his  long,  thin  arms.  Kitty,  quickly  closing  the  door  be- 
hind Levin,  did  not  look  at  him;  but  the  sick  man 
groaned  and  she  hastened  to  him.  ;  i 

"  Be  quick,"  she  said.  '•-«/ 

"  There  !  don't  come  near  me,"  muttered  the  sick 
man,  angrily.     "  I  myself  ....  " 

"What  do  you  say  .■* "  asked  Marya. 

But  Kitty  had  heard  and  understood  that  he  was 
ashamed  of  being  stripped  in  her  presence. 

"  I  am  not  looking,  I  am  not  looking,"  said  she,  trying 
to  get  his  arm  into  the  night-shirt.  "Marya  Nikolayevna, 
you  go  to  the  other  side  of  the  bed  and  help  us. —  Please 
go  and  get  a  little  flask  out  of  my  bag,  and  bring  it  to 


336  ANNA    KARENINA 

me,"  she  said  to  her  husband.  "  You  know,  in  the  side 
pocket;  please  bring  it,  and  in  the  meantime  we  will 
finish  arranging  him." 

When  Levin  came  back  with  the  flask,  he  found  the 
invalid  lying  down  in  bed,  and  everything  about  him 
had  assumed  a  different  appearance.  The  oppressive 
odor  had  been  exchanged  for  that  of  aromatic  vinegar 
which  Kitty,  pursing  up  her  lips  and  puffing  out  her 
rosy  cheeks,  was  scattering  about  from  a  glass  tube. 
The  dust  was  all  gone  ;  a  rug  was  spread  under  the 
bed ;  on  the  table  were  arranged  the  medicine  vials,  a 
carafe,  the  necessary  linen,  and  Kitty's  English  embroid- 
ery. On  another  table,  near  the  bed,  stood  a  candle, 
his  medicine,  and  powders.  The  sick  man,  bathed, 
with  smoothly  brushed  hair,  was  lying  between  clean 
sheets,  and  propped  up  by  several  pillows,  was  dressed 
in  a  clean  night-shirt,  the  white  collar  of  which  came 
around  his  unnaturally  thin  neck.  A  new  expression 
of  hope  shone  in  his  eyes  as  he  looked  at  Kitty. 

The  doctor  whom  Levin  went  for  and  found  at  the 
club  was  not  the  one  who  had  been  treating  Nikolaf  and 
had  aroused  his  indignation.  The  new  doctor  brought 
his  stethoscope  and  carefully  sounded  the  sick  man's 
lungs,  shook  his  head,  wrote  a  prescription,  and  gave 
exphcit  directions  first  about  the  application  of  his  rem- 
edies and  then  about  the  diet  which  he  wished  him  to 
observe.  He  ordered  fresh  eggs,  raw,  or  at  least  scarcely 
cooked,  and  Seltzer  water  with  milk  heated  to  a  certain 
temperature.  After  he  was  gone,  the  sick  man  said  a 
few  words  to  his  brother,  but  Levin  heard  only  the  last 
words:  "....your  Katya."  But  by  the  way  he  looked 
at  Kitty,  Levin  knew  that  he  said  something  in  her 
praise.     Then  he  called  Katya,  as  he  had  named  her :  — 

*'  I  feel  much  better  already,"  he  said  to  her.  "  With 
you  I  should  have  got  well  long  ago !  how  good  every- 
thing is." 

He  took  her  hand  and  lifted  it  to  his  Hps ;  but  as  if 
he  feared  that  it  might  be  unpleasant  to  her,  he  hesitated, 
put  it  down  again  and  only  caressed  it.  Kitty  pressed 
his  hand  affectionately  between  her  own. 


ANNA   KARENINA  337 

"  Now  turn  me  over  on  the  left  side,  and  all  of  you  go 
to  bed." 

No  one  heard  what  he  said ;  Kitty  alone  understood. 
She  understood  because  she  was  ceaselessly  on  the  watch 
for  what  he  needed. 

"  Turn  him  on  the  other  side,"  said  she  to  her  hus- 
band. "  He  always  sleeps  on  that  side.  It  is  not  pleas- 
ant to  call  the  man.  I  cannot  do  it.  Can  you  ?  "  she 
asked  of  Marya  Nikolayevna. 

"  I  am  afraid  not,"  she  replied. 

Levin,  terrible  as  it  was  to  him  to  put  his  arms  around 
this  frightful  body,  to  feel  what  he  did  not  wish  to  feel 
under  the  coverlid,  submitted  to  his  wife's  influence,  and 
assuming  that  resolute  air  which  she  knew  so  well,  and 
putting  in  his  arms,  took  hold  of  him ;  but  in  spite  of  all 
his  strength  he  was  amazed  at  the  strange  weight  of 
these  emaciated  limbs.  While  he  was,  with  difficulty, 
changing  his  brother's  position,  Nikolaf  threw  his  arms 
around  his  neck,  and  Kitty  quickly  turned  the  pillows  so 
as  to  m^ke  the  bed  more  comfortable,  and  carefully 
arranged  his  head  and  his  thin  hair,  which  was  again 
sticking  to  his  temples. 

Nikolai'  kept  one  of  his  brother's  hands  in  his.  Levin 
felt  that  the  sick  man  was  going  to  do  something  with 
his  hand  and  was  drawing  it  toward  him.  His  heart 
sank  within  him !  Yes,  Nikolaf  put  it  to  his  lips  and 
kissed  it !  Then,  shaken  with  sobs.  Levin  hurried  from 
the  room,  without  being  able  to  utter  a  word. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

"  He  has  hidden  it  from  the  wise,  and  revealed  it  unto 
children  and  fools ;  "  thus  thought  Levin  about  his  wife 
as  he  was  talking  with  her  a  little  while  later. 

He  did  not  mean  to  compare  himself  to  a  wise  man  in 
thus  quoting  the  Gospel.  He  did  not  call  himself  wise  ; 
but  he  could  not  help  feeling  that  he  was  more  intellec- 
tual than  his  wife  and  Agafya  Mikhailovna,  that  he  em- 
ployed all  the  powers  of  his  soul,  when  he  thought  about 


338  ANNA   KARENINA 

death.  He  knew  also  that  many  great  and  manly  minds 
whose  thoughts  on  this  subject  he  had  read  had  tried  to 
fathom  this  mystery,  but  they  had  not  seemed  to  know 
one  hundredth  part  as  much  as  his  wife  and  his  old 
nurse.  Agafya  Mikhaiflovna  and  Katya  —  as  his  brother 
called  her,  and  he  also  now  began  to  take  pleasure  in 
doing  —  had,  in  this  respect,  a  perfect  sympathy,  though 
otherwise  they  were  entirely  opposite. 

Both  unquestionably  knew  what  life  meant  and  what 
death  meant,  and  though  they  were  of  course  incapa- 
ble of  answering  or  understanding  the  questions  that 
presented  themselves  to  Levin's  mind,  they  not  only  had 
their  own  way  of  explaining  these  great  facts  of  human 
existence,  but  they  also  shared  their  belief  in  this  regard 
with  millions  of  human  beings.  As  a  proof  of  their  well- 
grounded  knowledge  of  what  death  was,  they  without  a 
second  of  doubt  knew  what  to  do  for  those  who  were 
dying,  and  felt  no  fear  of  them.  While  Levin  and  others, 
who  could  talk  much  about  death,  evidently  knew  noth- 
ing about  it  because  they  were  afraid  of  it  and  actually 
had  no  notion  what  to  do  when  men  were  dying.  If 
Konstantin  Levin  had  been  alone  now  with  his  brother 
Nikolai',  he  would  have  gazed  with  terror  into  his  face, 
and  with  growing  terror  awaited  his  end  with  fear,  and 
been  able  to  think  of  nothing  to  do  for  him. 

What  was  more,  he  did  not  know  what  to  say,  how  to 
look,  how  to  walk.  To  speak  of  indifferent  things 
seemed  unworthy,  impossible;  to  speak  of  melancholy 
things,  of  death,  was  likewise  impossible;  to  be  silent 
was  even  worse. 

"  If  I  look  at  him,  he  will  think  that  I  am  studying 
him,  I  fear ;  if  I  do  not  look  at  him,  he  will  believe  that 
my  thoughts  are  elsewhere.  To  walk  on  tiptoe  irritates 
him ;  to  walk  as  usual  seems  brutal." 

Kitty  apparently  did  not  think  about  herself,  and  she 
had  not  the  time.  Occupied  only  with  the  invalid,  she 
seemed  to  have  a  clear  idea  of  what  to  do ;  and  she  suc- 
ceeded in  her  endeavor. 

She  related  the  circumstances  of  their  marriage  ;  she 
told   about   herself ;  she   smiled  on  him ;  she  caressed 


ANNA   KARENINA  339 

him  ;  she  cited  cases  of  extraordinary  cures ;  and  it  was 
all  delightful :  she  understood  how  to  do  it.  The  proof 
that  her  activity  —  and  Agafya  Mikhaflovna's  —  was  not 
instinctive,  was  animal,  was  above  reason,  lay  in  the 
fact  that  neither  of  them  was  satisfied  with  offering  phys- 
ical solace  or  performing  purely  material  acts ;  both  of 
them  demanded  for  the  dying  man  something  more  im- 
portant than  physical  care,  and  something  above  and 
beyond  merely  physical  conditions. 

Agafya  Mikhaflovna,  speaking  of  the  old  servant  who 
had  lately  passed  away,  said,  "  Thank  God,  he  had  con- 
fession and  extreme  unction ;  God  grant  us  all  to  die 
likewise." 

Katya,  though  she  was  busy  with  her  care  of  the 
linen,  the  medicines,  and  the  bed-sores,  even  on  the 
first  day  succeeded  in  persuading  her  brother-in-law  to 
receive  the  sacrament. 

When  Levin  at  the  end  of  the  day  returned  from  the 
sick-room  to  their  own  two  rooms,  he  sat  down  with 
bowed  head,  confused,  not  knowing  what  to  do,  unable 
to  think  of  eating  his  supper,  of  arranging  for  the  night, 
of  doing  anything  at  all ;  he  could  not  even  talk  with  his 
wife  :  he  felt  ashamed  of  himself. 

But  Kitty  showed  extraordinary  activity.  She  had 
supper  brought ;  she  herself  unpacked  the  trunks,  helped 
arrange  the  beds,  and  even  remembered  to  scatter  Per- 
sian powder  upon  them.  She  felt  the  same  excitement 
and  quickness  of  thought  which  men  of  genius  show  on 
the  eve  of  battle,  or  at  those  serious  and  critical  moments 
in  their  lives,  those  moments  when,  if  ever,  a  man 
shows  his  value,  and  all  the  preceding  days  of  his  life 
are  only  the  preparation  for  these  moments. 

The  whole  work  made  such  rapid  progress  that  before 
twelve  o'clock  all  their  things  were  neatly  and  carefully 
arranged :  their  two  hotel  rooms  presented  a  thor- 
oughly homelike  appearance ;  the  beds  were  remade ; 
the  brushes,  the  combs,  the  hand-mirrors,  were  taken 
out ;  the  towels  were  in  order. 

Levin  found  it  unpardonable  in  himself  to  eat,  to 
sleep,  even  to  speak ;  and  he  felt  that  every  motion  he 


340  ANNA    KARENINA 

made  was  inappropriate.  But  she  took  out  her  toilet 
articles  and  did  everything  in  such  a  way  that  there 
was  nothing  in  the  least  disturbing  or  unsuitable  in  it. 

Neither  of  them  could  eat,  however,  and  they  sat  long 
before  they  could  make  up  their  minds  to  go  to  bed. 

"  I  am  very  glad  that  I  persuaded  him  to  receive  ex- 
treme unction  to-morrow,"  said  Kitty,  as  she  combed 
her  soft  perfumed  hair,  before  her  mirror,  sitting  in  her 
dressing-sack.  "  I  never  saw  it  given  ;  but  mamma  told 
me  that  they  repeat  prayers  for  restoration  to  health." 

"  Do  you  believe  that  he  can  get  well  ? "  asked  Levin, 
as  he  watched  the  narrow  parting  at  the  back  of  her 
little'  round  head  disappear  as  she  moved  the  comb  for- 
ward. 

"  I  asked  the  doctor  ;  he  says  that  he  cannot  live  more 
than  three  days.  But  what  does  he  know  about  it .-'  I 
am  glad  that  I  persuaded  him,"  she  said,  looking  at  her 
husband  from  behind  her  hair.  *'  All  things  are  possi- 
ble," she  added,  with  that  peculiar,  almost  crafty,  expres- 
sion which  came  over  her  face  when  she  spoke  about 
religion. 

Never,  since  the  conversation  that  they  had  while 
they  were  engaged,  had  they  spoken  about  religion ; 
but  Kitty  still  continued  to  go  to  church  and  to  say  her 
prayers  with  the  calm  conviction  that  she  was  fulfilling 
a  duty.  Notwithstanding  the  confession,  which  her 
husband  had  felt  impelled  to  make,  she  firmly  believed 
that  he  was  a  good  Christian,  perhaps  better  even  than 
herself,  and  that  all  he  had  said  about  it  was  only  one 
of  his  absurd  masculine  freaks  such  as  he  liked  to  in- 
dulge in,  just  as  he  did  when  he  jested  about  her 
broderie  anglaise  —  as  if  good  people  mended  holes,  but 
she  purposely  created  them. 

"  There !  This  woman,  Marya  Nikolayevna,  would 
never  have  been  able  to  persuade  him,"  said  Levin ; 
"and....  I  must  confess  that  I  am  very,  very  glad  that 
you  came.  You  made  everything  look  so  neat  and  com- 
fortable !  " .... 

He  took  her  hand,  but  did  not  kiss  it ;  it  seemed  to 
him  a  profanation  even  to  kiss  her  hand  in  the  presence 


ANNA   KARENINA  341 

ot  death,  but  he  pressed  it,  as  he  looked  with  contrition 
into  her  shining  eyes. 

"  You  would  have  suffered  too  terribly  all  alone,"  she 
said,  as  she  raised  her  arms,  which  covered  the  glow  of 
satisfaction  that  made  her  cheeks  red,  and  began  to 
coil  up  her  hair  and  fasten  it  to  the  top  of  her  head. 
"  No,  she  would  not  have  known  how ....  but  fortunately 
I  learned  many  things  at  Soden." 

"Were  there  people  there  as  ill  as  he  is? " 

"Yes,  more  so." 

*'  It  is  terrible  to  me  not  to  see  him  as  he  used  to  be 
when  he  was  young You  can't  imagine  what  a  hand- 
some fellow  he  was ;  but  I  did  not  understand  him 
then." 

"  Indeed,  indeed,  I  believe  you.  I  feel  that  we  should 
have  been  friends,"  said  she,  and  she  turned  toward 
her  husband,  frightened  at  what  she  had  said,  and  the 
tears  shone  in  her  eyes. 

"Yes,  would  have  been,^'  he  said  mournfully.  "He 
is  one  of  those  men  of  whom  one  can  say  with  reason 
that  he  was  not  meant  for  this  world." 

"  Meanwhile,  we  must  not  forget  that  we  have  many 
days  ahead  of  us ;  it  is  time  to  go  to  bed,"  said  Kitty, 
consulting  her  tiny  watch. 


CHAPTER  XX 

DEATH 

On  the  next  morning  communion  was  administered 
to  the  sick  man.  Nikolaf  prayed  fervently  during  the 
ceremony.  There  was  such  an  expression  of  passionate 
entreaty  and  prayer  in  his  great  eyes  gazing  at  the 
sacred  image  placed  on  a  card-table  covered  with  a 
colored  towel  that  it  was  terrible  for  Levin  to  look  at 
him  so ;  for  he  knew  that  this  passionate  entreaty  and 
hope  made  it  all  the  harder  for  him  to  part  from  life, 
to  which  he  clung  so  desperately.  He  knew  his  brother 
and  the  trend  of  his  thoughts ;  he  knew  that  his  skepti- 


34a  ANNA   KARENINA 

cism  did  not  arise  from  the  fact  that  it  was  easier  foi 
him  to  live  without  a  religion,  but  from  the  fact  that 
gradually  his  religious  behefs  had  been  supplanted  by 
the  theories  of  modern  science ;  and  therefore  he  knew 
that  his  return  to  faith  was  not  logical  or  normal,  but 
was  ephemeral  and  due  simply  to  his  unreasonable  hope 
for  recovery.  He  knew  likewise  that  Kitty  had  strength- 
ened this  hope  by  her  stories  of  extraordinary  cures. 

Levin  knew  all  this  and  was  tormented  by  these 
thoughts  as  he  looked  at  his  brother's  beseeching,  hope- 
ful eyes,  as  he  saw  his  difficulty  in  lifting  his  emaciated 
hand  to  touch  his  yellow  forehead  to  make  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  and  saw  his  flesh  less  shoulders,  and  his  hollow, 
rattling  chest,  unable  longer  to  contain  the  life  which 
he  was  begging  to  have  restored.  During  the  sacra- 
ment Levin  did  what  he  had  done  a  thousand  times, 
skeptic  that  he  was  :  — 

"  Heal  this  man  if  Thou  dost  exist,"  he  said,  address- 
ing God,  "  and  Thou  wilt  save  me  also." 

The  invahd  felt  suddenly  much  better  after  the  anoint- 
ing with  the  holy  oil ;  for  more  than  an  hour  he  did  not 
cough  once.  He  assured  Kitty,  as  he  kissed  her  hand 
with  smiles  and  tears  of  thanksgiving,  that  he  felt  well, 
that  he  was  not  suffering,  and  that  he  felt  a  return  of 
strength  and  appetite.  When  his  broth  was  brought, 
he  got  up  by  "himself  and  asked  for  a  cutlet.  Hopeless 
as  his  case  was,  impossible  as  his  recovery  was,  as  any 
one  might  see  by  a  glance.  Levin  and  Kitty  spent  this 
hour  in  a  kind  of  timid  joy. 

"  Is  he  not  better  ?  " 
i'r.^Much  better." 

**  It  is  astonishing." 

"  Why  should  it  be  astonishing  ? " 

"  He  is  certainly  better,"  they  whispered,  smiling  at 
each  other. 

The  illusion  did  not  last.  The  sick  man  went  serenely 
to  sleep,  but  after  half  an  hour  his  cough  wakened  him 
and  instantly  those  who  were  with  him  and  the  sick  man 
himself  lost  all  hope.  The  actuahty  of  suffering  un- 
questioned made  them  forget  their  late  hopes.     NikolaX, 


ANNA   KARENINA  343 

giving  no  thought  to  what  he  had  believed  a  half-hour 
previously,  and  apparently  ashamed  even  to  remember 
it,  asked  for  a  bottle  of  iodin  to  inhale. 

Levin  gave  him  the  bottle,  which  was  covered  with 
a  piece  of  perforated  paper,  and  his  brother  looked  at 
him  with  the  same  imploring,  passionate  look  which  he 
had  given  the  image,  as  if  asking  him  to  confirm  the 
words  of  the  doctor,  who  attributed  miraculous  virtues 
to  the  inhaling  of  iodin. 

"  Kitty  is  n't  here  ?  "  he  asked  in  his  hoarse  whisper, 
when  Levin  had  unwilhngly  repeated  the  doctor's  words, 

"No?  then    I   may  speak!.,..  I   played  the   comedy 

for  her  sake She  is  so  sweet !     But  you  and  I  cannot 

deceive  ourselves !  This  is  what  I  put  my  faith  in," 
said  he,  pressing  the  bottle  in  his  bony  hands  as  he 
smelt  the  iodin. 

About  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  Levin  and  his 
wife  were  taking  tea  in  their  room,  when  Marya  Niko- 
layevna  came  running  toward  them  all  out  of  breath. 
She  was  pale,  and  her  lips  trembled. 

"  He  is  dying !  "  she  whispered,  "  I  am  afraid  that  he 
is  dying ! " 

Both  of  them  hurried  to  NikolaT.  He  had  lifted 
himself,  and  was  sitting  up  in  bed  leaning  on  his  elbow, 
his  head  bowed,  his  long  back  bent. 

"  How  do  you  feel  ?  "  asked  Levin,  tenderly,  after  a 
moment  of  silence. 

"  I  feel  that  I  am  going,"  whispered  NikolaT,  strug- 
gling painfully  to  speak,  but  as  yet  pronouncing  the 
words  distinctly.  He  did  not  raise  his  head,  but  only 
turned  his  eyes  up,  without  seeing  his  brother's  face. 

"  Katya,  go  away  !  "  he  whispered  once  again. 

Levin  sprang  up  and  in  an  imperative  whisper  bade 
her  leave  the  room. 

"  I  am  going,"  the  dying  man  whispered  once  again. 

"  Why  do  you  think  so  ? "  asked  Levin,  for  the  sake 
of  saying  something. 

"  Because  I  am  going,"  he  repeated,  as  if  he  had  an 
affection  for  the  phrase.     "  It  is  the  end." 

Marya  Nikolayevna  came  to  hira. 


344  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  If  you  would  lie  down,  it  would  be  easier  for  you," 
said  she. 

"  Soon  I  shall  be  lying  down,"  he  remarked  softly,  — 
"dead,"  he  added,  with  angry  irony.  "Well,  lay  me 
back,  if  you  will." 

Levin  laid  his  brother  down  on  his  back,  took  a  seat 
near  him,  and,  hardly  able  to  breathe,  gazed  into  his 
face.  The  dying  man  lay  with  his  eyes  shut,  but  the 
muscles  of  his  forehead  twitched  from  time  to  time  as 
if  he  were  in  deep  thought.  Levin  involuntarily  tried 
to  comprehend  what  was  taking  place  in  him,  but  in 
spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  his  mind  to  accompany  his 
brother's  thoughts,  he  saw  by  the  expression  of  his  calm 
stern  face,  and  the  play  of  the  muscles  above  his  eye- 
brows, that  his  brother  perceived  mysteries  hidden  from 
him. 

"  Yes ....  yes ....  so,"  the  dying  man  murmured  slowly, 
with  long  pauses  ;  "  lay  me  down  !  "  Then  long  silence 
followed.  "  So !  "  said  he  suddenly,  with  an  expression 
of  content  as  if  all  had  been  explained  for  him.  "  O 
Lord  !  "  he  exclaimed,  and  he  sighed  heavily. 

Marya  Nikolayevna  felt  of  his  feet.  "  They  are  grow- 
ing cold,"  she  said  in  a  low  voice. 

Long,  very  long,  as  it  seemed  to  Levin,  the  sick  man 
remained  motionless ;  but  he  was  still  alive,  and  sighed 
from  time  to  time. 

Weary  from  the  mental  strain.  Levin  felt  that  in 
spite  of  all  his  efforts  he  could  not  understand  what  his 
brother  meant  to  express  by  the  exclamation  "So," 
He  seemed  to  be  far  away  from  the  dying  man  ;  he 
could  no  longer  think  of  the  mystery  of  death ;  the 
most  incongruous  ideas  came  into  his  mind.  He  asked 
himself  what  he  was  going  to  do ;  —  to  close  his  eyes, 
dress  him,  order  the  coffin  ?  Strange  !  he  felt  perfectly 
cold  and  indifferent ;  he  did  not  experience  any  sense  of 
grief  or  loss,  or  even  the  least  pity  for  his  brother ;  the 
principal  feeling  that  he  had  was  one  almost  of  envy 
for  the  knowledge  which  the  dying  man  would  soon 
have  and  which  he  himself  could  not  have. 

Long  he  waited  by  his  bedside,  expecting  the  end; 


ANNA   KARENINA  345 

it  did  not  come.  The  door  opened,  and  Kitty  came  in. 
He  got  up  to  stop  her,  but  instantly  heard  the  dying 
man  move. 

"  Don't  go  away  ! "  said  Nikolai,  stretching  out  his 
hand.  Levin  took  it,  and  angrily  motioned  his  wife 
away. 

Still  holding  the  dying  man's  hand,  he  waited  a  half- 
hour —  an  hour  —  and  still  another  hour.  He  ceased 
to  think  of  death ;  he  thought  what  Kitty  was  doing. 
Who  was  occupying  the  next  room .''  Had  the  doctor 
a  house  of  his  own  ?  Then  he  became  hungry  and 
sleepy.  He  gently  let  go  the  dying  man's  hand  and  felt 
of  his  feet.  His  feet  and  legs  were  cold ;  but  still 
Nikolaf  was  breathing.  Levin  started  to  go  away  on 
his  tiptoes ;  but  again  the  invalid  stirred,  and  said, 
"  Don't  go  away  !  " 


It  began  to  grow  light ;  the  situation  was  unchanged. 
Levin  gently  rose,  and  without  looking  at  his  brother 
went  to  his  room,  and  fell  asleep.  When  he  awoke,  in- 
stead of  hearing  of  his  brother's  death  as  he  expected, 
he  was  told  that  he  had  come  to  his  senses  again.  He 
was  sitting  up  in  bed,  was  coughing,  and  wanted  some- 
thing to  eat.  He  became  talkative,  but  ceased  to  talk 
about  death,  and  once  more  began  to  express  the  hope 
of  getting  well  again,  and  was  more  irritable  and  restless 
than  before.  No  one,  not  even  his  brother  or  Kitty, 
could  calm  him.  He  was  angry  with  them  all,  and  said 
disagreeable  things,  and  blamed  every  one  for  his  suffer- 
ings, demanding  that  the  famous  doctor  from  Moscow 
should  be  sent  for ;  and  whenever  they  asked  him  how 
he  was,  he  replied  with  expressions  of  anger  and  re- 
proach, "  I  am  suffering  terrible,  unendurable  agony." 

He  suffered  more  and  more,  especially  from  his  bed- 
sores, which  they  were  wholly  unable  to  heal,  and  his 
irritability  kept  increasing,  and  he  reproached  them  all 
bitterly,  especially  because  they  did  not  fetch  the  doctor 
from  Moscow.  Kitty  tried  every  means  in  her  power 
to  help  him,  to  calm  him  ;  but  it  was  all  in  vain,  and 


346  ANNA    KARENINA 

Levin  saw  that  she  was  suffering  physically  as  well  as 
morally,  although  she  would  not  confess  it. 

The  sentiment  of  death  which  had  been  aroused  in 
all  by  his  farewell  to  life  that  night  when  he  had  sum- 
moned his  brother  was  mightily  weakened.  All  knew 
that  he  would  inevitably  and  speedily  reach  the  end, 
that  he  was  already  half  dead.  They  all  felt  that  the 
sooner  he  died  the  better  it  would  be  ;  yet,  concealing 
this,  they  still  gave  him  medicines  from  vials,  sent  for 
new  medicines  and  doctors,  and  they  deceived  him  and 
themselves  and  one  another ;  all  this  was  falsehood, 
vile,  humiliating,  blasphemous  falsehood.  And  this 
falsehood  was  more  painful  to  Konstantin  than  to  the 
others,  because  he  loved  his  brother  more  deeply,  and 
because  nothing  was  more  contrary  to  his  nature  than 
lack  of  sincerity. 

Levin,  who  had  long  felt  the  desire  to  reconcile  his 
two  brothers  before  Nikolai'  should  die,  wrote  to  SergyeJ 
Ivanovitch.  He  replied,  and  Konstantin  read  the  letter 
to  the  sick  man :  Sergye'i  Ivanovitch  could  not  come 
but  he  asked  his  brother's  pardon  in  touching  terms. 

Nikolai  said  nothing. 

"  What  shall  I  write  him  ?  "  asked  Konstantin.  "  I 
hope  you  are  not  angry  with  him." 

"  No,  not  at  all,"  replied  Nikolaf,  in  a  tone  of  vexa- 
tion.    "Write  him  to  send  me  the  doctor." 

Three  cruel  days  passed  in  this  manner,  the  invalid 
remaining  in  the  same  condition.  All  those  who  saw 
him  —  the  hotel  waiter  and  the  landlord  and  all  the 
lodgers  and  the  doctor  and  Marya  Nikolayevna  and 
Levin  and  Kitty  —  now  wished  only  one  thing,  and  that 
was  his  death.  The  invalid  only  did  not  express  any 
such  wish,  but,  on  the  contrary,  continually  grumbled 
because  they  did  not  send  for  the  doctor  ;  and  he  took 
his  remedies  and  he  spoke  of  life.  Only  at  rare  mo- 
ments, when  opium  caused  him  for  a  little  to  be  oblivious 
of  his  incessant  agony,  he  would  in  a  sort  of  doze  con- 
fess what  weighed  on  his  mind  even  more  heavily  than 
on  the  others' :  "  Akh  1  If  this  could  only  end  !  "  or 
"When  this  is  over." 


ANNA   KARENINA  347 

His  sufferings,  growing  ever  more  and  more  severe, 
did  their  work  and  prepared  him  to  die.  There  was  no 
position  in  which  he  could  find  relief ;  there  was  not  a 
moment  in  which  he  could  forget  himself;  there  was 
not  a  place  or  a  single  member  of  his  body  that  did  not 
cause  him  paih,  agony.  Even  the  memories,  the  impres- 
sions, and  the  thoughts  about  his  body  now  awakened 
in  him  the  same  feeling  of  repulsion  as  his  body  itself ; 
the  sight  of  other  people  and  their  talk,  their  individual 
recollections,  were  a  torment  to  him.  Those  who  sur- 
rounded him  felt  it  and  instinctively  refrained  in  his 
presence  from  using  any  freedom  of  motion,  from  con- 
versation or  from  expressing  their  wishes.  All  his  life 
was  concentrated  in  one  feeling,  suffering,  and  in  an 
ardent  desire  to  be  freed  from  it. 

Evidently  there  was  accomplishing  in  him  that  revolu- 
tion whereby  he  would  be  induced  to  look  on  death  as 
a  consummation  of  his  desires,  even  as  a  joy.  Hitherto, 
every  individual  desire  called  forth  by  suffering  or 
privation,  as  by  hunger,  weariness,  thirst,  was  satisfied 
by  some  bodily  exercise  producing  pleasure ;  but  now 
privation  and  suffering  got  no  relief  and  any  attempt 
at  relieving  them  caused  new  suffering.  And  so  all  his 
desires  were  concentrated  on  one  thing,  —  the  wish  to 
be  delivered  from  all  his  woes  and  the  very  source  of 
his  woes,  from  his  body.  But  he  had  no  words  to  ex- 
press this  thought,  and  he  continued  out  of  habit  to  ask 
for  what  once  gave  him  comfort,  but  could  no  longer 
satisfy  him.  "Turn  me  on  the  other  side,"  he  would 
say,  and  then  immediately  wish  to  return  to  his  former 
position.  "  Give  me  bouillon  !  Take  it  away  !  Speak, 
and  don't  stay  so  still! "  and  as  soon  as  any  one  began 
to  speak,  he  would  shut  his  eyes  and  show  fatigue,  in- 
difference, and  disgust. 

On  the  tenth  day  after  their  arrival  Kitty  was  taken 
ill ;  she  had  a  headache  and  nausea  and  all  the  morn- 
ing felt  unable  to  get  up. 

The  doctor  declared  that  it  was  caused  by  her  emo- 
tions and  weariness.     He  advised  quiet  and  rest. 

Yet,  after  dinner,  she  got  up  and  went  as  usual  with 


348  ANNA    KARENINA 

her  work  to  Nikolaf's  room.     He  looked  at  her  sternly 
and  smiled  scornfully  when  she  told  him  that  she  had 
been  ill.     All  day  long  he  never  ceased  to  cough  and  to 
groan  piteously. 

"  How  do  you  feel  ? "  she  asked. 

"Worse,"  he  replied  with  difficulty.     "I  am  in  pain," 

"  Where  do  you  feel  the  pain  .-' " 

"All  over." 

"  You  will  see  the  end  will  come  to-day,"  said  Marya 
Nikolayevna,  in  an  undertone. 

Levin  hushed  her,  thinking  that  his  brother,  whose 
ear  was  very  acute,  might  hear ;  he  turned  and  looked 
at  him.  Nikolai  had  heard,  but  the  words  made  no  im- 
pression ;  his  look  remained  as  before,  reproachful  and 
intense. 

"  What  makes  you  think  so .-' "  asked  Levin,  when 
she  followed  him  into  the  corridor. 

"  He  has  begun  to  pick  with  his  fingers." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  This  way,"  she  said,  plucking  at  the  folds  of  her 
woolen  dress.  Levin  himself  noticed  that  all  that  day 
the  invalid  had  been  plucking  at  his  bed-clothes  as  if  to 
pick  off  something. 

Marya  Nikolayevna's  prediction  came  true.  Toward 
evening  Nikolai  had  not  strength  enough  left  to  lift  his 
arms,  and  his  motionless  eyes  assumed  an  expression  of 
concentrated  attention.  Even  when  his  brother  and 
Kitty  bent  over  him  in  order  that  he  might  see  them, 
this  look  remained  unchanged.  Kitty  had  the  priest 
summoned  to  say  the  prayers  for  the  dying. 

While  the  priest  was  reading  the  prayer,  the  dying  man 
gave  no  sign  of  life.  His  eyes  were  closed.  Levin, 
Kitty,  and  Marya  Nikolayevna  were  standing  by  his  bed- 
side. Before  the  prayers  were  ended,  Nikolalf  stretched 
himself  a  Httle,  sighed,  and  opened  his  eyes.  The  priest, 
having  finished  the  prayer,  placed  the  crucifix  on  his 
icy  brow,  then  put  it  under  his  stole,  and  after  he  had 
stood  for  a  moment  or  two  longer,  silently  he  touched 
the  huge  bloodless  hand. 

"It  is  all  over,"  he  said  at  last,  and  started  to  go  away ; 


ANNA    KARENINA  349 

but  suddenly  Nikolai's  lips  trembled  slightly,  and  from 
the  depths  of  his  breast  came  these  words,  which  sounded 
distinctly  in  the  silent  room  :  — 

"  Not  yet....  soon." 

A  moment  later  his  face  brightened,  a  smile  came  to 
his  lips,  and  the  women  who  had  been  summoned  has- 
tened to  lay  out  the  body. 

The  sight  of  his  brother  and  the  propinquity  of  death 
awakened  in  Levin's  mind  that  feeling  of  horror  at  the 
inexplicability  and  the  unavoidableness  of  death,  just  as 
he  had  felt  on  that  autumn  night  when  his  brother  came 
to  see  him.  This  feeling  was  now  more  intense  than  ever. 
More  than  ever  he  felt  his  inabihty  to  fathom  this  mys- 
tery, and  even  more  terrible  seemed  to  him  its  proximity. 
But  now,  thanks  to  his  wife's  presence,  this  feeling  did  not 
lead  him  to  despair;  for  in  spite  of  his  terrors  l.j  felt 
the  need  of  living,  and  loving.  He  felt  that  love  saved 
him  from  despair,  and  that  this  love  became  all  the 
stronger  and  purer  because  it  was  threatened. 

And  scarcely  had  this  mystery  of  death  taken  place 
before  his  eyes  ere  he  found  himself  face  to  face  with 
another  miracle  of  love  and  of  life  equally  unfathomable. 

The  doctor  confirmed  his  surmise  in  regard  to  Kitty 
Her  discomfort  was  the  beginning  of  pregnancy. 


END  OF  VOL.  n. 


The  Scene  in  the  Freight-house. 

Original  Drawing  by  £.  Boyd  Smith. 


ANNA    KARENINA 
VOL.  m 


ANNA   KARENINA 


PART    FIFTH  —  Continued 


CHAPTER  XXI 

AS  soon  as  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  had  learned 
from  Betsy  and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  that  all  that 
was  expected  of  him  was  that  he  should  leave  his  wife  in 
peace  and  not  trouble  her  with  his  presence,  and  that  his 
wife  herself  wished  this,  he  had  felt  himself  in  too  great 
perplexity  to  be  able  to  decide  anything  for  himself,  and 
he  did  not  know  what  he  wanted ;  but,  having  placed 
his  fate  in  the  hands  of  others,  who  were  willing  enough 
to  occupy  themselves  with  his  affairs,  he  was  ready  to 
accept  whatever  might  be  proposed  to  him. 

Only  when  Anna  had  taken  her  departure  and  when 
the  English  governess  sent  to  inquire  if  she  should  dine 
with  him  or  by  herself,  did  he  for  the  first  time  clearly 
realize  his  position  and  its  full  horror. 

The  hardest  element  in  this  state  of  affairs  was  that 
he  could  not  coordinate  and  reconcile  his  past  with  the 
present.  Nor  was  it  the  past  when  he  lived  happily 
with  his  wife  that  disturbed  him.  The  transition  from 
that  past  to  the  knowledge  of  his  wife's  infidelity  he  had 
borne  like  a  martyr ;  that  state  of  things  was  trying,  but 
it  was  comprehensible  to  him.  If  at  the  time  when  his 
wife  had  confessed  her  wrong  to  him  she  had  left  him, 
he  would  have  been  mortified  and  unhappy ;  but  he 
would  not  have  been  in  that  inextricable,  incomprehen- 
sible position  in  which  he  now  felt  that  he  was.  He 
could  never  now  reconcile  his  recent  position,  his  recon- 
ciliation, his  love  for  his  sick  wife  and  the  alien  child, 


2  ANNA    KARENINA 

with  the  present  state  of  things ;  in  other  words,  with 
the  fact  that  as  a  reward  for  all  his  sacrifices  he  was  now 
deserted,  disgraced,  useful  to  no  one,  and  a  ridiculous 
laughing-stock  to  all. 

The  first  two  days  after  his  wife's  departure  Aleksef 
Aleksandrovitch  received  petitioners  and  his  chief  sec- 
retary, attended  committee-meetings,  and  ate  his  meals 
in  the  dining-room  as  usual.  Without  trying  to  explain 
to  himself  why  he  did  this,  he  directed  all  t^^e  powers  of 
his  mind  to  one  single  aim  —  to  seem  calm  and  indif- 
ferent. As  he  answered  the  questions  of  the  servants 
in  regard  to  what  should  be  done  about  Anna's  rooms 
and  her  things,  he  made  superhuman  efforts  to  assume 
the  manner  of  a  man  for  whom  the  event  that  had 
occurred  was  not  unexpected,  and  had  nothing  in  it 
outside  the  range  of  ordinary,  every-day  events,  and  he 
accomplished  his  purpose ;  no  one  would  have  detected 
in  him  any  signs  of  despair.  But  on  the  second  day 
after  her  departure  KorneY  handed  him  a  miUiner's  bill 
which  Anna  had  neglected  to  pay,  and  told  him  that  the 
manager  of  the  business  himself  was  waiting.  Alekseif 
Aleksandrovitch  had  the  man  shown  in. 

"  Excuse  me,  your  excellency,"  said  the  manager, 
"for  venturing  to  disturb  you,  but  if  you  order  us  to 
apply  to  her  ladyship  personally,  will  you  kindly  give 
us  her  address  }  " 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  seemed  to  the  manager  to  be 
cogitating  ;  then  suddenly  turning  round,  he  sat  down  at 
the  table.  Dropping  his  head  into  his  hands,  he  sat 
there  a  long  time  in  that  position ;  he  tried  several  times 
to  speak,  but  still  hesitated.  KomeY,  understanding  his 
barin's  feelings,  asked  the  manager  to  come  another 
time. 

^.,  When  he  was  left  alone  again,  AlekseY  Aleksandro- 
yitch  realized  that  he  no  longer  had  the  power  to  keep 
up  the  ro/e  of  firmness  and  serenity.  He  gave  orders 
to  send  away  the  carriage  which  was  waiting  for  him, 
and  he  declined  to  see  callers  and  would  accept  no  in- 
vitations out  to  dine.  He  felt  that  he  could  not  endure 
the  disdain  and  derision  which  he  clearly  read  on  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  ^ 

face  of  this  manager  and  of  Kornei,  and  of  all  without 
exception  whom  he  had  met  during  those  two  days.  He 
felt  that  he  could  not  defend  himself  from  the  detesta- 
tion of  people,  because  this  detestation  did  not  arise 
from  the  fact  that  he  had  himself  committed  any  wrong 
action,  for  in  that  case  he  might  have  hoped  to  regain 
the  esteem  of  the  world  by  improvement  in  conduct,  but 
from  the  fact  that  he  was  unhappy,  and  with  an  unhap- 
piness  that  was  odious  and  shameful.  He  knew  that  it 
was  precisely  for  the  reason  that  his  heart  was  torn  that 
they  would  be  pitiless  to  him.  It  seemed  to  him  that  his 
fellow-men  persecuted  him  as  dogs  torture  to  death  some 
poor  cur  maimed  and  howling  with  pain.  He  knew  that 
the  only  safety  from  men  was  to  conceal  his  wounds  from 
them,  and  he  had  instinctively  tried  for  two  days  to  do 
so ;  but  now  he  felt  that  he  had  no  longer  the  strength 
to  continue  the  unequal  struggle. 

His  despair  was  made  deeper  by  the  knowledge  that 
he  was  absolutely  alone  with  his  suffering.  In  all 
Petersburg  there  was  not  a  man  to  whom  he  could 
confide  all  his  wretchedness,  not  one  who  would  have 
any  pity  for  him  now,  not  as  a  lofty  functionary,  or 
even  as  a  member  of  society,  but  simply  as  a  human 
being  in  despair :  he  had  no  such  friend. 

Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch  had  lost  his  mother  when  he 
was  ten  years  old ;  he  had  no  remembrance  of  his 
father ;  he  and  his  one  brother  were  left  orphans  with 
a  very  small  inheritance  ;  their  uncle  Karenin,  a  man 
of  influence,  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  late  emperor, 
took  charge  of  their  bringing  up. 

After  a  successful  course  at  the  gymnasium  and  the 
university,  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  through  his  uncle's 
aid,  made  a  brilliant  start  in  official  life,  and,  full  of 
ambition,  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  his  career.  He 
formed  no  ties  of  intimacy  either  in  the  gymnasium  or  in 
the  university,  or  afterward  in  society ;  his  brother  alone 
was  dear  to  him,  but  he  entered  the  department  of  foreign 
affairs,  went  abroad  to  live,  and  died  soon  after  Aleksef 
Aleksandrovitch's  marriage. 

While  Karenin  was  governor  of  one  of  the  provinces, 


4  ANNA   KARENTNA 

Anna's  aunt,  a  wealthy  lady  of  the  governmental  capi 
tal,  introduced  her  niece  to  this  governor,  who  was 
young  for  such  a  position,  if  not  in  years,  and  she 
forced  him  to  the  alternative  of  proposing  marriage  or 
leaving  the  city.  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  long  hesi- 
tated. There  seemed  as  many  reasons  in  favor  of  this 
step  as  there  were  opposed  to  it ;  there  was  no  definite 
reason  which  should  impel  him  to  break  his  rule,  "When 
in  doubt,  dotit ! "  but  Anna's  aunt  sent  word  to  him 
through  a  friend  that  he  had  compromised  the  young 
lady,  and  that  as  a  man  of  honor  he  must  offer  her  his 
hand.  He  offered  himself,  and  gave  her,  first  as  his 
betrothed  and  afterward  as  his  wife,  all  the  affection 
which  it  was  in  his  power  to  show. 

This  attachment  prevented  him  from  feeling  the  need 
of  any  other  intimacy.  And  now  out  of  all  the  number 
of  his  acquaintances  he  had  not  one  confidential  friend. 
He  had  many  so-called  "  friends,"  but  no  intimates. 
There  were  many  persons  whom  Aleksel  Aleksandro- 
vitch could  invite  to  dinner,  or  ask  favors  of,  in  the 
interests  of  his  public  capacity  or  protection  for  some 
petitioner  ;  with  whom  he  could  freely  criticize  the  actions 
of  other  people  and  of  the  highest  officers  of  govern- 
ment. But  his  relations  to  these  people  were  exclu- 
sively confined  to  this  official  domain,  from  which  it 
was  impossible  to  escape.  There  was  one  university 
comrade  with  whom  he  had  kept  up  an  intimacy  in  after 
years,  and  to  whom  he  would  have  confided  his  private 
sorrows,  but  this  friend  was  a  trustee  ^  of  the  classical 
educational  institutes  in  a  distant  province.  Of  all  the 
people  in  Petersburg,  the  nearest  and  most  practicable 
acquaintances  were  his  Director  of  the  Chancelry  and 
his  doctor. 

Mikhail  Vasilyevitch  Sliudin,  "manager  of  affairs," 
was  a  simple,  good,  intelligent,  and  well-bred  man,  and 
he  seemed  full  of  sympathy  for  Karenin  ;  but  five  years' 
association  in  official  service  put  a  barrier  between  them 
which  silenced  confidences. 

1  PopechiteV  uchebnava  okruga  ;  an  office  attached  to  the  department  of 
Public  Instruction.  —  Ed. 


ANNA    KARENINA  s 

AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch,  having  signed  the  papers 
which  he  brought,  sat  in  silence  for  some  time  looking 
at  Sliudin,  and  kept  trying,  but  found  it  impossible,  to 
open  his  heart  to  him.  The  question,  "  Have  you  heard 
of  my  misfortune  ?  "  was  on  his  lips ;  but  it  ended  in  his 
saying  as  usual,  when  he  dismissed  him  :  — 

"  You  will  have  the  goodness  to  prepare  me  this 
work." 

The  doctor  was  another  man  who  was  well  disposed 
to  him,  but  between  them  there  had  long  been  a  tacit 
understanding  that  they  were  both  full  of  business  and 
in  a  hurry. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  did  not  think  at  all  about 
his  women  friends,  or  even  of  the  chiefest  among  them, 
the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna.  Women  simply  as  women 
were  strange  and  repulsive  to  him. 


CHAPTER   XXII 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  forgot  the  Countess 
Lidia  Ivanovna,  but  she  did  not  forget  him.  She 
reached  his  house  at  his  darkest  moment  of  solitary 
despair,  and  made  her  way  to  his  library  without  wait- 
ing to  be  announced.  She  found  him  still  sitting  in  the 
same  position  with  his  head  between  his  hands. 

"y'ai  ford  la  consigned'  she  said,  as  she  came  in 
with  rapid  steps,  breathless  with  emotion  and  agitation. 
"  I  know  all,  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch,  my  friend  !  " 
and  she  pressed  his  hand  between  both  of  hers  and 
looked  at  him  with  her  beautiful  melancholy  eyes. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  with  a  frown,  arose,  and, 
having  withdrawn  his  hand,  offered  her  a  chair. 

"  I  beg  you  to  sit  down.  I  am  not  receiving  be- 
cause I  am  suffering,  countess,"  he  said,  and  his  lips 
quivered. 

"  My  friend  !  "  repeated  the  countess,  without  taking 
her  eyes  from  him ;  and  suddenly  she  lifted  her  eye- 
brows so  that  they  formed  a  triangle  on  her  forehead,  and 
this  grimace  made  her  ugly  yellow  face  still  uglier  than 


^  ANNA   KARENINA 

before.  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  felt  that  she  pitied 
him  and  was  on  the  point  of  crying.  A  wave  of  feel' 
ing  overwhelmed  him.  He  seized  her  fat  hand  and 
kissed  it. 

"  My  friend,"  she  said  again,  in  a  voice  breaking 
with  emotion,  "  you  must  not  give  yourself  up  to  grief. 
Your  grief  is  great,  but  you  must  find  consolation," 

"  I  am  wounded,  I  am  killed,  I  am  no  longer  a  man," 
said  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  letting  go  the  countess's 
hand,  but  still  looking  into  her  eyes  swimming  with  tears. 
"  My  situation  is  all  the  more  unbearable  because  I  can 
find  neither  in  myself  nor  outside  of  myself  any  help 
toward  endurance  of  it." 

"  You  will  find  this  help,  not  in  me,  though  I  beg  you 
to  believe  in  my  friendship,"  said  she,  with  a  sigh. 
"  Our  help  is  love,  the  love  which  He  has  given  for  an 
inheritance.  His  yoke  is  easy,"  she  continued,  with  the 
exalted  look  that  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  knew  so  well. 
"  He  will  sustain  you  and  will  aid  you." 

Although  these  words  were  the  expression  of  an 
emotion  aroused  by  their  lofty  feelings,  as  well  as  the 
symbolical  language  characteristic  of  a  new  mystical 
exaltation  just  introduced  into  Petersburg,  and  which 
seemed  extravagant  to  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch,  never- 
theless he  found  it  pleasant  at  the  present  time  to  hear 
them. 

"  I  am  weak,  I  am  humiliated.  I  foresaw  nothing  of 
this,  and  now  I  cannot  understand  it." 

"  My  friend  !  "  repeated  Lidia  Ivanovna. 

"I  do  not  mourn  so  much  my  loss,"  said  Aleksei" 
Aleksandrovitch  ;  "but  I  cannot  help  a  feeling  of  shame 
for  the  situation  in  which  I  am  placed  before  the  world. 
It  is  bad,  and  I  cannot,  I  cannot  bear  it." 

*'  It  is  not  you  who  have  performed  this  noble  act  of 
forgiveness  which  has  filled  me  —  and  all  —  with  admira- 
tion. It  is  He  dwelling  in  your  heart.  So,  too,  you 
have  no  cause  for  shame,"  said  the  countess,  ecstati- 
cally raising  her  eyes. 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  frowned,  and,  pressing  his 
hands  tQg;ethQr,  be  began  to  make  his  knuckles  crack. 


ANNA    KARENINA  7 

"You  must  know  all  the  details,"  he  said,  in  his  shrill 
voice.  "  Man's  powers  are  limited,  countess  ;  and  I  have 
reached  the  limit  of  mine.  All  this  day  I  have  wasted 
in  details,  domestic  details,  arising  [he  accented  the 
word]  from  my  new,  lonely  situation.  The  servants,  the 
governess,  the  accounts,  ....  this  is  a  slow  fire  devouring 
me,  and  I  have  not  strength  to  endure  it.  Yesterday 
I  scarcely  was  able  to  get  through  dinner ....  I  cannot  en- 
dure to  have  my  son  look  at  me  ....he  did  not  ask  me 
any  questions,  but  I  know  he  wanted  to  ask  me,  and  I 
could  not  endure  his  look.  He  was  afraid  to  look  at 
me  ....but  that  is  a  mere  trifle  ...." 

Karenin  wanted  to  speak  of  the  bill  that  had  been 
brought  him,  but  his  voice  trembled,  and  he  stopped. 
This  bill  on  blue  paper,  for  a  hat  and  ribbons,  was  a 
recollection  that  made  him  pity  himself. 

"  I  understand,  my  friend,"  said  the  Countess  Lidia 
Ivanovna,  "  I  understand  it  all.  Aid  and  consolation 
you  will  not  find  in  me,  but  I  have  come  to  help  you  if 
I  can.  If  I  could  free  you  from  these  petty  annoying 
tasks  ....  I  think  that  a  woman's  word,  a  woman's  hand, 
are  needed ;  will  you  let  me  help  you .-' " 

Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  was  silent,  and  pressed  her 
hand  gratefully. 

"We  will  look  3.fter  Serozha  together.  I  am  not 
strong  in  practical  affairs,  but  I  can  get  used  to  them, 
and  I  will  be  your  ekonomka.  Do  not  thank  me ;  I  do 
not  do  it  of  myself."  .... 

"  I  cannot  help  being  grateful" 

"  But,  my  friend,  do  not  yield  to  the  sentiment  of 

which  you  spoke  a  moment  ago How  can  you  be 

ashamed  of  what  is  the  highest  degree  of  Christian  per- 
fection .''  He  who  humbles  Jmnself  shall  be  exalted. 
And  you  cannot  thank  me.  Thank  Him,  pray  to  Him 
for  help.  In  Him  alone  we  can  find  peace,  consolation, 
salvation,  and  love." 

She  raised  her  eyes  to  heaven,  and  began  to  pray,  as 
AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch  could  see  by  her  silence. 

AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  listened  to  her,  and  this 
phraseology,  which  before  seemed,  not  unpleasant  to  him, 


8  ANNA   KARENINA 

but  extravagant,  now  seemed  natural  and  soothing.  He 
did  not  approve  of  this  new  ecstatic  mysticism.  He  was 
a  sincere  believer,  and  religion  interested  him  principally 
in  its  relation  to  politics ;  and  the  new  doctrine  which 
arrogated  to  itself  certain  new  terms,  for  the  very  rea- 
son that  it  opened  the  door  to  controversy  and  analysis, 
had  aroused  his  antipathy  from  principle.  Hitherto,  he 
had  taken  a  cold,  and  even  hostile,  attitude  to  this  new 
doctrine,  and  had  never  discussed  it  with  the  countess, 
who  was  carried  away  by  it,  but  had  resolutely  met  her 
challenge  with  silence.  But  now,  for  the  first  time,  he 
let  her  speak  without  hindrance,  and  even  found  a 
secret  pleasure  in  her  words. 

"  I  am  very,  very  grateful  to  you,  both  for  your  words 
and  for  your  sympathy,"  he  said,  when  she  had  ended 
her  prayer. 

Again  the  countess  pressed  her  friend's  hand  with 
both  of  hers. 

"Now  I  am  going  to  set  to  work,"  said  she,  with  a 
smile,  wiping  away  the  traces  of  tears  on  her  face.  "  I 
am  going  to  Serozha,  and  I  shall  not  trouble  you  except 
in  serious  difficulties."     And  she  got  up  and  went  out. 

The  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna  went  to  Serozha's  room, 
and,  while  she  bathed  the  scared  little  fellow's  cheeks 
with  her  tears,  she  told  him  that  his  father  was  a  saint 
and  his  mother  was  dead. 

The  countess  fulfilled  her  promise.  She  actually 
took  charge  of  the  details  of  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch's 
house,  but  she  exaggerated  in  no  respect  when  she  de- 
clared that  she  was  not  strong  in  practical  affairs.  It 
was  necessary  to  modify  all  of  her  arrangements,  since 
it  was  impossible  to  carry  them  out,  and  they  were  modi- 
fied by  KorneT,  Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch's  valet,  who, 
without  any  one  noticing  it,  gradually  took  it  on  him- 
self to  manage  the  whole  establishment,  and  calmly  and 
discreetly  reported  to  his  barin  (while  the  latter  was 
dressing)  such  things  as  seemed  best. 

But,  nevertheless,  the  countess's  help  was  to  the 
highest  degree  useful  to  him.  Her  affection  and  es- 
teem were  a  moral  support  to  him,  and,  as  it  gave  her 


ANNA   KARENINA  9 

great  consolation  to  think,  she  almost  succeeded  in 
converting  him  to  "  Christianity  " ;  in  other  words,  she 
changed  him  from  an  indifferent  and  lukewarm  be- 
liever into  a  fervent  and  genuine  partizan  of  that 
new  method  of  explaining  the  Christian  doctrine  which 
shortly  after  came  into  vogue  in  Petersburg.  It  was 
easy  for  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  to  put  his  faith  in 
this  exegesis.  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  as  well  as  the 
countess  and  all  those  who  shared  their  views,  was  not 
gifted  with  great  imagination,  or  at  least  that  faculty 
of  the  mind  by  which  the  illusions  of  the  imagination 
have  sufficient  conformity  with  reality  to  cause  their 
acceptation.  Thus  he  saw  no  impossibility  or  unlike- 
lihood in  death  existing  for  unbelievers  and  not  for  him, 
that  because  he  held  a  complete  and  unquestioning  faith, 
judged  in  his  own  way,  his  soul  was  already  free  from 
sin,  and  that  even  in  this  world  he  might  look  upon  his 
safety  as  assured. 

It  is  true,  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  dimly  felt  the 
frivolity,  the  fallacy,  of  this  presentation  of  his  faith. 
He  knew  that  when,  without  a  thought  that  his  forgive- 
ness of  his  wife  was  the  act  of  a  higher  power,  he  gave 
himself  up  to  this  immediate  feeling,  he  experienced  a 
greater  happiness  than  when,  as  now,  he  constantly 
thought  that  Christ  dwelt  in  his  soul,  and  that  by  sign- 
ing certain  papers  he  was  following  His  will.  But  it 
was  indispensable  for  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch  to  think 
so  ;  it  was  so  indispensable  to  have,  in  his  present  hu- 
miliation, this  elevation,  imaginary  though  it  was,  from 
which  he,  whom  every  one  despised,  could  look  down 
on  others,  that  he  clung  to  it  as  if  his  salvation  de- 
pended on  it. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

The  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna  had  been  married  when 
she  was  a  very  young  and  enthusiastic  girl  to  a  very 
wealthy,  aristocratic,  good-natured,  and  dissolute  young 
fellow.     Two  months  after  the  wedding   her   husband 


lo  ANNA    KARENINA 

deserted  her.  He  had  replied  to  her  effusive  expres- 
sions of  love  with  scorn  and  even  hatred,  which  no 
one  who  knew  the  count's  kindliness,  and  were  not 
acquainted  with  the  faults  of  Lidia's  romantic  nature, 
could  comprehend.  Since  then,  without  any  formal 
divorce,  they  had  lived  apart ;  and  when  the  husband 
met  his  wife,  he  always  treated  her  with  a  venomous 
scorn,  the  reason  for  which  it  puzzled  people  to  under- 
stand. 

The  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna  long  ago  ceased  to 
worship  her  husband,  but  at  no  time  had  she  ceased 
to  be  in  love  with  some  one.  Not  seldom  she  was  in 
love  with  several  at  once  —  men  and  women  indiscrimi- 
nately. She  had  been  in  love  with  almost  every  one 
of  any  prominence.  Thus  she  had  lost  her  heart  to 
each  of  the  new  princes  and  princesses  who  married 
into  the  imperial  family.  Then  she  had  been  in  love 
with  a  metropolitan,  a  vicar,  and  a  priest.  Then  she 
had  been  in  love  with  a  journalist,  three  Slavophiles, 
and  Komisarof ;  then  with  a  foreign  minister,  a  doc- 
tor, an  English  missionary,  and  finally  Karenin.  These 
multifarious  love-affairs  and  their  different  phases  of 
warmth  or  coldness  in  no  wise  hindered  her  from  keep- 
ing up  the  most  complicated  relations  both  with  the 
court  and  society. 

But  from  the  day  wheh  Karenin  was  touched  by 
misfortune  and  she  took  him  under  her  special  pro- 
tection, from  the  time  when  she  began  to  busy  herself 
with  his  domestic  affairs  and  work  for  his  well-being, 
she  felt  that  all  her  former  passions  were  of  no  account, 
but  that  she  now  loved  Karenin  alone  with  perfect  sin- 
cerity. The  feeling  which  she  now  cherished  toward 
him  seemed  to  her  stronger  than  all  the  previous  feel- 
ings. As  she  analyzed  her  sentiment  and  compared 
it  with  the  former  ones,  she  clearly  saw  that  she  would 
never  have  been  in  love  with  Komisarof  if  he  had  not 
saved  the  emperor's  life,  or  with  Ristitch-Kudzhitsky 
had  there  been  no  Slav  question.  But  Karenin  she 
loved  for  himself,  for  his  great,  unappreciated  spirit, 
for  his  character,  for  the  delightful  sound  of  his  voice, 


ANNA   KARENINA  ti 

his  deliberate  intonations,  his  weary  eyes,  and  his  soft 
white  hands  with  their  swollen  veins.  Not  only  did  the 
thought  of  seeing  him  fill  her  with  joy,  but  it  seemed 
to  her  that  she  saw  on  her  friend's  face  the  signs  of 
the  impression  which  she  made  on  him.  She  did  her 
best  to  please  him,  no  less  by  her  person  than  by  her 
conversation.  Never  before  had  she  spent  so  much 
time  and  attention  on  her  toilet.  More  than  once  she 
found  herself  wondering  what  would  happen  if  she 
were  not  married  and  he  were  only  free !  When  he 
came  into  the  room,  she  colored  with  emotion,  and 
she  could  not  restrain  a  smile  of  ecstasy  if  he  said 
something  pleasant  to  her.  '",'     ,  ^ 

For  several  days  the  countess  had  been  in  a  state  ot 
great  excitement.  She  knew  that  Anna  and  Vronsky 
were  back  in  Petersburg.  It  was  necessary  to  save 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  from  seeing  her ;  it  was  neces- 
sary to  save  him  even  from  the  tormenting  knowledge 
that  this  wretched  woman  was  living  in  the  same  town 
with  him  and  he  might  meet  her  at  any  instant. 

Lidia  Ivanovna  made  inquiries  through  acquaintances 
so  as  to  discover  the  plans  of  these  repulsive  people^  aS 
she  called  Anna  and  Vronsky ;  and  she  tried  to  direct 
all  of  Karenin's  movements  so  that  he  might  not  meet 
them.  The  young  aide  to  the  emperor,  a  friend  of 
Vronsky's,  from  whom  she  learned  about  them,  and 
who  was  hoping  through  the  Countess  Lidia  Iva- 
novna's  influence  to  get  a  concession,  told  her  that 
they  were  completing  their  arrangements  and  expected 
to  depart  on  the  following  day. 

Lidia  Ivanovna  was  beginning  to  breathe  freely  once 
more,  when  on  the  next  morning  she  received  a  note, 
the  handwriting  of  which  she  recognized  with  terror. 
it  was  Anna  Karenina's  handwriting.  The  envelop  was 
of  paper  thick  as  bark  ;  the  oblong  sheet  of  yellow  paper 
was  adorned  with  an  immense  monogram.  The  note 
exhaled  a  delicious  perfume. 

"  Who  brought  it  ?  " 

•'A  messenger  from  the  hoteL'^    -•  -  /  ,,  y  i   ;   >;-> 

The  countess  waited  long  before  she  had  tlie  cour- 


12  ANNA    KARENINA 

age   to   sit   down   and   read   it.      Her  emotion   almost 
brought   on   an    attack    of   asthma,   to  which    she  was 
subject.     At   last,  when   she   felt   calmer,  she   opened 
the  following  note  written  in  French :  — 
"1   ■'    bUj  Ofi 

Madame  la  Comtesse :  —  The  Christian  sentiments  filling 
your  heart  prompt  me,  with  unpardonable  boldness,  I  fear, 
to  address  you.  I  am  unhappy  at  being  separated  from  my 
son,  and  I  ask  you  to  do  me  the  favor  of  letting  me  see 
him  once  more  before  I  depart.  If  I  do  not  make  direct 
application  to  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  it  is  because  T  do  not 
wish  to  give  this  generous-hearted  man  the  pain  of  thinking  of 
me.  Knowing  your  friendship  for  him,  I  felt  that  you  would 
understand  me  ;  will  you  have  Serozha  sent  to  me  here  ?  or 
do  you  prefer  that  I  should  come  at  an  appointed  hour?  or 
would  you  let  me  know  how  and  at  what  place  I  could  see 
him  ?  You  cannot  imagine  my  desire  to  see  my  child  again, 
and  consequently  you  cannot  comprehend  the  extent  of  my 
gratefulness  for  the  assistance  that  you  can  render  me  in  these 
circumstances.  Anna. 

Everything  about  this  note  exasperated  the  Countess 
Lidia  Ivanovna,  its  tenor,  the  allusions  to  Karenin's 
magnanimity,  and  the  especially  free  and  easy  tone 
which  pervaded  it. 

"  Say  that  there  is  no  reply,"  said  the  Countess  Lidia 
Ivanovna,  and,  hurriedly  opening  her  buvard,  she  wrote 
to  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  that  she  hoped  to  meet  him 
about  one  o'clock  at  the  birthday  reception  at  the 
Palace/'J  l-Tfr.  <^;eiamf>^.'jimfi  if:>dj  ;.■ 

"I  must  consult  with-  you  in  regard  to  a  sad  and 
serious  affair ;  we  will  decide  at  the  Palace  when  I  can 
see  you.  The  best  plan  would  be  at  my  house,  where 
I  will  have  your  tea  ready.  It  is  absolutely  necessary. 
He  imposes  the  cross,  but  He  gives  also  the  strength," 
she  added,  that  she  might  somewhat  prepare  him. 
9l'  The  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna  wrote  Aleksei"  Aleksan- 
drovitch two  or  three  times  a  day  ;  she  liked  this  way  of 
communication  with  him,  as  it  had  the  elegance  and 
mystery  which  were  lacking  in  ordinary  personal  inter- 
course.   '    I  ' : 


ANNA   KARENINA  ^,3 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

The  congratulations  were  over.  As  the  visitors  who 
had  met  at  court  went  away,  they  talked  about  the 
latest  news  of  the  day,  the  rewards  that  had  been  be- 
stowed, and  the  changed  positions  of  some  high  func- 
tionaries. 

"  What  should  you  say  if  the  Countess  Marya  Bori- 
sovna  was  made  minister  of  war,  and  the  Princess 
Vatkovskaya,  chief  of  staff.''"  asked  a  little,  gray-haired 
old  man,  in  a  gold-embroidered  uniform,  who  was  talking 
with  a  tall,  handsome  maid  of  honor  about  the  recent 
changes. 

"  In  that  case,  I  should  be  made  one  of  the  emperor's 
aides,"  replied  the  freilina. 

"  Your  place  is  already  settled.  You  are  to  have 
charge  of  the  department  of  religions,  and  Karenin  is 
to  be  your  assistant." 

"  How  do  you  do,  prince .-'  "  said  the  little  old  man, 
shaking  hands  with  some  one  who  came  along. 

"  Were  you  speaking  of  Karenin  ? "  asked  the 
prince. 

"  Yes ;  he  and  Putyatof  have  been  decorated  with  the 
order  of  Alexander  Nevsky." 

"  I  thought  he  had  it  already." 

"  No ;  look  at  him,"  said  the  little  old  man,  pointing 
with  his  gold-laced  hat  toward  Karenin,  who  was  stand- 
ing in  the  doorway,  talking  with  one  of  the  influential 
members  of  the  Imperial  Council ;  he  wore  the  court 
uniform,  with  his  new  red  ribbon  across  his  shoulder. 
"  Happy  and  contented  as  a  copper  kopek !  "  he  added, 
pausing  to  press  the  hand  of  a  handsome,  athletic  cham- 
berlain passing  by. 

"  No ;  he  has  grown  old,"  said  the  chamberlain. 

"With  cares.  He  spends  all  his  time  writing  proj- 
ects. He,  the  unfortunate  man,  will  not  let  go  until  he 
has  explained  everything  point  by  point." 

"What,  grown  old.'*  // /ait di^s passions.  I  think  the 
Countess  Lidia  is  jealous  now  of  his  wife." 


14  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  There !  I  beg  of  you  not  to  speak  ill  of  the  Countess 
Lidia."  /.  ^   ■      ■ 

"  Is  there  any  harm  in  her  being  in  love  with  Kare- 
nih?" 

"  Is  it  true  that  Madame  Karenin  is  here  ?  '■   juki  bati 

"  Not  here  at  the  Palace,  but  in  Petersburg.  I  met 
her  yesterday  with  Aleksel  Vronsky  dras  dessus,  bras 
dessous,  on  the  Morskaya." 

"  C'est  un  homme  qjii  n'a pas^^ — -began  the  chamber- 
lain ;  but  he  broke  short  off  to  salute  and  make  way  for 
a  member  of  the  imperial  family  who  was  passing. 

Thus  they  were  talking  about  Aleksei  Aleksandro- 
vitch,  criticizing  and  ridiculing  him,  while  he  himself  was 
barring  the  way  of  the  imperial  counselor,  and,  without 
pausing  in  his  explanations  lest  he  should  lose  him,  was 
giving  a  detailed  exposition  of  a  financial  scheme. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  about  the  time  his  wife  left 
him,  had  reached  a  situation  painful  for  an  official,  — 
the  culmination  of  his  upward  career.  This  culmination 
had  been  reached,  and  all  clearly  saw  it,  but  Aleksei 
Aleksandrovitch  himself  was  not  yet  aware  that  his 
career  was  ended.  Either  his  collision  with  Stremof,  or 
his  trouble  with  his  wife,  or  the  simple  fact  that  AlekseX 
Aleksiandrovitch  had  reached  the  limit  that  he  had  been 
destined  to  attain,  the  fact  remained  that  every  one  saw 
clearly  that  his  official  race  was  run.  He  still  held  an 
important  place ;  he  was  a  member  of  many  important 
committees  and  commissions :  but  he  was  one  of  those 
men  of  whom  nothing  more  is  expected  ;  his  day  was 
over.  Whatever  he  said,  whatever  he  proposed^  seemed 
antiquated  and  useless.  But  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch 
himself  did  not  realize  this ;  on  the  contrary,  now  that  he 
had  ceased  to  have  an  active  participation  in  the  busi- 
ness of  the  administration,  he  saw  more  clearly  than 
before  the  faults  and  mistakes  that  others  were  making, 
and  considered  it  his  duty  to  indicate  certain  reforms 
which  should  be  introduced. 

Shortly  after  his  separation  from  his  wife,  he  began 
to  write  his  first  pamphlet  about  the  new  tribunals,  and 
proposed  to  follow  it  up  with  an  endless  series  of  similaf 


AT^TNA   KARENINA  -15 

pamphlets,  of  no  earthly  use,  on  all  the  different  branches 
of  the  administration. 

He  not  only  did  not  realize  his  hopeless  situation  in 
the  of&cial  world,  and  therefore  did  not  lose  heart,  but 
more  than  ever  he  took  dehght  in  his  activity. 

"  He  that  is  unmarried  is  careful  for  the  things  of  the 
Lord,  how  he  may  please  the  Lord ;  but  he  that  is  married 
is  careful  for  the  things  of  the  world,  how  he  may  please 
his  wife,"  said  the  Apostle  Paul.  And  Aleksei  Aleksan- 
drovitch,  who  now  directed  his  life  in  all  respects 
according  to  the  Epistle,  often  quoted  this  text.  It 
seemed  to  him  that,  since  he  had  been  deprived  of  his 
wife,  he  served  the  Lord  more  faithfully  than  ever  by 
devotion  to  these  projects. 

The  imperial  counselor's  very  manifest  impatience 
and  desire  to  get  away  from  him  in  no  way  abashed 
Karenin,  but  he  stopped  a  moment  as  a  prince  of  the 
imperial  family  was  passing,  and  his  victim  seized  his 
opportunity  to  escape. 

Left  to  himself,  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  bowed  his 
head,  tried  to  collect  his  thoughts,  and,  with  an  absent- 
minded  glance  about  him,  stepped  toward  the  door, 
hoping  to  meet  the  countess  there. 

'  ■  How  strong  and  healthy  they  look  physically  !  "  he 
said  to  himself,  as  he  looked  at  the  vigorous  neck  of  the 
prince,  who  wore  a  close-fitting  uniform,  and  the  hand- 
some chamberlain  with  his  well-combed  and  perfumed 
side-whiskers.  "  It  is  only  too  true  that  all  is  evil  in 
this  world,"  he  thought,  as  he  looked  at  the  chamber- 
lain's sturdy  legs.  Moving  slowly  along,  Aleksef  Alek- 
sandrovitch, with  his  customary  appearance  of  weariness 
and  dignity,  came  up  to  the  gentlemen  who  had  been 
talking  about  him,  and,  glancing  through  the  door,  he 
looked  for  the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna.  '''olf  " 

"Ah!  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  !  "  cried  the  little  Old 
man,  with  a  wicked  light  glowing  in  his  eyes,  as  Karenin 
passed  him  with  a  cold  bow.  "  I  have  not  yet  con- 
gratulated you,"  and  he  pointed  to  the  newly  received 
ribbon. 

"  I  thank  you.     This  is  2LJine  day  ! "'  replied  Aleksei 


i6  ANNA    KARENINA 

Aleksandrovitch,  accentuating  the  adjective  prekrasny^ 
as  was  his  habit. 

He  knew  that  these  gentlemen  were  making  sport  of 
him ;  but  he  exjjected  nothing  but  hostile  feelings,  and 
he  was  accustomed  to  it. 

Catching  sight  of  the  countess's  yellow  shoulders  ris- 
ing from  her  corsage,  as  she  appeared  at  the  door,  and 
her  beautiful  pensive  eyes,  inviting  him  to  join  her, 
Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch,  with  a  smile  which  showed 
his  even  white  teeth,  went  to  her. 

Lidia  Ivanovna's  toilet  had  cost  her  much  labor,  like 
all  her  recent  efforts  in  this  direction ;  for  the  object  of 
her  toilet  was  now  entirely  the  reverse  of  that  which  she 
had  followed  thirty  years  before.  Formerly  she  had 
thought  only  of  adorning  herself,  and  the  more  the 
better ;  now,  on  the  contrary,  she  had  to  be  adorned  so 
unsuitably  for  her  figure  and  her  years  that  she  simply 
endeavored  to  render  the  contrast  between  her  person 
and  her  toilet  not  too  frightful,  and  in  Alekseif  Alek- 
sandrovitch's  eyes  she  succeeded ;  he  thought  her  fas- 
cinating. For  him  she,  with  her  friendliness  and  even 
love  for  him,  was  the  only  island  amid  the  sea  of  ani- 
mosity and  ridicule  that  surrounded  him.  As  he  was  the 
gantlet  of  scornful  glances,  he  was  naturally  drawn  to 
her  loving  eyes  like  a  plant  toward  the  light. 

"  I  congratulate  you,"  she  said,  looking  at  his  decora- 
tion. 

Repressing  a  smile  of  satisfaction,  Karenin  shrugged 
his  shoulders  and  half  closed  his  eyes,  as  if  to  say  that 
this  was  nothing  to  him. 

The  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna  knew  well  that  these 
distinctions,  even  though  he  would  not  confess  it,  caused 
him  the  keenest  pleasure. 

"  How  is  our  angel }  "  she  asked,  referring  to  Serozha. 

"I  cannot  say  that  I  very  am  well  satisfied  with  him," 
replied  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch,  Hfting  his  eyebrows 
and  opening  his  eyes.  "And  Sitnikof  "  (a  pedagogue 
who  had  been  intrusted  with  Serozha's  childish  educa- 
tion) "  does  not  please  him.  As  I  told  you,  I  find  in 
him  a  certain  apathy  toward  the  chief  questions  which 


ANNA    KARENINA  ir^ 

ought  to  move  the  soul  of  every  man  and  of  every 
child." 

And  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  began  to  discourse  on  a 
subject  which,  next  to  the  questions  of  administration, 
gave  him  the  most  concern — his  son's  education. 

When  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  with  Lidia  Ivanovna's 
aid,  once  more  resumed  his  ordinary  life  and  activity 
again,  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  occupy  himself  with  the  edu- 
cation of  the  son  who  had  been  left  on  his  hands.  Hav- 
ing never  before  taken  any  practical  interest  in  the 
question  of  education,  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  conse- 
crated some  time  to  the  practical  study  of  the  subject. 
After  having  read  various  works  on  anthropology,  peda- 
gogy, and  didactics,  he  conceived  a  plan  of  education 
which  the  best  tutor  in  Petersburg  was  then  intrusted 
to  put  into  practice.  And  this  work  constantly  occupied 
him. 

"  Yes  ;  but  his  heart .''  I  find  in  this  child  his  father's 
heart,  and  with  such  a  heart  he  cannot  be  bad,"  said  the 
countess,  with  enthusiasm. 

"  Well,  that  may  be.  So  far  as  in  me  lies,  I  perform 
my  duty  ;  it  is  all  that  I  can  do." 

"Will  you  come  to  my  house.?  "  asked  the  Countess 
Lidia  Ivanovna,  after  a  moment's  silence.  "  I  have  a 
very  painful  matter  to  talk  with  you  about.  I  would 
have  given  the  world  to  spare  you  certain  memories ; 
others  do  not  think  the  same.  I  have  had  a  letter  from 
/ler.     She  is  here  in  Petersburg." 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  quivered  at  the  recollection 
of  his  wife  ;  but  his  face  instantly  assumed  that  expres- 
sion of  corpselike  immobility  that  showed  how  absolutely 
unable  he  was  to  treat  of  such  a  subject. 

"  I  expected  it,"  he  said. 

The  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna  looked  at  him  with  ex- 
altation, and  in  the  presence  of  a  soul  so  great,  tears  of 
transport  sprang  to  her  eyes. 


1%  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XXV 

,  n  When  Aleksef  entered  the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna's 
cozy  little  boudoir,  decorated  with  portraits  and  old  por^ 
celains,  he  failed  to  find  his  friend. 

She  was  changing  her  gown. 

On  a  round  table  covered  with  a  cloth  stood  a  Chinese 
tea-service  and  a  silver  teapot  with  an  alcohol  lamp. 
Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  glanced  perfunctorily  at  the 
numberless  paintings  that  adorned  the  room  ;  then  he 
sat  down  near  a  table  and  took  up  a  copy  of  the  New 
Testament  which  lay  on  it.  The  rustling  of  the  coun- 
tess's silk  dress  put  his  thoughts  to  flight. 

"  Well  now  !  We  can  be  a  little  more  free  from  dis- 
turbance," said  the  countess,  with  a  smile,  gliding  between 
the  table  and  the  divan.  "  We  can  talk  while  drinking 
our  tea." 

After  several  words,  meant  to  prepare  his  mind,  sh^ 
sighed  deeply,  and,  with  a  tinge  of  color  in  her  cheeks, 
she  put  Anna's  letter  into  his  hands. 

He  read  it,  and  sat  long  in  silence. 

*'  I  do  not  feel  that  I  have  the  right  to  refuse  her,"  he 
said  timidly,  raising  his  eyes. 

"  My  friend,  you  never  can  see  evil  anywhere." 

"  On  the  contrary,  I  see  everything  is  evil.  But  would 
it  be  fair  to...." 

His  face  expressed  indecision,  desire  for  advice,  for 
support,  for  guidance,  in  a  question  so  beyond  his  com- 
prehension. 

<*  No,"  interrupted  the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna, 
"  there  are  limits  to  all  things.  I  understand  immoralr 
ity,"  she  said,  not  with  absolute  sincerity,  since  she  did 
not  know  what  could  induce  women  to  be  immoral, 
**  but  what  I  do  not  understand  is  cruelty  toward  any  one  ! 
Toward  you !  How  can  she  remain  in  the  same  city 
with  you  .-*  One  is  never  too  old  to  learn,  and  I  learn 
every  day  your  grandeur  and  her  baseness  !  " 

"  Who  shall  cast  the  first  stone .-' "  asked  Aleksef 
Aleksandrovitch,   evidently  satisfied  with  the  part  he 


ANNA   KARENINA  19 

was  playing.  "  I  have  forgiven  her  for  everything,  and 
therefore  I  cannot  deprive  her  of  what  is  a  need  of  her 
heart,  —  her  love  for  her  son."  .... 

"  But  is  it  love  —  my  friend  ?  Is  it  sincere  ?  Let  us 
agree  that  you  have  forgiven  her,  and  that  you  still 
pardon  her.  But  have  we  the  right  to  vex  the  soul 
of  this  little  angel  ?     He  believes  that  she  is  dead ;   he 

prays  for  her  and  asks  God  to  pardon  her  sins It  is 

better  so.     What  would  he  think  now  ? " 

"  I  had  not  thought  of  that,"  said  Aleksef  Aleksan- 
drovitch,  perceiving  the  justice  of  her  words. 

The  countess  covered  her  face  with  her  hands  and 
was  silent ;  she  was  praying. 

"  If  you  ask  my  advice,"  she  replied,  after  she  had 
uttered  her  prayer  and  taken  her  hands  from  her  face, 
"  you  will  not  do  this.  Do  I  not  see  how  you  suffer, 
how  this  opens  all  your  wounds .''  But  let  us  admit  that 
you,  as  always,  forget  yourself,  but  where  will  it  lead 
you .''  new  sufferings  for  yourself,  to  torture  for  the  child  ! 
If  she  were  still  capable  of  human  feelings,  she  herself 
could  not  desire  this.  No !  I  have  no  hesitation  about 
it,  I  advise  you  not  to,  and,  if  you  give  me  your  authority, 
I  will  reply  to  her." 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  consented,  and  the  countess 
wrote,  in  French,  this  letter :  r^ 

C/iere  Madame :  —  Recalling  your  existence  to  your  son 
would  be  likely  to  raise  questions  which  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  answer  without  obliging"  the  child  to  criticize  that  which 
should  remain  sacred  to  him,  and  therefore  I  beg  you  to  inter- 
pret your  husband's  refusal  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  charity. 
I  pray  the  Omnipotent  to  be  merciful  to  you. 

COMTESSE    LiDIA. 

This  letter  accomplished  the  secret  aim  which  the 
countess  would  not  confess  even  to  herself  j.  it'WQUnded 
Anna  to  the  bottom  of  her  soul.  l  ni  II 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  on  returning  home  from 
Lidia  Ivanovna's,  found  himself  unable  to  take  up  his 
ordinary  occupations,  or  recover  the  spiritual  calm  of  a 
believer  who  feels  that  he  is  among  the  elect. 


ao  ANNA    KARENINA 

The  thought  of  his  wife  who  had  been  so  guilty 
toward  him,  and  toward  whom  he  had  acted  so  Hke 
a  saint,  as  the  Counters  Lidia  Ivanovna  had  so  well 
expressed  it,  ought  not  to  have  disturbed  him,  and  yet 
he  was  ill  at  ease.  He  could  not  understand  a  word  of 
the  book  he  was  reading,  he  could  not  drive  away  from 
his  mind  the  cruel  recollections  of  his  relations  to  her, 
of  the  mistakes  which,  as  it  now  seemed  to  him,  he 
himself  had  made  in  his  treatment  of  her.  He  remem- 
bered with  a  feeling  like  remorse  the  way  he  had 
received  Anna's  confession  that  day  as  they  were  re- 
turning from  the  races.  Why  had  he  demanded  merely 
an  outward  observance  of  the  proprieties  .-*  Why  had 
he  not  challenged  Vronsky  to  a  duel .-'  He  was  likewise 
tormented  by  his  recollection  of  the  letter  which  he 
wrote  her  at  that  time ;  especially  his  forgiveness  of  her, 
which  had  proved  useless  to  any  one,  and  the  pains 
which  he  had  wasted  on  the  baby  that  was  not  his,  all 
came  back  to  his  memory  and  seared  his  heart  with 
shame  and  regret.  And  exactly  the  same  feeling  of 
shame  and  regret  she  experienced  now  in  reviewing  all 
his  past  with  her,  and  remembering  the  awkward  way 
in  which,  after  long  vacillating,  he  had  offered  himself 
to  her.  'iij;  .bt,, 

"  But  how  am  I  at  fault .-' "  he  asked  himself ;  and 
this  question  immediately  gave  rise  to  another:  "Do 
other  men  feel  differently,  fall  in  love  differently, 
and  marry  differently, — these  Vronskys,  Oblonskys  .... 
these  chamberlains  with  their  handsome  calves  .-* " 

His  imagination  called  up  a  whole  line  of  these  vigor- 
ous men,  self-confident  and  strong,  who  had  always  and 
everywhere  attracted  his  curiosity  and  his  wonder. 

He  drove  away  these  thoughts ;  he  strove  to  persuade 
himself  that  the  end  and  aim  of  his  life  was  not  this 
world,  but  eternity,  that  peace  and  charity  alone  ought 
to  dwell  in  his  soul.  But  the  fact  that  in  this  temporal, 
insignificant  life  he  had,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  made 
some  humiliating  blunders,  tortured  him  as  much  as  if 
that  eternal  salvation  in  which  he  put  his  trust  did  not 
exist. 


ANNA    KARENINA  21 

But  this  temptation  was  not  long,  and  soon  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch  regained  that  serenity  and  elevation  of 
raind  by  which  he  succeeded  in  putting  away  all  that 
he  wished  to  forget, 

CHAPTER   XXVI 

"  Well,  Kapitonuitch  ? "  said  Serozha,  as  he  came 
in,  rosy  and  gay,  after  his  walk,  on  the  evening  before 
his  birthday,  while  the  old  Swiss,  smiling  down  from 
his  superior  height,  helped  the  young  man  off  with  his 
coat,  "  did  the  bandaged  chinovnik  come  to-day  ?  Did 
papa  see  him  ? " 

"Yes;  the  manager  had  only  just  got  here  when  I 
announced  him,"  replied  the  Swiss,  winking  one  eye 
gayly.     "  Permit  me,  I  will  take  it." 

"  Serozha !  Serozha !  "  called  the  Slavophile  tutor, 
who  was  standing  by  the  door  that  led  to  the  inner 
rooms,  "take  off  your  coat  yourself." 

But  Serozha,  though  he  heard  his  tutor's  weak  voice, 
paid  no  heed  to  him ;  standing  by  the  Swiss,  he  held 
him  by  the  belt,  and  looked  him  straight  in  the  face. 

"  And  did  papa  do  what  he  wanted  .''  " 

The  Swiss  nodded. 

This  chinovnik,  with  his  head  in  a  bandage,  who  had 
come  seven  times  to  ask  some  favor  of  Aleksef  Aleksan- 
drovitch, interested  Serozha  and  the  Swiss.  Serozha 
had  met  him  one  day  in  the  vestibule,  and  overheard 
how  he  begged  the  Swiss  to  let  him  be  admitted,  saying 
that  nothing  was  left  for  him  and  his  children  but  to  die. 
Since  that  time  the  lad  had  felt  great  concern  for  the 
poor  man. 

"  Say,  did  he  seem  very  glad  }  "  asked  Serozha. 

"  Glad  as  he  could  be ;  he  went  off  almost  leap- 
ing." 

"  Has  anything  come .'' "  asked  Serozha,  after  a  mo- 
ment's silence. 

"  Well,  sir,"  whispered  the  Swiss,  shaking  his  head 
"there  is  something  from  the  countess." 


22  ANNA   KARENINA 

Serozha  instantly  understood  that  what  the  Swiss 
meant  was  a  birthday  present  from  the  Countess  Lidia 
Ivanovna. 

"  What  did  you  say  ?     Where  is  it  ? " 

"  Kornei  took  it  to  papa ;  it  must  be  some  beautiful 
toy !  " 

"  How  big  ?  as  big  as  this?  '* 

"  Smaller,  but  beautiful." 
-^rrf^ A  little  book?" 

<*  No ;  a  toy.  Run  away,  run  away.  Vasili  Lukitch 
is  calling  you,"  said  the  Swiss,  hearing  the  tutor's  steps 
approach,  and  gently  removing  the  little  gloved  hand 
which  held  his  belt. 

"  In  a  little  bit  of  a  moment,  Vasili  Lukitch,"  said 
Serozha,  with  the  amiable  and  gracious  smile  to  whose 
influence  even  the  stern  tutor  submitted. 

Serozha  was  in  radiant  spirits,  and  wanted  to  tell  his 
friend,  the  Swiss,  about  a  piece  of  good  fortune  which 
the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna's  niece  had  told  him,  while 
they  were  walking  in  the  summer  garden,  had  befallen 
the  family.  His  happiness  seemed  greater  still  since  he 
heard  about  the  chinovnik's  success  and  his  present. 
It  seemed  to  Serozha  that  every  one  ought  to  be  happy 
this  beautiful  day. 

"  Do  you  know  papa  has  received  the  Alexander  Nev- 
sky  order  .^" 

"  Why  should  n't  I  know  .-•  He  has  been  receiving 
congratulations." 

*'■  Is  he  glad  .?  " 

"  How  could  he  help  being  glad  of  the  Tsar's  favor .'' 
Of  course  he  deserves  it !  "  said  the  old  Swiss,  gravely. 

Serozha  reflected  as  he  looked  into  the  Swiss's  face, 
which  he  knew  even  to  the  least  detail,  but  especially 
the  chin,  between  his  gray  side-whiskers.  No  one  had 
seen  his  chin  except  Serozha,  who  looked  up  at  it  from 
below. 

**  Well !  and  your  daughter }   Is  n't  it  a  long  time  since 
she  has  been  to  see  us  } " 
Di;:The  Swiss's  daughter  was  a  ballet-dancer. 

"How  could  she  find  time  to  come  on  work-dftyg?'' 


ANNA   KARENINA  gj 

he  exclaimed.  "  They  have  their  lessons  as  Well  as  you; 
and  you  had  better  be  off  to  yours,  sir." 

When  Serozha  reached  his  room,  instead  of  attending 
to  his  tasks,  he  poured  out  into  the  tutor's  ears  all  his 
surmises  about  the  present  which  had  been  brought  him. 
"  It  must  be  a  locomotive  engine ;  what  do  you  think 
about  it  .-*  "  he  asked  ;  but  Vasili  Lukitch  was  thinking  of 
nothing  except  the  grammar  lesson,  which  had  to  be 
ready  for  the  professor,  who  came  at  two  o'clock. 

"  No,  butyou  must  justtell  me  one  thing,  Vasili  Lukitch," 
asked  the  child,  who  was  now  sitting  at  his  desk,  with 
his  book  in  his  hands :  "  what  is  there  higher  than  the 
Alexander  Nevsky  f  You  know  that  papa  has  just  re- 
ceived the  Alexander  Nevsky." 

Vasili  Lukitch  replied  that  the  order  of  Vladimir  was 
higher. 

"  And  above  that  ?  " 

"  St.  Andrew  ^  above  them  all" 

"  And  above  that  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know." 

"  Why  don't  you  know  ? "  and  Serozha,  leaning  his 
head  on  his  hand,  began  to  think.  1  vkv 

The  child's  thoughts  were  very  varied  and  compli- 
cated ;  he  imagined  that  his  father  perhaps  was  going  to 
have  the  orders  of  Vladimir  and  St.  Andrew,  and  that 
therefore  he  would  be  more  indulgent  for  that  day's 
lessons ;  and  that  he  himself^  When  he  grew  up,  would 
do  his  best  to  deserve  all  the  decorations,  even  those 
that  would  be  given  higher  than  that  of  St.  Andrew.  A 
new  order  would  scarcely  have  time  to  be  founded  before 
he  would  make  himself  worthy  of  it. 

These  thoughts  made  the  time  pass  so  quickly  that, 
when  the  professor  came,  his  lesson  about  the  circum- 
stances of  time,  and  place,  and  mode  of  action  was  not 
prepared  at  all ;  and  the  professor  seemed  not  only  dis- 
satisfied, but  distressed.  His  professor'^  distress  touched 
Serozha.  He  felt  that  he  was  to  blame  for  not  having 
learned  his  lesson.  In  spite  of  all  his  efforts,  he  really 
had  been  unable  to  do  it.     When  the  professor  was 

lAtidtei  Pervozbanny,  Andrew  the  FirJt-called  or  frotokletoi. 


^4  ANNA   KARENINA 

talking  to  him,  he  imagined  that  he  understbod ;  but 
when  he  was  alone,  he  really  could  not  remember  or 
comprehend  that  such  a  short  and  easy  word  as  vdrug, 
"suddenly,"  is  a  circumstance  of  the  mode  of  action  ;  but 
still  he  was  sorry  that  he  had  tried  his  teacher. 

He  seized  on  a  moment  when  his  teacher  was  silently 
looking  into  a  book,  to  ask  him :  — 

"  Mikhail  Ivanovitch,  when  will  your  birthday  be  ?  " 

"You  would  do  better  to  think  about  your  work  ;  birth- 
days have  no  importance  for  a  reasonable  being.  It  is 
only  a  day  just  like  any  other,  and  must  be  spent  in 
work." 

Serozha  looked  attentively  at  his  teacher,  studied  his 
sparse  beard,  his  eye-glasses  far  down  on  his  nose,  and 
got  into  such  a  deep  brown  study  that  he  heard  nothing 
of  what  the  teacher  was  explaining  to  him.  He  had  a 
dim  comprehension  that  his  teacher  did  not  believe  what 
he  said.  By  the  tone  in  which  he  said  it,  he  felt  that  it 
was  incredible. 

"But  why  do  they  all  try  to  say  to  me  the  most  tire- 
some things  and  the  most  useless  things,  and  all  in  the 
same  way  ?  Why  does  this  man  keep  me  from  him,  and 
not  love  me  ?  "  he  asked  himself  sadly,  and  he  could  not 
discover  any  answer. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

After  the  professor,  came  the  lesson  with  his  father. 
Serozha,  while  waiting  for  him,  sat  at  the  table,  playing 
with  his  pen-knife,  and  he  fell  into  new  thoughts. 

One  of  his  favorite  occupations  was  to  look  for  his 
mother  while  he  was  out  walking.  He  did  not  believe  in 
death  as  a  general  thing ;  and  especially  he  did  not  be- 
lieve that  his  mother  was  dead,  in  spite  of  what  the 
Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna  told  him,  and  though  his  father 
confirmed  it.  And  therefore,  after  they  told  him  that  she 
was  dead,  he  used  to  watch  for  her  while  he  was  out  for 
his  walk.  Every  tall,  graceful  woman  with  dark  hair  he 
imagined  to  be  his  mother ;  at  the  sight  of  such  a  woman, 


ANNA   KAREN INA  15 

his  heart  would  swell  with  love,  the  tears  would  come 
into  his  eyes,  and  he  would  wait  until  the  lady  drew  near 
him,  and  raised  her  veil ;  then  he  would  see  her  face ; 
she  would  kiss  him,  smile  upon  him  ;  he  would  feel  the 
sweet  caress  of  her  hand,  smell  the  well-known  perfume, 
and  weep  with  joy,  as  he  did  one  evening  when  he  lay 
at  her  feet,  and  she  tickled  him,  and  he  laughed  so  heart- 
ily, and  gently  bit  her  white  hand,  covered  with  rings. 

Later,  when  he  learned  accidentally  from  the  old  nurse 
that  his  mother  was  alive,  and  that  his  father  and  the 
countess  had  told  him  that  she  was  dead  because  she 
was  a  wicked  woman,  this  seemed  still  more  impossible 
to  Serozha,  because  he  loved  her ;  and  he  looked  for 
her,  and  longed  for  her. 

That  very  day,  in  the  summer  garden,  there  had  been 
a  lady  in  a  lilac  veil,  and,  with  his  heart  beating  violently, 
expecting  that  it  was  she,  he  saw  her  take  the  same  foot- 
path where  he  was  walking ;  but  this  lady  did  not  come 
up  where  he  was,  and  she  disappeared  from  sight. 
Serozha  felt  a  stronger  love  than  ever  for  his  mother ; 
and  now,  while  waiting  for  his  father,  he  was  cutting 
his  desk  with  his  penknife ;  with  shining  eyes,  he  was 
looking  straight  ahead,  and  thinking  of  her. 

"  Here  comes  your  papa,"  said  Vasili  Lukitch. 

Serozha  jumped  up  from  the  chair,  ran  to  kiss  his 
father's  hand,  and  looked  for  some  sign  of  pleasure 
because  he  had  received  the  order  of  Alexander 
Nevsky. 

"  Did  you  have  a  good  walk  } "  asked  Aleksef  Alek- 
sandrovitch,  as  he  sat  down  in  an  armchair,  taking  up 
the  Old  Testament  and  opening  it. 

Though  he  had  often  told  Serozha  that  every  Chris- 
tian ought  to  know  the  sacred  history  by  heart,  he  had 
often  to  consult  the  Old  Testament  for  his  lessons ;  and 
Serozha  noticed  it. 

"Yes,  papa,  I  enjoyed  it  very  much,"  said  Serozha, 
sitting  across  his  chair,  and  tipping  it,  which  was  for- 
bidden. "  I  saw  Nadenka  "  (Nadenka  was  the  countess's 
niece,  whom  she  adopted)  "  and  she  told  me  that  they  've 
given  you  a  new  star.     Are  you  glad,  papa  ?" 


26  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  In  the  first  place^  please  don't  tip  your  chair  so," 
said  Alekser  Aleksandrovitch,  "  and  in  the  second  place, 
know  that  what  ought  to  be  dear  to  us  is  work  for  itself 
and  not  the  reward.  I  want  you  to  understand  that.  If 
you  work  and  study  simply  for  the  sake  of  receiving  the 
recompense,  the  work  will  seem  painful ;  but  if  you  love 
work,  your  recompense  will  come  of  itself." 

And  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  remembered  that  on 
this  very  day  he  had  signed  one  hundred  and  eighteen 
different  papers  with  no  other  support  in  a  most  unwel- 
come task  than  the  feeling  of  duty. 

Serozha's  eyes,  shining  with  affection  and  merriment, 
grew  gloomy,  and  dropped  as  his  father  looked  at  him. 
It  was  the  same  well-remembered  way  his  father  had 
adopted  in  his  treatment  of  him,  and  Serozha  had  already 
schooled  himself  to  be  hypocritical  toward  it. 

He  felt  that  his  father  always  spoke  as  if  he  were 
addressing  some  imaginary  boy,  one  of  those  children 
found  in  books,  and  not  in  the  least  like  Serozha.  And 
Serozha,  when  he  was  with  his  father,  tried  to  make 
believe  that  he  was  that  bookish  little  boy. 

"You  understand  this,  I  hope." 

"  Yes,  papa,"  repUed  the  lad,  playing  the  part  of  this 
imaginary  little  boy. 

The  lesson  consisted  of  the  recitation  of  several  verses 
of  the  Gospel  and  the  review  of  the  first  part  of  the  Old 
Testament.  The  verses  from  the  Gospel  Serozha  knew 
fairly  well.  But,  as  he  was  in  the  midst  of  so  repeating 
them,  Serozha  was  struck  by  the  appearance  of  his 
father's  forehead,  which  made  almost  a  right  angle  near 
the  temples,  and  he  stumbled  and  transferred  the  end  of 
one  verse  to  the  next  verse  which  began  with  the  same 
word.  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  concluded  that  he  did 
not  understand  the  meaning  of  what  he  was  reciting, 
and  he  was  vexed. 

He  frowned,  and  began  to  explain  what  Serozha  had 
heard  so  many  times  that  he  could  not  help  remember- 
ing because  he  understood  it  too  well  —  just  as  it  was 
with  the  concept  of  the  word  vdnig,  suddenly,  being  "  a 
circumstance  of  the  mode  of  action."     The  child,  with 


ANNA   KARENINA 


scared  eyes,  looked  at  his  father  and  thought  about  only 
one  thing :  would  his  father  obhge  him  to  repeat  the 
explanation  that  he  had  given  him,  as  he  had  done  at 
other  times  ?  This  fear  kept  him  from  understanding 
anything.  Fortunately  his  father  passed  on  to  the  les- 
son in  Sacred  History.  Serozha  narrated  the  facts  them- 
selves very  well ;  but  when  he  was  required  to  answer 
the  questions  as  to  what  the  fact  signified  he  did  not 
know  it  at  all,  though  he  had  already  been  punished  for 
this  same  lesson.  The  place  where  he  could  not  recite 
and  hesitated,  and  where  he  had  whittled  the  table  and 
rocked  the  chair,  was  the  critical  moment  when  he  had 
to  repeat  the  list  of  antediluvian  patriarchs.  Not  one 
could  he  remember,  not  even  Enoch,  who  was  snatched 
up  to  heaven  alive.  On  other  occasions  he  could  re- 
member his  name,  but  now  he  had  entirely  forgotten  it, 
for  the  very  reason  that  Enoch  was  his  favorite  char- 
acter in  all  Biblical  history,  and  he  connected  with  the 
translation  of  this  patriarch  a  long  string  of  ideas  which 
completely  absorbed  him,  while  he  was  staring  at  his 
father's  watch-chain  and  a  loose  button  on  his  waist- 
coat. 

Serozha  absolutely  disbelieved  in  death,  though  they 
had  told  him  about  it  many  times.  He  could  not  be- 
lieve that  those  whom  he  loved  could  die,  and  espe- 
cially incredible  was  the  thought  of  his  own  death.  It 
all  seemed  perfectly  impossible  and  incomprehensible. 
But  he  had  been  told  that  all  must  die ;  he  had  asked 
people  in  whom  he  had  confidence,  and  they  had  assured 
him  that  it  was  so.  The  nurse  herself,  though  unwill- 
ingly, said  the  same  thing.  But  Enoch  did  not  die,  and 
perhaps  others  might  not  have  to  die. 

"Why  should  not  others  deserve  justice  before  God, 
and  so  be  snatched  up  to  heaven  alive  .-* "  thought  Se- 
rozha. "The  wicked  —  those  whom  he  disliked  —  might 
have  to  die,  but  the  good  might  be  like  Enoch." 

"  Well !  how  about  these  patriarchs? " 

"  Enoch  ....  Enos....  " 
:    "  You  have  already  mentioned  him.     This  is  bad,  Se- 
rozha, very  bad.     If  you  do  not  endeavor  to  learn  the 


2F  ANNA    KARENINA 

things  essential  for  every  Christian  to  know,  what  will 
become  of  you  ?  "  asked  his  father,  getting  up.  "  I  am 
dissatisfied  with  you,  and  Piotr  Ignatyevitch  " —  he  was 
the  professor —  "is  dissatisfied  with  you  ....  so  I  am  com- 
pelled to  punish  you." 

Father  and  pedagogue  both  found  fault  with  him, 
and  Serozha  was  doubtless  making  bad  work  of  it. 
Yet  it  could  not  possibly  be  said  that  he  was  a  stupid 
boy  ;  on  the  contrary,  he  was  far  superior  to  those  whom 
his  teacher  held  up  to  him  as  examples.  From  his 
father's  point  of  view,  he  did  not  want  to  learn  what 
was  taught  him.  In  reality,  it  was  because  he  could 
not  l«arn  it.  He  could  not  for  the  reason  that  his 
mind  had  needs  more  essential  to  him  than  those  that 
his  father  and  the  pedagogue  supposed.  These  needs 
were  wholly  opposed  to  what  they  gave  him,  and  he 
revolted  against  his  teachers. 

He  was  only  nine  years  old.  He  was  only  a  child ; 
but  he  knew  his  own  soul.  It  was  dear  to  him ;  he 
guarded  it  jealously,  as  the  eyelid  guards  the  eye ;  and 
no  one  should  force  a  way  in  without  the  key  of  love. 
His  teachers  blamed  him  for  being  unwilling  to  learn, 
and  yet  he  was  all  on  fire  with  the  yearning  for  knowl- 
edge ;  and  he  learned  from  Kapitonuitch,  his  old  nurse, 
Nadenka,  and  Vasili  Lukitch,  but  not  from  his  teachers. 
The  water  which  the  father  and  the  pedagogue  poured 
on  the  mill-wheel  was  wasted,  but  the  work  was  done 
in  another  place. 

His  father  punished  Serozha  by  not  letting  him  go 
to  see  Nadenka ;  but  his  punishment  turned  out  to  be 
an  advantage.  Vasili  Lukitch  was  in  good  humor,  and 
taught  him  how  to  make  wind-mills.  The  whole  after- 
noon was  spent  in  working  and  thinking  of  the  ways 
and  means  to  make  the  mill  go.  Should  he  fix  wings 
to  it,  or  arrange  it  so  he  could  turn  it  himself  ?  He 
forgot  about  his  mother  all  the  evening ;  but  after  he 
had  got  into  bed,  he  suddenly  remembered  her,  and 
he  prayed  in  his  own  fashion  that  she  might  cease  to 
hide  herself  from  him,  and  make  him  a  visit  the  next 
day,  which  was  his  birthday. 


ANNA   KARENINA  29 

"Vasili  Lukitch,  do  you  know  what  I  prayed  God 
for?" 

"  To  study  better  ?  " 

"No." 

"  Toys  ?  " 

"  No.  You  must  not  guess.  It  is  a  secret ;  when 
it  comes  to  pass,  I  will  tell  you.     Can't  you  guess .''  " 

"  No,  I  can't  guess ;  you  must  tell  me ! "  said  Vasili 
Lukitch,  smiling,  which  was  rare  with  him.  "Well, 
get  into  bed;  I  am  going  to  put  out  the  light." 

"  I  see  that  which  I  prayed  for  much  better  when 
there  is  n't  any  light.  There,  I  almost  told  my  se- 
cret !  "  cried  Serozha,  laughing  gayly. 

Serozha  believed  that  he  heard  his  mother  and  felt 
her  presence  when  he  was  in  the  dark.  She  was  stand- 
ing near  him,  and  looking  at  him  tenderly  with  her  lov- 
ing eyes ;  then  he  saw  a  mill,  a  knife ;  then  all  melted 
into  darkness,  and  he  was  asleep. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

When  Vronsky  and  Anna  reached  Petersburg,  they 
stopped  at  one  of  the  best  hotels.  Vronsky  had  a  room 
to  himself  on  the  ground  floor ;  Anna,  up  one  flight  of 
stairs,  with  her  baby,  the  nurse,  and  her  maid,  occupied 
a  suite  of  four  rooms. 

On  the  day  of  his  return,  Vronsky  went  to  see  his 
brother;  he  there  found  his  mother,  who  had  come 
down  from  Moscow  on  business.  His  mother  and  sis- 
ter-in-law received  him  as  usual,  asked  him  about  his 
travels,  spoke  of  common  friends,  but  not  by  a  word 
did  they  make  any  allusion  to  Anna.  His  brother, 
however,  who  returned  his  call  the  next  morning,  asked 
him  about  her  and  Aleksei".  Vronsky  declared  in  no 
equivocal  terms  that  he  considered  the  bond  which 
united  him  to  Madame  Karenin  the  same  as  marriage, 
that  he  hoped  a  divorce  would  be  obtained,  and  then 
he  should  marry  her,  but  till  that  time,  he  should  re- 


JO  ANNA   KARENINA 

gard  her  the  same  as  his  wife ;  and  he  asked  him  to 
explain  this  to  his  mother  and  sister-in-law. 

"  The  world  may  not  approve  of  me ;  that  is  all  one 
to  me,"  he  added;  "but  if  my  family  wish  to  remain 
on  good  terms  with  me,  they  must  show  proper  respect 
for  my  wife." 

The  elder  brother,  always  very  respectful  of  his 
brother's  opinions,  was  not  very  certain  in  his  own 
mind  whether  he  was  doing  right  or  not,  and  resolved 
to  let  society  settle  this  question ;  but,  as  far  as  he  him- 
self was  concerned,  he  saw  nothing  objectionable  in  this, 
and  he  went  with  Aleksei  to  call  on  Anna.  -it   ^yvjdl 

Vronsky  spoke  to  Anna  with  the  formal  vui',  you, 
as  he  always  did  before  strangers,  and  treated  her  as 
a  mere  acquaintance ;  but  it  was  perfectly  understood 
that  the  brother  knew  of  their  relations,  and  they  spoke 
freely  of  Anna's  visit  to  Vronsky's  estate. 

Notwithstanding  his  experience  in  society,  Vronsky, 
in  consequence  of  this  new  state  of  things,  fell  into  a 
strange  error.  It  would  seem  as  if  he  ought  to  have 
understood  that  society  would  shut  its  doors  on  him 
and  Anna ;  but  now  he  persuaded  himself  by  a  strange 
freak  of  imagination  that,  however  it  might  have  been 
in  former  days,  now,  owing  to  the  rapid  progress  made 
by  society,  —  and  he  had  himself  unconsciously  become 
a  strong  supporter  of  progress,  —  prejudices  would  have 
melted  away,  and  the  question  whether  they  would  be 
received  by  society  would  not  trouble  them. 

.  "  Of  course,  she  would  not  be  received  at  court,"  he 
thought ;  "  but  our  relatives,  our  friends,  will  understand 
things  as  they  are." 

A  man  may  sit  for  some  time  with  his  legs  doubled 
up  in  one  position,  provided  he  knows  that  he  can 
change  it  at  pleasure ;  but  if  he  knows  that  he  must  sit 
in  such  a  constrained  position,  then  he  will  feel  cramped, 
and  his  legs  will  twitch  and  stretch  out  toward  the  de- 
sired freedom.  Vronsky  experienced  this  in  regard  to 
society.  Though  he  knew  in  the  bottom  of  his  soul  that 
society  was  closed  to  them,  he  made  experiment  whether 
it   had  changed,  and  whether   it  would  receive  them 


ANNA    KARENINA  31 

But  he  quickly  found  that,  even  if  it  were  open  to  him 
personally,  it  was  closed  to  Anna.     As  in  the  game  of 
'*  Cat-and-Mouse,"  ^  the  hands  raised  for  him  immedi-- 
ately  fell  before  Anna. 

One  of  the  first  ladies  of  Petersburg  society  whom  he 
met  was  his  cousin  Betsy. 

"At  last?"  she  cried  joyously,  "and  Anna.!"  How 
glad  I  am!  Where  are  you  stopping?  I  can  easily 
imagine  the  hideous  effect  our  Petersburg  must  have  on 
you  after  such  a  charming  journey !  I  can  imagine 
your  honeymoon  in  Rome !  And  the  divorce  ?  is  it 
arranged?"  li.;   lod    '.a    ■smdi 

Vronsky  saw  that  Betsy's  enthusiasm^-  cooled  wh^ 
she  learned  that  there  was  no  divorce  as  yet. 

"I  know  well  that  I  shall  be  stoned,"  said  she;  "but 
I  am  coming  to  see  Anna.  Yes,  I  will  certainly  come. 
You  won't  stay  here  long,  I  imagine  ?  " 

In  fact  she  called  on  Anna  that  very  day ;  but  her 
manner  was  entirely  different  from  what  it  used  to  be. 
She  evidently  prided  herself  on  her  courage,  and  wanted 
Anna  to  appreciate  the  genuineness  of  her  friendship. 
After  talking  for  about  ten  minutes  on  the  news  of  the 
day,  she  got  up,  and  said  as  she  went  away :  — 

"  You  have  not  told  me  yet  when  the  divorce  is  to  be. 
Though  I  may  disregard  the  proprieties,^  stiff-necked 
people  will  give  you  the  cold  shoulder  as  long  as  you 
are  not  married.  And  it  is  so  easy  nowadays.  Ca  se  fait. 
So  you  are  going  Friday  ?  I  am  sorry  we  shall  not  see 
each  other  again," 

From  Betsy's  manner  Vronsky  might  have  got  an  idea 
of  what  he  might  expect  from  society.  But  he  made 
still  another  experiment  in  his  own  family.  He  had 
no  hope  of  any  assistance  from  his  mother.  He  knew 
well  that,  enthusiastic  though  she  had  been  in  Anna's 
praise  at  their  first  meeting,  she  would  be  relentless 
toward  her  now  that  she  had  spoiled  her  son's  career ; 
but  Vronsky  founded  great  hopes  on  Varia,  his  brother's 
wife.     It  seemed  to  him  that  she  would  not  be  one  to 

1  Koshka-muiskka. 

*  Zabrosit  chepets  cheres  mielnitsu,  to  throw  one's  cap  oveJt  the  miU* 


32  ANNA    KARENINA 

cast  a  stone  at  Anna,  but  would  come  simply  and  natu- 
rally  to  see  her. 

On  the  next  day  he  called  on  her,  and,  finding  her 
alone,  he  openly  expressed  his  desire. 

"  You  know,  AlekseY,  how  fond  I  am  of  you,"  replied 
Varia,  after  hearing  what  he  had  to  say,  "and  how  will- 
ing I  am  to  do  anything  for  you ;  but  if  I  kept  silent,  it 
is  because  I  know  that  I  cannot  be  of  the  least  use  to 
you  and  Anna  Arkadyevna."  She  took  special  pains 
to  use  the  two  names.  "  Please  don't  think  that  I  judge 
her  —  not  at  all ;  perhaps  I  should  have  done  the  same 
thing  in  her  place.  I  cannot  enter  into  details,"  she 
added,  glancing  timidly  up  at  his  clouded  face ;  "  but 
we  must  call  things  by  their  right  name.  You  would 
like  me  to  go  and  see  her,  and  then  have  her  visit  me, 
in  order  to  restore  her  to  society.  But  you  must  know 
/  cannot  do  it.  My  daughters  are  growing  up ;  I  am 
obliged,  on  my  husband's  account,  to  go  into  society. 
Now,  I  will  go  and  call  on  Anna  Arkadyevna ;  but 
she  knows  that  I  cannot  invite  her  here  lest  she  should 
meet  in  my  drawing-room  people  who  do  not  think 
as  I  do,  and  that  would  wound  her.  I  cannot  receive 
her."  .... 

"  But  I  do  not  admit  that  she  has  fallen  lower  than 
hundreds  of  women  whom  you  receive,"  interrupted 
Vronsky,  rising,  and  seeing  that  his  sister-in-law's  de- 
cision was  irrevocable. 

"  Aleksef,  don't  be  angry  with  me;  please  under- 
stand, it  is  not  my  fault,"  said  Varia,  looking  at  him 
with  a  timid  smile. 

"  I  am  not  angry  with  you,  but  I  suffer  doubly,"  said 
he,  growing  more  and  more  gloomy.  "  I  suffer  because 
this  breaks  our  friendship,  or,  at  least,  seriously  impairs 
it ;  for  you  must  know  that  for  me  this  could  not  be 
otherwise." 

He  left  her  with  these  words. 

Vronsky  understood  that  further  experiments  would 
be  idle,  and  that,  during  the  few  days  he  would  still 
have  to  spend  in  Petersburg,  he  must  act  as  if  he  were 
in  a  foreign  city,  avoiding  all  dealings  with  his  former 


ANNA    KARENINA  33 

society  friends  so  as  not  to  be  subjected  to  vexations 
and  affronts  which  were  so  painful  to  him. 

One  of  the  most  unpleasant  features  of  his  position 
in  Petersburg  was  the  fact  that  Aleksef  Aleksandro- 
vitch  and  his  name  seemed  to  be  everywhere.  It  was 
impossible  for  a  conversation  to  begin  on  any  subject 
without  turning  on  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch ;  it  was 
impossible  to  go  anywhere  without  meeting  him.  So, 
at  least,  it  seemed  to  Vronsky  ;  just  as  it  seems  to  a 
man  with  a  sore  finger,  that  he  is  always  hitting  it 
against  everything. 

Their  stay  in  Petersburg  seemed  to  Vronsky  still  more 
trying  because  all  the  time  he  saw  that  Anna  was  in  a 
strange,  incomprehensible  moral  frame  of  mind  such  as 
he  had  never  seen  before.  At  one  time  she  was  more 
than  usually  affectionate ;  then  again  she  would  seem 
cold,  irritable,  and  enigmatical.  Something  was  tor- 
menting her,  and  she  was  concealing  something  from 
him ;  and  she  seemed  not  to  notice  the  indignities  which 
poisoned  his  life,  and  which,  in  her  delicacy  of  percep- 
tion, should  have  been  even  more  painful  for  her.  i 


CHAPTER   XXIX  'f 

Anna's  chief  desire  on  her  return  to  Russia  was  to 
see  her  son.  From  the  day  she  left  Italy  the  thought 
of  seeing  him  again  kept  her  in  a  constant  state  of  ex- 
citement ;  and  in  proportion  as  she  drew  near  Peters- 
burg the  prospective  delight  and  importance  of  this 
meeting  kept  growing  greater  and  greater.  She  did  not 
trouble  herself  with  the  question  how  she  should  man- 
age it.  It  would  be  a  simple  and  natural  thing,  she 
thought,  to  see  her  son  once  more,  when  she  would  be 
in  the  same  town  with  him ;  but  since  her  arrival  she 
suddenly  realized  her  present  relation  toward  society,' 
and  found  that  the  interview  was  not  easy  to  obtain.        - 

She  had  been  two  days  now  in  Petersburg,  and  nevef^ 
for  an  instant  had  the  thought  of  her  son  left  her,  b\if- 
she  had  not  seen  him.  ^^ 

VOL.  III. —  3 


;34  ANNA  >«A(RENINA 

She  felt  that  she  had  no  right  to  go  straight  to  hei 
former  home  and  risk  coming  face  to  face  with  Alek- 
self  Aleksandrovitch.  She  might  not  be  admitted  ;  she 
might  be  insulted.  To  write  to  her  husband  and  ask 
permission  of  him  seemed  to  her  painful  even  to  think 
of.  She  could  be  calm  only  when  she  did  not  think 
of  her  husband.  To  see  her  son  when  he  was  out  tak- 
ing his  walk,  even  if  she  could  find  where  and  when  he 
went,  was  too  little  for  her.  She  had  counted  so  much 
on  seeing  him  again !  she  had  so  much  to  say  to  him ; 
she  had  such  a  desire  to  hug  him,  to  kiss  him. 

Serozha's  old  nurse  might  have  been  an  assistance  to 
her,  and  shown  her  how  to  manage ;  but  she  was  no 
longer  living  in  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch's  house. 

On  the  third  day,  having  learned  of  Aleksei  Alek- 
sandrovitch's intimate  relations  with  the  Countess  Lidia 
Ivanovna,  Anna  decided  to  write  her  a  letter,  and  this  cost 
her  the  greatest  pains  to  write.  She  told  her  frankly 
that  permission  to  see  her  son  depended  on  Aleksef 
Aleksandrovitch's  magnanimity.  She  knew  that  if  the 
letter  were  shown  to  her  husband,  he,  in  his  part  of 
magnanimous  man,  would  not  refuse  her. 

The  messenger  that  carried  the  letter  brought  back 
the  most  cruel  and  unexpected  reply,  that  there  was  no 
answer.  She  had  never  felt  so  wounded  as  at  the  mo- 
ment when,  summoning  the  messenger,  she  heard  from 
him  the  circumstantial  story  of  how  he  had  waited,  and 
how,  after  a  time,  he  had  been  told  that  there  would  be 
no  answer.  Anna  felt  humiliated,  insulted,  but  she  saw 
that,  from  her  point  of  view,  the  countess  was  right. 
Her  grief  was  all  the  keener  because  she  had  to  bear 
it  alone.  She  could  not  and  did  not  wish  to  confide  it 
to  Vronsky.  She  knew  that  though  he  was  the  chief 
cause  of  her  unhappiness,  he  would  regard  her  meeting 
with  her  son  as  of  little  account ;  she  knew  that  he 
would  never  be  able  to  sound  ail  the  depths  of  her  an- 
guish ;  she  knew  that  she  should  hate  him  for  the  un- 
sympathetic tone  in  which  he  would  speak  of  it.  And 
she  feared  this  more  than  anything  else  in  the  worldy' 
and  so  hid  from  him  her  action  in  regard  to  her  son.     ■  ?• 


ANNA    KARENINA  35 

She  stayed  at  home  all  day  long  and  racked  her 
brain  to  think  of  other  ways  of  meeting  her  son,  and 
finally  she  decided  to  write  directly  to  her  husband. 
She  had  already  begun  her  letter,  when  Lidia  Iva- 
novna's  reply  was  brought  to  her.  The  countess's  pre- 
vious silence  had  humbled  and  affronted  her,  but  the 
note  and  all  that  she  read  between  the  lines  so  exas- 
perated her, — this  bitterness  against  her  seemed  so 
shocking  when  contrasted  with  her  passionate,  legiti- 
mate affection  for  her  son,  that  she  grew  indignant 
against  the  others,  and  ceased  to  blame  herself. 

**  What  cruelty  !  What  hypocrisy  !  "  she  said  to  her- 
self. "  All  they  want  is  to  insult  me  and  torment  th6 
child.  I  will  not  let  them  do  so.  She  is  worse  than  I 
am  ;  at  least,  I  do  not  lie." 

She  immediately  decided  to  go  on  the  morrow,  which 
was  Serozha's  birthday,  directly  to  her  husband's  house ; 
she  would  bribe  the  servants,  and  would  make  any  kind 
of  an  excuse,  if  only  she  might  once  see  her  son  and  put 
an  end  to  the  ugly  network  of  lies  with  which  they  were 
surrounding  the  innocent  child. 

She  went  to  a  toy  shop  and  purchased  some  toys,  and 
thus  she  formed  her  plan  of  action :  she  would  start 
early  in  the  morning,  at  eight  o'clock,  before  AlekseY 
Aleicsandrovitch  would  probably  be  up  ;  she  would  have 
the  money  in  her  hand  all  ready  to  bribe  the  Swiss  and 
the  valet  to  let  her  go  up-stairs  without  raising  her  veil, 
under  the  pretext  of  laying  on  Serozha's  bed  some  pres- 
ents sent  by  his  godfather.  As  to  what  she  should  say 
to  her  son,  she  could  not  form  the  least  idea ;  she  could 
not  make  any  preparation  for  that. 

The  next  morning,  at  eight  o'clock,  Anna  got  out  of 
her  hired  carriage  and  rang  the  door-bell  of  her  former 
home. 

"  Go  and  see  what  is  wanted !  It's  some  lady,"  said 
Kapitonuitch,  in  loose  coat  and  galoshes,  as  he  looked 
out  of  the  window  and  saw  a  lady  closely  veiled  stand- 
ing on  the  porch.  The  Swiss's  assistant,  a  young  man 
whom  Anna  did  not  know,  had  scarcely  opened  the 
door  before  Anna  pushed  her  way  in,  and,  drawing  a 


j^  ANNA    KARENINA 

three-ruble  note  out  of  her  muff,  thrust  it  into  his 
hand. 

"  Serozha  ....  Sergyef  Aleksievitch,"  she  stammered, 
and  started  down  the  vestibule. 

The  Swiss's  assistant  examined  the  note,  and  stopped 
the  visitor  at  the  inner  glass  door. 

"  Whom  do  you  wish  to  see .''  "  he  asked. 

She  did  not  hear  his  words,  and  made  no  reply. 

Kapitonuitch,  noticing  the  stranger's  confusion,  came 
out,  let  her  into  the  entry,  and  asked  her  what  she 
wanted. 

"  I  come  from  Prince  Skorodumof  to  see  Sergyef 
Aleksievitch." 

"  He  is  not  up  yet,"  replied  the  Swiss,  looking  sharply 
at  her. 

Anna  had  never  dreamed  that  the  absolutely  un- 
changed appearance  of  the  anteroom  of  the  house  which 
for  nine  years  had  been  her  home  could  have  such  a 
powerful  effect  on  her.  * 

One  after  another,  sweet  and  painful  memories  arose 
in  her  mind,  and  for  a  moment  she  forgot  why  she  was 
there.  '.<jf.  bj-^.jiri'jt 

"Will  you  Wait.? ^'  -Risked  the  Swiss,  helping  her  to 
remove  her  shubka.  When  he  saw  her  face,  he  recog- 
nized her,  and  without  a  word  bowed  profoundly. 

"Will  your  ladyship  ^  be  pleased  to  enter.?"  he  said 
to  her. 

She  tried  to  speak,  but  her  voice  refused  to  utter  a 
sound.  Giving  the  old  servant  an  entreating  look,  with 
light,  swift  steps  she  went  to  the  staircase.  She  flew  up 
the  stairs.  Kapitonuitch  tried  to  overtake  her,  and  fol- 
lowed after  her,  catching  his  galoshes  at  every  step. 

"  His  tutor  is  there  ;  perhaps  he  is  not  dressed  yet ;  I 
will  speak  to  him."  "i 

Anna  kept  on  up  the  stairs  which  she  knew  so  well, 
not  heeding  what  the  old  man  said. 

"  This  way.  To  the  left,  if  you  please.  Excuse  it  if 
all  is  in  disorder.  He  sleeps  in  the  front  room  now," 
said  the  Swiss,  out  of  breath.  "  Will  your  ladyship  be 
^  Vashe  prevoskhodityelstvo,  literally,  your  excellency. 


ANNA   KARENINA  ^ 

good  enough  to  wait  a  moment  ?  I  will  go  and  see." 
And,  opening  the  high  door,  he  disappeared. 

Anna  stopped  and  waited. 

"  He  has  just  waked  up,"  said  the  Swiss,  coming 
back  through  the  same  door. 

And,  as  he  spoke,  Anna  heard  the  sound  of  a  child 
yawning,  and  merely  by  the  sound  of  the  yawn  she 
recognized  her  son  and  seemed  to  see  him  alive  before  her. 

"  Let  me  go  in....  let  me  !  "  she  cried,  and  hurriedly 
pushed  through  the  door.  )fi« 

At  the  right  of  the  door  stood  the  bed,  and  on  the 
bed  a  child  was  sitting  up  in  his  little  open  night- 
gown ;  his  little  body  was  leaning  forward,  and  he  was 
just  finishing  a  yawn  and  stretching  himself.  His  lips 
were  just  closing  into  a  sleepy  smile,  and,  with  this 
smile,  he  slowly  and  gently  fell  back  on  his  pillow. 

"Serozha!"  she  whispered,  as  she  went  noiselessly 
toward  him. 

At  the  time  of  their  separation  and  during  that  access 
of  love  which  she  had  been  recently  experiencing  for 
him,  Anna  had  imagined  him  as  still  a  boy  of  four,  the 
age  when  he  had  been  most  charming.  Now  he  no 
longer  bore  any  resemblance  to  him  whom  she  had  left ; 
he  was  still  further  removed  from  the  four-year-old 
ideal ;  he  had  grown  taller  and  thinner.  How  long  his 
face  seemed  !  How  short  his  hair  !  What  long  arms  ! 
How  he  had  changed  since  she  had  seen  him  last !  But 
it  was  still  Serozha — the  shape  of  his  head,  his  lips, 
his  little  slender  neck,  and  his  broad  little  shoulders. 

"  Serozha  !  "  she  whispered  in  the  child's  ear. 

He  raised  himself  on  his  elbow,  turned  his  disheveled 
head  first  to  this  side,  then  to  that,  as  if  searching  for 
something,  and  opened  his  eyes.  For  several  seconds 
he  looked  with  an  inquiring  face  at  his  mother,  who 
stood  motionless  before  him.  Then  he  suddenly  smiled 
with  joy,  and  again  closing  his  sleepy  eyes  he  threw 
himself,  not  back  upon  his  pillow,  but  into  his  mother's 
arms. 

"  Serozha,  my  dear  little  boy  !  "  ^  she  cried,  choking 

^  Serozha !  maPchik  mot  milui.  ■         ' 


■^^  ANNA   KARENINA 

with  tears,  and  throwing  her  arms  around  his  plump 

body. 

"  Mamma !  "  he  whispered,  cuddling  into  his  mother's 
arms  so  as  to  feel  their  encircling  pressure. 

Smiling  sleepily,  still  with  his  eyes  closed,  he  took 
his  chubby  little  hands  from  the  head  of  the  bed  and 
put  them  on  his  mother's  shoulder  and  climbed  into  her 
lap,  having  that  warm  breath  of  sleep  peculiar  to  chil- 
dren, and  pressed  his  face  to  his  mother's  neck  and 
shoulders.  ''juoi-rij 

"  I  knew,"  he  said,  opening  his  eyes ;  "  td^ay  is  my 
birthday  ;  I  knew  that  you  would  come.  I  am  going  to 
get  up  now." 

And  as  he  spoke  he  fell  asleep  again. 

Anna  devoured  him  with  her  eyes.  She  saw  how  he 
had  grown  and  changed  during  her  absence.  She  knew 
and  yet  she  did  not  know  his  bare  legs,  so  much  longer 
now,  coming  below  his  nightgown ;  she  recognized  his 
cheeks  grown  thin ;  his  short  hair  curled  in  the  neck 
where  she  had  so  often  kissed  it.  She  could  not  keep 
her  hands  from  him,  and  not  a  word  was  she  able  to  say, 
and  the  tears  choked  her.  J-^oifr    r; xi   br.ri   o 

"What  are  you  crying  for,  maitjma ? "  'he  asked,  now 
entirely  awake.  "  What  makes  you  cry  ? "  he  repeated, 
ready  to  weep  himself. 

"  I  will  not  cry  any  more ....  I  am  crying  for  joy.  It 
is  so  long  since  I  have  seen  you.  But  I  will  not,  I  will 
not  cry  any  more,"  said  she,  drying  her  tears  and  turn- 
ing around.  "  Now  go  and  get  dressed,"  she  added, 
after  she  had  grown  a  little  calmer,  but  still  holding 
Serozha's  hand.  She  sat  down  near  the  bed  on  a  chair 
which  held  the  child's  clothing.  "  How  do  you  dress 
without  me }  How  ....  "  she  wanted  to  speak  simply 
and  gayly,  but  she  could  not,  and  again  she  turned  her 
head  away. 

"  I  don't  wash  in  cold  water  any  more,  papa  has  for- 
bidden it ;  but  you  have  not  seen  Vasili  Lukitch  }  Here 
he  comes.     But  you  are  sitting  on  my  things." 

And  Serozha  laughed  heartily.  She  looked  at  him 
and  smiled. 


ANNA   KARENINA  ^ 

"  Mamma !  dear  heart,  darling,"  ^  he  cried,  again 
throwing  himself  into  her  arms,  as  if  now  for  the  first 
time,  having  seen  her  smile,  he  clearly  understood  what 
had  happened. 

"  You  don't  need  it  on,"  said  he,  taking  off  her  hati 
And  as  if  again  recognizing  her  with  her  head  bare,  he 
began  to  kiss  her  again. 

"  What  did  you  think  of  me  ?  Did  you  believe  that  I 
was  dead  ? " 

"  I  never  believed  it." 

"  You  believed  me  alive,  my  precious  ? " 

"  I  knew  it !  I  knew  it !  "  he  replied,  repeating  his 
favorite  phrase ;  and,  seizing  her  hand  which  was  smooth- 
ing his  hair,  he  pressed  the  palm  of  it  to  his  little  mouth 
and  began  to  kiss  it. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

Vasili  Lukitch,  meantime,  not  at  first  knowing  who 
this  lady  was,  but  learning  from  their  conversation  that 
it  was  Serozha's  mother,  the  woman  who  had  deserted 
her  husband,  and  whom  he  did  not  know,  as  he  had  not 
come  into  the  house  till  after  her  departure,  was  in  great 
perplexity.  Ought  he  to  go  to  his  pupil,  or  should  he 
tell  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch } 

On  mature  reflection  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
his  duty  consisted  in  going  to  dress  Serozha  at  the  usual 
hour,  without  paying  any  attention  to  a  third  person  — 
his  mother  o^"  any  one  else.  So  he  dressed  himself. 
But  as  he  reached  the  door  and  opened  it,  the  sight  of 
the  caresses  between  the  mother  and  child,  the  sound  of 
their  voices  and  their  words,  made  him  change  his  mind. 
He  shook  his  head,  sighed,  and  quietly  closed  the  door. 
"  I  will  wait  ten  minutes  longer,"  he  said  to  himself, 
coughing  slightly,  and  wiping  his  eyes. 

There  was  great  excitement  among  the  servants ;  they 
all  knew  that  the  baruinya  had  come,  and  that  Kapitonu- 

1  Dushenka,  galubushka. 


^.  ANNA    KARENINA 

itch  had  let  her  in,  and  that  she  was  in  the  child's  room; 
they  knew,  too,  that  their  master  was  in  the  habit  of 
going  to  Serozha  every  morning  at  nine  o'clock :  each 
one  felt  that  the  husband  and  wife  ought  not  to  meet, 
that  it  must  be  prevented. 

Kornei,  the  valet,  went  down  to  the  Swiss  to  ask  why 
Anna  had  been  let  in ;  and,  finding  that  Kapitonuitch 
had  taken  her  up-stairs,  he  reprimanded  him  severely. 
The  Swiss  maintained  an  obstinate  silence  till  the  valet 
declared  that  he  deserved  to  lose  his  place,  when  the  old 
man  jumped  at  him,  and,  shaking  his  fist  in  his  face, 
said:  — 

"  What  is  that  ?  you  would  not  let  her  in  ?  You  've 
served  here  ten  years,  and  had  nothing  but  kindness 
from  her,  but  you  would  have  said,  '  Now,  go  away  from 
here ! '  You  know  what  policy  is,  you  sly  dog.  What 
you  don't  forget  is  to  rob  your  master,  and  to  carry  off 
his  racoon-skin  shubas  !  " 

"  Soldier  !  "  replied  Kornei,  scornfully,  and  he  turned 
toward  the  nurse,  who  was  coming  in  just  at  this  mo- 
ment. "What  do  you  think,  Marya  Yefimovna.-*  He 
has  let  in  Anna  Arkadyevna,  without  saying  anything 
to  anybody,  and  just  when  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  as 
soon  as  he  is  up,  will  be  going  to  the  nursery." 

"What  a  scrape!  what  a  scrape!"  said  the  nurse. 
"  But,  Kornei  Vasilyevitch,  find  some  way  to  keep 
your  master,  while  I  run  to  warn  her,  and  get  her  out 
of  .the  way.     What  a  scrape  !  " 

'When  the  nurse  went  into  the  child's  room,  Serozha 
was  telling  his  mother  how  Nadenka  and  he  had  fallen 
when  sliding  down  a  hill  of  ice,  and  turned  three  somer- 
saults. Anna  was  listening  to  the  sound  of  her  son's 
voice,  looking  at  his  face,  watching  the  play  of  his  fea- 
tures, feeling  his  little  arms,  but  not  hearing  a  word 
tTaat  he  said.  She  had  to  go  away,  she  had  to  leave 
hiin ;  this  alone  she  understood  and  felt.  She  had 
heard  Vasili  Lukitch's  steps,  and  his  little  discreet 
cough,  as  he  came  to  the  door,  and  now  she  heard  the 
nurse  coming  in ;  but,  unable  to  move  or  to  speak,  she 
remained  as  fixed  as  a  statue. 


ANNA   KARENINA  41- 

"  Mistress,  darling,"  ^  said  the  nurse,  coming  up  to 
Anna,  and  kissing  her  hands  and  her  shoulders.  "  God 
sent  this  joy  for  our  birthday  celebration  !  You  are  not 
changed  at  all." 

"  Akh  !  nurse,  my  dear ;  I  did  not  know  that  you  were 
in  the  house,"  said  Anna,  coming  to  herself. 

"  I  don't  live  here  ;  I  live  with  my  daughter.  I  came 
to  give  my  best  wishes  to  Serozha,  Anna  Arkadyevna, 
galubushka." 

The  nurse  suddenly  began  to  weep,  and  to  kiss  Anna's 
hand. 

Serozha,  with  bright,  joyful  eyes,  and  holding  his 
mother  with  one  hand  and  his  nurse  with  the  other,  was 
dancing  in  his  little  bare  feet  on  the  carpet.  His  old 
nurse's  tenderness  toward  his  mother  was  delightful  to 
him. 

"  Mamma,  she  often  comes  to  see  me ;  and  when  she 
comes ...."  he  began,  but  he  stopped  short  when  he  per- 
ceived that  the  nurse  whispered  something  in  his  mother's 
ear,  and  that  his  mother's  face  assumed  an  expression  of 
fear,  and  something  like  shame  which  did  not  go  well 
with  his  mother. 

Anna  went  to  him. 

"  My  precious !  "  she  said. 

She  could  not  say  the  word  prashchai,  "  farewell  " ;  but 
the  expression  of  her  face  said  it,  and  he  understood. 

"  My  precious,  precious  Kutik!  "  she  said,  calling  him 
by  a  pet  name  which  she  used  when  he  was  a  baby. 
"  You  will  not  forget  me  ;  you  ...."  but  she  could  not  say 
another  word. 

Only  then  she  began  to  think  of  the  words  which  she 
wanted  to  say  to  him,  but  now  it  was  impossible  to  say 
them.  But  Serozha  understood  all  that  she  would  have 
said  ;  he  understood  that  she  was  unhappy,  and  that  she 
loved  him.  He  even  understood  what  the  nurse  whis- 
pered in  her  ear ;  he  heard  the  words  "  always  at  nine 
o'clock,"  and  he  knew  that  they  referred  to  his  father, 
and  that  his  mother  must  not  meet  him.  He  understood 
this,  but  one  thing  he  could  not  understand  :  why  did  her 

^  Baruinya,  galubushka. 


4^  ANNA    KARENINA 

face  express  fear  and  shame  ? ....  She  was  not  to  blame, 
but  she  was  afraid  of  him,  and  seemed  ashamed  of  some- 
thing. He  wanted  to  ask  a  question  which  would  have 
explained  this  doubt,  but  he  did  not  dare ;  he  saw  that 
she  was  in  sorrow,  and  he  pitied  her.  He  silently  clung 
close  to  her,  and  then  he  whispered :  — 

"  Don't  go  yet !     He  will  not  come  for  some  time." 

His  mother  pushed  him  away  from  her  a  little,  in  or- 
der to  see  if  he  understood  the  meaning  of  what  he 
had  said,  and  in  the  frightened  expression  of  his  face 
she  perceived  that  he  not  only  spoke  of  his  father, 
but  seemed  to  ask  her  how  he  ought  to  think  about 
him. 

"  Serozha,  my  dear,"  she  said,  "  love  him  ;  he  is  better 
and  more  upright  than  I  am,  and  I  have  been  wicked 
to  him.  When  you  have  grown  up,  you  will  under- 
stand." 

"  Not  better  than  you !  "  cried  the  child,  with  sobs  of 
despair ;  and,  clinging  to  his  mother's  shoulders,  he 
squeezed  her  with  all  his  might  till  his  arms  trembled 
with  the  exertion. 

"  My  darling,  my  little  one  !  "  ^  exclaimed  Anna  ;■  and, 
bursting  into  tears,  she  sobbed  like  a  child,  even  as  he 
sobbed. 

At  this  moment  the  door  opened,  and  Vasili  Lukitch 
came  in.  Steps  were  heard  at  the  other  door ;  and,  in  a 
frightened  whisper,  he  exclaimed,  "  He  is  coming,"  and 
gave  Anna  her  hat. 

Serozha  threw  himself  on  the  bed,  sobbing,  and  cov- 
ered his  face  with  his  hands.  Anna  took  them  away 
to  kiss  yet  once  again  his  tear-stained  cheeks,  and  then 
with  quick  steps  hurried  from  the  room. 

Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  met  her  at  the  door.  When 
he  saw  her,  he  stopped  and  bowed  his  head. 

Though  she  had  declared  a  moment  before  that  he 
was  better  and  more  upright  than  she,  the  swift  glance 
that  she  gave  him,  taking  in  his  whole  person,  with  all 
its  peculiarities,  awoke  in  her  only  a  feeling  of  hatred 
and  scorn  for  him,  and  jealousy  on  account  of  her  son 

1  Dushekhk'a,  malenki  mn. 


ANNA   KARENINA  ^ 

She  hurriedly  lowered   her  veil,  and,  quickening  her 
step,  almost  ran  from  the  room. 

She  had  entirely  forgotten  in  her  haste  the  play- 
things which,  on  the  evening  before,  she  had  bought 
with  so  much  love  and  sadness;  and  she  took  them 
back  with  her  to  the  hotel. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

Eagerly  as  Anna  had  desired  to  see  her  son  again, 
long  as  she  had  thought  about  it,  prepared  herself  be- 
forehand, she  had  no  idea  of  what  an  effect  the  sight 
of  him  would  have  on  her ;  when  she  got  back  to  her 
solitary  room  at  the  hotel  again,  she  could  not  for  a 
long  time  understand  why  she  was  there. 

"Yes,  all  is  over;  I  am  alone  again,"  she  said  to 
herself ;  and,  without  taking  off  her  hat,  she  threw 
herself  into  an  easy-chair  which  stood  near  the  fireplace. 
And,  fixing  her  eyes  on  a  bronze  clock  standing  on  a 
table  between  two  windows,  she  became  absorbed  w^ 
thought.  jfri 

The  French  maid  whom  she  had  brought  from  abroad 
with  her  came  and  offered  to  help  her  dress ;  Anna 
looked  at  her  with  surprise,  and  replied,  "  By  and  by." 
A  servant  came  to  announce  coffee ;  "  By  and  by,"  sh$ 
said.  ■    j:f!\oT 

The  Italian  nurse  came  in,  bringing  the  little  daugh- 
ter whom  she  had  just  dressed  ;  the  plump,  well-nurtured 
little  one,  as  always,  when  she  saw  her  mother,  hfted  up 
her  bare  little  arms  with  the  palms  down,  and,  smiling 
with  her  toothless  little  mouth,  began  to  beat  the  air 
with  her  plump  little  hands  like  a  fish  waving  its  fins, 
and  to  pull  at  the  starched  tucks  of  her  embroidered 
skirt.  No  one  could  help  smiling  back,  or  kissing  the 
little  girl,  or  letting  her  catch  hold  of  one  of  her  fingers, 
screaming  with  delight,  and  jumping  ;  no  one  could  help 
pressing  her  lips  for  a  kiss  to  the  little  sweet  mouth. 
All  this  Anna  did,  and  she  took  her  into  her  arms,  trotted 
her  on  her  knee,  and  she  kissed  her  fresh  cheek  and 


44^  ANNA    KARENINA 

bare  elbows ;  but  the  sight  of  this  child  made  her  feel 
clearly  that  the  affection  which  she  felt  for  it  was  not 
the  same  kind  of  love  that  she  had  for  Serozha.  Every- 
thing about  this  little  girl  was  lovely ;  but  somehow  she 
did  not  fill  the  wants  of  her  heart. 

In  her  first-born,  although  he  was  the  child  of  a  man 
whom  she  did  not  love,  was  concentrated  all  the  strength 
of  a  love  which  had  not  been  satisfied.  Her  daugh- 
ter, born  in  the  most  trying  circumstances,  had  never 
received  the  one-hundredth  part  of  the  care  which  she 
had  spent  on  Serozha.  Moreover,  the  little  girl,  as  yet, 
only  represented  hopes,  while  Serozha  was  almost  a 
man,  and  a  lovely  man !  He  had  already  begun  to 
struggle  with  his  thoughts  and  feelings ;  he  loved  his 
mother,  understood  her,  judged  her  perhaps,  she  thought, 
recalling  her  son's  words  and  looks ;  and  now  she  was 
separated  from  him  forever,  morally  as  well  as  mate- 
rially ;  and  she  saw  no  way  of  remedying  the  situation. 

She  gave  the  little  one  back  to  her  nurse,  and  sent 
them  away,  and  opened  a  locket  containing  Serozha's 
picture  about  the  same  age  as  his  sister ;  then,  remov- 
ing her  hat,  she  took  an  album  in  which  were  photo- 
graphs of  her  son  at  different  periods ;  she  wanted 
to  compare  them,  and  she  began  to  take  them  out  of 
the  album.  She  took  them  all  out.  One  was  left,  the 
last,  the  best  photograph  of  him.  It  represented  Se- 
rozha astride  a  chair,  in  a  white  frock,  a  smile  on  his 
lips  and  a  shadow  in  his  eyes  ;  it  was  his  most  character- 
istic, his  best  expression.  Holding  the  album  in  her  lit- 
tle deft  hands,  which  to-day  moved  with  extraordinary 
nervousness,  she  tried  with  her  slender  white  fingers  to 
take  it  from  its  place ;  but  the  photograph  stuck,  and  she 
could  not  get  at  it.  There  was  no  paper-cutter  on  the 
table,  and  she  took  up  another  photograph  at  random 
to  push  out  the  card  from  its  place. 

It  was  a  picture  of  Vronsky,  taken  in  Rome,  with 
long  hair  and  a  round  felt  hat. 

"  Ah !  there  he  is,"  she  said  to  herself,  and  as  she 
looked  at  him  she  suddenly  remembered  that  he  was 
the  cause  of  all  her  present  suffering. 


ANNA   KARENINA  ^5 

Not  once  had  she  thought  of  him  all  the  morning; 
but  now  suddenly  the  sight  of  this  manly  and  noble 
face,  which  she  knew  and  loved  so  well,  brought  a  flood 
of  affection  to  her  heart. 

"  Yes  !  Where  is  he  ?  Why  does  he  leave  me  alone, 
a  prey  to  my  grief  ? "  she  asked  with  bitter  reproach, 
forgetting  that  she  herself  had  carefully  concealed  from 
him  everything  concerning  her  son.  She  sent  a  mes- 
sage to  him,  asking  him  to  come  to  her  immediately, 
and  waited,  with  heavy  heart,  thinking  over  the  words 
with  which  she  should  tell  him  all,  and  the  loving  ex- 
pressions with  which  he  would  try  to  console  her.  The 
servant  returned  to  say  that  Vronsky  had  a  visitor,  but 
that  he  would  come  very  soon  ;  and  would  like  to  know 
if  she  could  receive  him  with  Prince  Yashvin,  who  had 
just  arrived  in  Petersburg. 

"  He  will  not  come  alone,  and  he  has  not  seen  me 
since  yesterday  at  dinner,"  she  thought ;  "  and  he  does 
not  come  so  that  I  can  speak  with  him,  but  he  comes 
with  Yashvin." 

And  suddenly  a  cruel  thought  crossed  her  mind  : 
what  if  he  no  longer  loved  her  .-* 

And  as  she  went  over  in  her  mind  all  the  incidents  of 
the  past  few  days,  she  found  her  terrible  thought  con- 
firmed by  them.  The  day  before  he  had  not  dined  with 
her ;  they  did  not  have  the  same  room,  now  that  they 
were  in  Petersburg ;  and  now  he  was  bringing  some  one 
with  him  as  if  to  avoid  being  alone  with  her. 

"  But  he  must  tell  me  this.  I  must  know  it.  If  it  is 
true,  I  know  what  I  must  do,"  she  said  to  herself,  wholly 
unable  to  imagine  what  would  happen  if  Vronsky's  in- 
difference should  prove  to  be  true.  She  began  to  feel 
that  he  did  not  love  her  any  more  ;  she  imagined  herself 
reduced  to  despair,  and  in  consequence  her  feelings 
made  her  overexcited ;  she  rang  for  her  maid,  went  into 
her  dressing-room,  and  took  extreme  pains  with  her 
dress  as  if  the  sight  of  her  toilet  and  becoming  way  of 
dressing  her  hair  would  bring  back  Vronsky's  love,  if  he 
had  grown  indifferent.  /'  ''nf(7,  ■  .■ 

The  bell  rang  before  she  was  readyV"' 


46  ANNA   KARENINA 

When  she  returned  to  the  drawing-room,  not  Vronsky, 
but  Yashvin,  looked  at  her.  Vronsky  was  looking  at 
Serozha's  picture,  which  she  had  left  lying  on  the  table, 
and  he  did  not  hurry  to  greet  her. 

"  We  are  old  acquaintances,"  she  said  to  him,  going 
toward  him  and  placing  her  small  hand  in  Yashvin's 
enormous  hand.  He  was  all  confusion,  and  this  seemed 
odd,  in  a  man  of  his  gigantic  form  and  decided  fea- 
tures. 

"  We  met  last  year  at  the  races.  —  Give  them  to  me," 
she  said,  snatching  her  son's  photographs  from  Vronsky, 
who  was  looking  at  them,  while  her  eyes  blazed  at  him 
significantly.  "  Were  the  races  successful  this  year  .-' 
We  saw  the  races  at  Rome  on  the  Corso.  But  I  believe 
you  do  not  like  life  abroad,"  she  added,  with  a  fascinat- 
ing smile.  "  I  know  you,  and,  although  we  seldom 
meet,  I  know  your  tastes." 

"  I  am  very  sorry  for  that,  because  my  tastes  are  gen- 
erally bad,"  said  Yashvin,  biting  the  left  side  of  his 
mustache. 

After  they  had  talked  some  little  time,  Yashvin,  see- 
ing Vronsky  look  at  his  watch,  asked  Anna  if  she  ex- 
pected to  be  in  Petersburg  long.  Then,  bending  down 
his  huge  back,  he  picked  up  his  kepi. 

"  Probably  not  long,"  she  replied,  in  some  confusion, 
and  looked  at  Vronsky. 

"  Then  we  shall  not  meet  again  ?  "  said  Yashvin,  get- 
ting up  and  addressing  Vronsky.  "  Where  are  you  go- 
ing to  dine  .-' " 

"  Come  and  dine  with  me,"  said  Anna,  with  decision ; 
and,  vexed  because  she  could  not  conceal  her  confusion 
whenever  her  false  situation  became  evident  before  a 
Stranger,  she  blushed.  "  The  table  here  is  not  good,  but 
you  will  at  least  see  each  other.  Of  all  Aleksel's  mess- 
mates, you  are  his  favorite." 

•i.,,Y  I  should  be  delighted,"  replied  Yashvin,  with  a 
smile  which  proved  to  Vronsky  that  he  was  very  much 
pleased  with  Anna.  Yashvin  took  leave  of  them  and 
went  away,  while  Vronsky  lingered  behind. 

"  Are  you  going^  tOQ  i*  "  she  asked  him. 


ANNA    KARENINA  47 

"  I  am  already  late.  Go  ahead,  I  will  overtake  you/f 
he  shouted  to  Yashvin.  '* 

She  took  his  hand,  and,  without  removing  her  eyes 
from  him,  tried  to  find  something  to  say  to  detain 
him. 

"Wait ;  I  want  to  ask  you  something,"  and  she  pressed 
Vronsky's  hand  against  her  cheek.  "  Well !  did  I  do 
wrong  to  invite  him  to  dinner  .-•  " 

"You  did  quite  right,"  he  replied,  with  a  calm  smile 
which  showed  his  solid  teeth,  and  he  kissed  her  hand. 

"  AlekseY,  do  you  feel  changed  toward  me .'' "  she 
asked,  pressing  his  hand  between  her  own.  "  Aleksel, 
I  am  tired  of  staying  here.     When  shall  we  go  away  ?  " 

"Soon,  very  soon.  You  can't  imagine  how  life  here 
weighs  upon  me  too,"  and  he  drew  away  his  hand. 

"Well!  go,  go  away!  "  she  said,  in  an  injured  tone, 
and  quickly  left  him. 


CHAPTER   XXXII 

When  Vronsky  came  back  to  the  hotel,  Anna  was 
not  there.  They  told  him  that  she  had  gone  out  with  a 
lady  who  came  to  call  on  her.  The  fact  that  she  had 
gone  out  without  having  left  word  where,  a  thing  which 
she  had  not  done  before,  the  fact  that  she  had  also 
gone  somewhere  in  the  morning  without  telling  him,  — 
all  this  coupled  with  the  strange  expression  of  excitement 
on  her  face  that  morning,  the  manner  and  the  harsh 
tone  with  which  she  had  snatched  away  her  son's  pho- 
tographs from  him  before  Yashvin,  made  Vronsky  won- 
der. He  made  up  his  mind  to  ask  for  an  explanation, 
and  waited  in  the  drawing-room  for  her  return.  Anna 
did  not  come  back  alone  ;  she  brought  with  her  an  old 
maiden  aunt,  the  Princess  Oblonskaya.  She  was  the 
lady  who  had  come  in  the  morning,  and  with  whom  she 
had  been  shopping. 

Anna  pretended  not  to  notice  the  expression  of 
Vronsky's  face  and  his  uneasy,  questioning  manner,  and 
began  to  talk  gayly  about  the  purchases  she  had  made 


48  ANNA   KARENINA 

in  the  morning.  He  saw  that  something  unusual  was 
the  matter :  in  her  shining  eyes,  as  they  flashed  their 
hghtning  on  him,  there  was  evidence  of  mental  strain  ; 
and  in  her  speech  and  movements  there  was  that  ner- 
vous alertness  and  grace  which  in  the  first  epoch  of 
their  relationship  had  so  captivated  him,  but  now  they 
troubled  and  alarmed  him. 

The  table  was  laid  for  four,  and,  just  as  they  were 
going  to  sit  down  in  the  little  dining-room,  Tuskievitch 
came  from  the  Princess  Betsy  with  a  message  for  Anna. 

The  Princess  Betsy  sent  her  excuses  for  not  coming 
in  person  to  say  good-by  to  her.  She  was  not  well, 
and  asked  Anna  to  come  to  see  her  between  half-past 
seven  and  nine  o'clock. 

Vronsky  looked  at  Anna  as  if  he  would  draw  her 
attention  to  the  fact  that  in  naming  a  time  she  had  taken 
precautions  against  her  meeting  any  one ;  but  Anna  did 
not  seem  to  pay  any  attention  to  it. 

"  I  am  very  sorry,  but  just  between  half-past  seven 
and  nine  I  shall  not  be  at  liberty,"  she  said,  with  a 
slight  smile. 

"The  princess  will  be  very  much  disappointed." 

"So  shall  I." 

"  I  suppose  you  are  going  to  hear  Patti,"  said  Tush- 
kievitch. 

"  Patti .''  You  give  me  an  idea.  I  would  go  certainly, 
if  I  could  get  a  loge.'' 

"  I  can  get  you  one,"  suggested  Tushkievitch. 

"I  should  be  very  much  obliged  to  you,"  said  Anna; 
"  but  won't  you  dine  with  us  .-'  " 

Vronsky  shrugged  his  shoulders  slightly ;  he  did  not 
know  what  to  make  of  Anna.  Why  had  she  brought 
home  the  old  princess,  why  was  she  keeping  Tushkie- 
vitch to  dinner,  and,  above  all,  why  did  she  let  him  get 
her  a  box .''  Was  it  to  be  thought  of  for  a  moment  that 
she,  in  her  position,  could  go  to  the  opera  on  a  Patti 
subscription  night,  when  she  would  meet  all  her  ac- 
quaintances there  .<*  He  looked  at  her  seriously,  but 
she  responded  with  a  half-despairing,  half-mocking 
look,  the  meaning  of  which  he  could  not  understand. 


ANNA    KARENINA  49 

All  through  dinner  Anna  was  aggressively  lively,  and 
seemed  to  flirt  both  with  Tushkievitch  and  with  Yashvin. 
When  they  rose  from  the  table,  Tushkievitch  went  to 
secure  a  box,  but  Yashvin  was  going  to  smoke  and 
Vronsky  took  him  down  to  his  own  room  ;  after  some 
time  Vronsky  came  up-stairs  again.  Anna  was  already 
dressed  in  a  light  silk  gown  bought  in  Paris.  It  was 
trimmed  with  velvet  and  had  an  open  front.  On  her 
head  she  wore  costly  white  lace,  which  set  off  to  advan- 
tage the  striking  beauty  of  her  face. 

"Are  you  really  going  to  the  theater ?',',, he  asked, 
trying  to  avoid  looking  at  her.  I.jh   .^^j^; 

"  Why  do  you  ask  me  in  such  a  terrified  way  ? "  she 
replied,  again  hurt  because  he  did  not  look  at  her. 
"  Why  should  n't  I  go  ?  " 

She  did  not  seem  to  understand  the  nieaning  of  his 
words.  /trro':  w 

"  Of  course,  there  is  no  reason  for  it,"  said  he;  frowning. 

"  That  is  exactly  what  I  say,"  she  replied,  not  wish- 
ing to  see  the  sarcasm  of  his  remark,  and  calmly  putting 
on  a  long,  perfumed  glove. 

"  Anna,  for  heaven's  sake,  what  is  the  matter  with 
you  .-* "  he  said  to  her,  trying  to  bring  her  to  her  senses, 
as  her  husband  had  more  than  once  done. 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  mean." 

"  You  know  very  well  that  you  can't  go  there." 

"  Why  not .''  I  am  not  going  alone ;  the  Princess 
Varvara  has  gone  to  dress;   she  is  going  with  me." 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders  with  a  look  of  perplexity 
and  despair. 

"  But  don't  you  know.? "  ....  he  began. 

"  No,  I  don't  want  to  know !  "  she  almost  shrieked. 
"  I  don't  want  to  know.  Am  I  sorry  for  anything  I 
have  done.''  No,  no,  no,  indeed;  if  it  were  to  begin 
over  again,  I  would  begin  over  again.  There  is  only 
one  thing  of  any  consequence  to  us  —  to  you  and  me, 
and  that  is  do  we  love  each  other  ?  Everything  else 
is  of  no  account.  Why  do  we  live  separate  here,  and 
not  see  each  other  ?  Why  can't  I  go  where  I  please .-' 
I  love  you,  and  everything  is  right,  if  your  feelings  have 


i^<i  ANNA   KARENINA 

not  changed  toward  me,"  she  said  in  Russian,  looking 
at  him  with  a  pecuHar  gleam  in  her  eyes  which  he 
could  not  understand  ;  "  why  don't  you  look  at  me  ?  " 

He  looked  at  her,  he  saw  all  her  beauty,  of  her  face, 
of  the  toilet,  which  was  so  becoming  to  her ;  but  now 
this  beauty  and  this  elegance  were  precisely  what  irri- 
tated him. 

"  You  know  very  well  that  my  feelings  cannot  change ; 
but  I  beg  you  not  to  go  out,  I  beseech  you,"  he  said 
again  in  French,  with  a  prayer  in  his  voice,  but  with  a 
cold  look  in  his  eyes. 

She  did  not  hear  his  words,  but  noticed  only  the 
coldness  of  his  look,  and  replied  with  an  injured  air :  — 

*'  And  I  for  my  part  beg  you  to  explain  why  I  should 
not  go." 

"Because  it  may  cause  you ....  " 

He  grew  confused. 

"I  don't  understand  at  all :  Yashvin  n'est  pas  com- 
promettant,  and  the  Princess  Varvara  is  no  worse  than 
anybody  else.     Ah  !  here  she  is !  " 

...  I  >d  r  ;  tHAPTteR'  xxxni 

For  the  first  time  in  his  life  Vronsky  felt  toward 
Anna  a  sensation  of  vexation  bordering  on  anger,  on 
account  of  her  intentional  misunderstanding  of  her  posi- 
tion. This  feeling  was  intensified  by  the  fact  that  he 
could  not  explain  the  reason  of  his  vexation.  If  he  had 
frankly  said  what  was  in  his  mind,  he  would  have 
said :  — 

"  To  appear  at  the  opera  in  such  a  toilet,  with  a  noto- 
rious person  like  the  princess,  is  equivalent  to  throwing 
down  the  gauntlet  to  public  opinion ;  to  confessing  your- 
self a  lost  woman,  and,  consequently,  renouncing  all 
hope  of  ever  going  into  society  again." 

He  could  not  say  that  to  her. 

"  Why  did  she  not  understand  it .-'  What  has  hap- 
pened to  her.^"  he  asked  himself. 

He   felt  at  one  and  the  same  time  a  lessened   es- 


ANNA    KARENINA  51 

teem  for  Anna's  character,  and  a  greater  sense  of  her 
beauty. 

With  a  dark  frown  he  went  back  to  his  room,  and  sat 
down  with  Yashvin,  who,  with  his  long  legs  stretched 
out  on  a  chair,  was  drinking  cognac  and  seltzer  water. 
Vronsky  ordered  the  same  for  himself. 

"  You  spoke  of  Lanskof 's  Moguchi }  He  is  a  fine 
horse,  and  I  advise  you  to  buy  him,"  began  Yashvin, 
glancing  at  his  comrade's  solemn  face.  "  His  crupper  is 
tapering,  but  what  legs  !  and  what  a  head !  You  could  n't 
do  better." 

"  I  think  I  shall  take  him,"  replied  Vronsky. 

The  talk  about  horses  occupied  him,  but  not  for  a 
moment  was  the  thought  of  Anna  absent  from  his  mind, 
and  he  involuntarily  listened  for  the  sound  of  steps  in 
the  corridor,  and  kept  looking  at  the  clock  on  the  mantel. 

"  Anna  Arkadyevna  left  word  that  she  has  gone  to 
the  theater,"  a  servant  announced. 

Yashvin  poured  out  another  little  glass  of  cognac  and 
seltzer,  drank  it,  and  rose,  buttoning  up  his  coat. 

"  Well,  shall  we  go  ? "  said  he,  half  smiling  beneath 
his  long  mustaches,  and  showing  that  he  understood 
the  cause  of  Vronsky's  vexation,  but  did  not  attach  much 
importance  to  it. 

"  I  am  not  going,"  replied  Vronsky,  gloomily. 

"  I  promised,  so  I  must  go  ;  well  —  da  svidanya !  If 
you  should  change  your  mind,  take  Krasinsky's  seat, 
which  will  be  unoccupied,"  he  added,  as  he  went  out. 

"  No  ;  I  have  some  work  to  do."  -^ 

"  A  man  has  trials  with  a  wife,  but  with  a  ?iot-wi/e  it 
is  even  worse,"  thought  Yashvin  as  he  left  the  hotel. 

When  Vronsky  was  alone,  he  rose,  and  began  to  walk 
up  and  down  the  room. 

"Yes!  To-night.?  The  fourth  subscription  night.... 
My  brother  Yegor  will  be  there  with  his  wife,  and  with 
my  mother,  probably ;  in  fact,  all  Petersburg  will  be 
there  !  Now  she  is  going  in,  and  is  taking  off  her  shuba, 
and  there  she  is  in  the  light!  Tushkievitch,  Yashvin, 
the  Princess  Varvara ! "  he  pictured  the  scene  to  himself. 
"  What  am  1  to  do  ?  am  I  afraid  ."*  or  have  I  given  Tush- 


52  ANNA   KARENINA 

kievitch  the  right  to  protect  her?  However  you  may 
look  at  it,  it  is  stupid,  it  is  stupid ! ....  Why  should  she 
place  me  in  this  position .-' "  he  said,  with  a  gesture  of 
despair. 

This  movement  jostled  the  stand  on  which  stood  the 
seltzer  water  and  the  decanter  with  cognac,  and  nearly 
knocked  it  over;  in  trying  to  rescue  it,  he  upset  it 
entirely ;    he  rang,  and  gave  a  kick  to  the  table. 

"  If  you  want  to  remain  in  my  service,"  said  he  to  his 
valet  who  appeared,  "  then  tend  to  your  business.  Don't 
let  this  happen  again  ;  why  did  n't  you  take  these  things 
away  .■' " 

The  valet,  knowing  his  innocence,  wished  to  justify 
himself  :  but  by  one  glance  at  his  barin's  face  he  realized 
that  it  was  best  for  him  to  be  silent ;  and,  making  a 
hasty  excuse,  he  got  down  on  the  floor  to  pick  up  the 
broken  glasses  and  water-bottles. 

"  That  is  not  your  business  ;  call  a  waiter,  and  get  my 
dress-coat." 

Vronsky  entered  the  theater  at  half-past  nine.  The 
performance  was  in  full  swing.  The  Kapelldiener — a 
little  old  man  —  took  his  fur-lined  shuba,  and,  recogniz- 
ing him,  called  him  "  your  excellency,"  and  assured 
him  that  he  needed  not  to  take  a  number,  but  that  all 
he  had  to  do  was  to  call  for  Feodor. 

There  was  no  one  in  the  lighted  lobby  except  the  Ka- 
pelldiener and  two  valets  with  fur  garments  on  their 
arms,  listening  at  the  door.  The  sound  of  the  orchestra 
playing  staccato  could  be  heard,  carefully  accompanying 
a  woman's  voice  which  was  admirably  rendering  a  musi- 
cal phrase.  The  door  opened  and  another  Kapelldiener 
came  tiptoeing  out,  and  the  phrase,  as  it  was  ending, 
came  distinctly  to  Vronsky's  ear.  But  instantly  the 
door  closed  again  and  he  could  not  hear  the  ending  of 
the  phrase  or  the  cadenza ;  but  from  the  applause  that 
followed  he  knew  that  the  aria  was  finished. 

The  plaudits  still  continued  as  he  went  into  the  audi- 
torium, brilliantly  lighted  with  chandeliers  and  bronze 
gas-fixtures.      On    the  stage,    the    prima    donna,  with 


ANNA   KARENINA  53 

bare  shoulders  and  glittering  with  diamonds,  was  bow- 
ing and  smiling,  and,  with  the  assistance  of  the  tenor, 
who  gave  her  his  hand,  was  bending  forward  to  receive 
the  bouquets  that  were  thrust  awkwardly  at  her  over  the 
footlights,  and  then  she  went  toward  a  gentleman  whose 
hair,  shining  with  pomade,  was  parted  in  the  middle, 
and  who  reached  out  his  long  arms  to  hand  her  some 
article.  The  whole  audience  —  those  in  the  boxes  and 
those  in  the  parquet — was  wildly  excited  and  leaning 
forward,  shouting  and  clapping.  The  Kapellmeister, 
on  his  elevated  stand,  helped  pass  it  along,  and  straight- 
ened his  white  necktie. 

Vronsky  went  down  to  the  middle  of  the  parquet,  and, 
pausing,  looked  through  the  audience.  He  paid  less 
attention  than  ever  to  the  famihar  stage-setting,  to  the 
stage,  to  the  noise,  to  all  that  well-known,  variegated,  and 
uninteresting  throng  of  spectators  that  was  packed  and 
crowded  into  the  theater. 

There  were  the  same  ladies  in  the  boxes,  with  the 
same  officers  behind  them,  the  same  gayly  dressed 
women,  the  same  uniforms,  and  the  same  dress-coats ; 
in  the  gallery  the  same  disorderly  crowd ;  and  in  all  this 
closely  packed  house,  in  the  boxes  and  in  the  front  seats, 
were  some  forty  genuine  men  and  women !  And  Vron- 
sky immediately  turned  his  attention  to  this  oasis,  and 
occupied  himself  with  it  exclusively. 

The  act  was  just  over  as  Vronsky  went  toward  the 
first  row  of  seats,  and  stopped  near  the  railing  beside 
Serpukhovskof,  who,  bending  his  knee  and  rapping 
against  the  rail  with  his  heel,  had  seen  him  at  a  distance, 
and  beckoned  to  him  with  a  smile. 

Vronsky  had  not  yet  seen  Anna,  and  purposely  re- 
frained from  looking  for  her ;  but  from  the  direction  in 
which  people  were  gazing,  he  knew  where  she  was. 
He  glanced  round  furtively  but  did  not  search  for  her. 
Expecting  something  even  worse,  he  looked  to  see  if 
Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  were  there ;  to  his  joy  the 
latter  was  not  at  the  theater  that  evening. 

"How  unmartial  you  look,"  said  Serpukhovskol;  "one 
would  take  you  for  a  diplomat  —  an  artist." 


^4  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Yes  ;  on  my  return  home  I  put  on  citizen's  dress, 'I 
replied  Vronsky,  slowly  taking  out  his  opera-glasses.       '; 

"  In  this  respect,  I  confess  I  envy  you.  When  I  re- 
turn from  abroad  and  put  these  on,"  said  he,  touching 
his  epaulets,  "  I  mourn  for  my  liberty." 

Serpukhovskoi"  had  long  since  given  up  trying  to  push 
Vronsky  along  in  his  military  career,  but  he  continued 
to  have  a  warm  affection  for  him,  and  he  now  seemed 
especially  friendly  toward  him. 

"  It  is  too  bad  that  you  lost  the  first  act." 

Vronsky,  while  listening  with  one  ear,  examined  the 
boxes  and  the  first  tier  of  seats,  with  his  opera-glass  ; 
suddenly  Anna's  head  came  into  view,  proud,  and  strik- 
ingly beautiful,  in  its  frame  of  laces,  next  a  lady  in  a  tur- 
ban, and  a  bald-headed  old  man,  who  blinked  as  he  gazed 
through  his  opera-glass.  Anna  was  in  the  fifth  box,  not 
more  than  twenty  steps  from  him  ;  she  was  seated  in  the 
front  of  the  box,  turning  slightly  away,  and  was  talking 
with  Yashvin.  The  pose  of  her  head,  her  neck,  her 
beautiful,  broad  shoulders,  the  radiance  of  her  eyes  and 
face,  —  all  reminded  him  of  her  as  she  had  looked  that 
evening  at  the  ball  in  Moscow.  i 

But  her  beauty  inspired  him  with  entirely  different 
sentiment ;  there  was  no  longer  anything  mysterious  in 
his  feeling  for  her.  And  so,  although  her  beauty  was 
more  extraordinary  than  ever,  and  fascinated  him,  at  the 
same  time  it  was  now  offensive  to  him.  She  did  not 
look  in  his  direction,  but  he  felt  that  she  had  already 
seen  him.  ■  m    ,l. 

When  Vronsky  again  directed  hife  opera-glass  toward 
the  box,  he  saw  the  Princess  Varvara,  very  red  in  the 
face,  was  laughing  unnaturally,  and  kept  looking  at  the 
next  box ;  Anna,  striking  her  closed  fan  on  the  red  vel- 
vet, was  looking  away,  evidently  not  seeing  and  not  in- 
tending to  see  what  was  going  on  in  the  next  box. 
Yashvin's  face  wore  the  same  expression  as  when  he  lost 
at  cards ;  he  drew  his  left  mustache  more  and  more  into 
his  mouth,  frowned,  and  was  looking  out  of  the  corner 
of  his  eye  into  the  same  box. 

In  this  box  were  the  Kartasofs.     Vronsky  knew  them, 


ANNA    KARENINA     '  55 

and  he  knew  that  Anna,  too,  had  been  on  friendly  terms 
with  them ;  Madame  Kartasof,  a  little,  thin  woman,  was 
standing  with  her  back  to  Anna,  and  putting  on  an  opera- 
cloak,  which  her  husband  handed  to  her ;  her  face  was 
pale  and  angry ;  and  she  was  saying  something  with 
great  excitement.  Kartasof,  a  stout,  bald-headed  man, 
kept  looking  at  Anna,  and  trying  to  calm  his  wife. 

When  Madame  Kartasof  left  the  box,  her  husband 
lingered,  trying  to  catch  Anna's  eye,  and  evidently  de- 
sirous of  bowing  to  her ;  but  apparently  she  purposely 
avoided  noticing  him,  and  leaned  back  to  speak  to  Yash- 
vin,  whose  shaven  head  was  bent  toward  her.  Kartasof 
went  out  without  having  bowed,  and  the  box  was  left 
empty. 

Vronsky  did  not  understand  what  had  just  passed  be- 
tween the  Kartasofs  and  Anna,  but  he  felt  perfectly  sure 
that  something  mortifying  had  happened  to  Anna ;  by 
the  expression  of  her  face  he  saw  that  she  was  summon- 
ing all  her  strength  to  keep  up  her  part  to  the  end,  and 
to  appear  perfectly  calm.  And  this  semblance  of  ex- 
ternal calm  was  put  on  to  perfection.  Those  who  knew 
nothing  of  her  history  and  her  circle,  who  had  not  heard 
her  old  friends'  expressions  of  indignation  at  her  appear- 
ing in  this  way,  in  all  the  splendor  of  her  beauty  and  of 
her  toilet,  would  have  admired  her  serenity  and  beauty, 
and  never  have  suspected  that  this  woman  was  enduring 
the  same  feelings  of  shame  as  a  criminal  experiences  at 
the  pillory. 

Knowing  that  something  had  taken  place,  but  not 
knowing  exactly  what,  Vronsky  felt  a  sense  of  deep 
anxiety,  and,  hoping  to  learn  something  about  the 
matter,  went  to  his  brother's  box.  He  intentionally 
crossed  the  parquet,  on  the  side  opposite  to  Anna's  box, 
and,  as  he  went,  ran  across  his  former  regimental  com- 
mander, who  was  talking  with  two  of  his  acquaintances. 
Vronsky  heard  the  Karenins'  name  spoken,  and  noticed 
that  the  regimental  commander  hastened  to  call  to  him 
aloud,  while  he  gave  his  friends  a  significant  look. 

"  Ah !  Vronsky.  When  shall  we  see  you  again  in 
the  regiment }    We  shan't  let  you  off  without  a  banquet. 


56  ANNA    KARENINA 

You  are  ours,  every  inch  of  you,"  said  the  regimental 
commander. 

"  I  shan't  have  the  time  now.  I  am  awfully  sorry, 
another  time,"  replied  Vronsky,  going  rapidly  up  the 
steps  which  led  to  his  brother's  box. 

The  old  countess,  his  mother,  with  her  little  steel- 
colored  curls,  was  in  the  box.  Varia  and  the  young 
Princess  Sorokin  were  walking  together  in  the  lobby 
of  the  belle-etage.  As  soon  as  she  saw  her  brother-in- 
law,  Varia  went  back  to  her  mother  with  her  companion, 
and  then,  taking  Vronsky's  arm,  immediately  began  to 
speak  with  him  about  the  subject  which  concerned  him. 
She  showed  more  excitement  than  he  had  ever  seen  in 
her. 

"  I  think  it  is  dastardly  and  vile ;  Madame  Kartasof 
had  no  right  to  do  so.     Madame  Karenin  ....  "  she  began. 

•*  But  what  is  the  matter .''  I  don't  know  what  you 
mean." 

"  What  ?  you  have  n't  heard  anything  about  it  .-*  " 

"  You  can  well  understand  that  I  should  be  the  last 
person  to  hear  anything  about  it." 

"Is  there  a  more  wicked  creature  in  the  world  than 
this  Madame  Kartasof  !  " 

"  But  what  did  she  do  ?  " 

"  My  husband  told  me  about  it ....  she  insulted  Madame 
Karenin.  Her  husband  began  to  speak  across  from  his 
box  to  Madame  Karenin,  and  Madame  Kartasof  made  a 
scene  about  it.  They  say  she  said  something  very  offen- 
sive in  a  loud  voice,  and  went  out." 

"  Count,  your  maman  is  calling  you,"  said  the  young 
Princess  Sorokin,  opening  the  door  of  the  box. 

"  I  have  been  waiting  for  you  all  this  time,"  said  his 
mother  to  him,  with  a  sarcastic  smile ;  "  we  never  see 
anything  of  you  now."        ''  >.■'\yv:'^  fuv 

The  son  saw  that  she  coiTlld  tiol:  conceal  a  smile  of 
satisfaction.     '  ''f'X-i^ 

"  Good  evening,  maman.  I  was  coming  to  see  you," 
he  replied  coolly. 

"  What,  I  hope  you  are  not  going  faire  la  coiir  a 
Madame  Kar^nine,"  she  added,  when  the  young  Prin- 


ANNA    KARENINA  57 

cess  Sorokina  was  out  of  hearing  ;  "  elle  fait  sensation. 
On  otiblie  la  Patti pow'  elle." 

'^  Maman,  I  have  begged  you  not  to  speak  to  me 
about  her,"  he  replied  gloomily. 

"  I  only  say  what  everybody  is  saying." 

Vronsky  did  not  reply ;  and,  after  exchanging  a  few 
words  with  the  young  princess,  he  went  out.  He  met 
his  brother  at  the  door. 

"Ah,  Aleksei!"  said  his  brother,  "how  abominable! 

She  is  a  fool,  nothing  more I  was  just  wishing  to  go 

to  see  Madame  Karenin.     Let  us  go  together." 

Vronsky  did  not  heed  him ;  he  ran  hastily  down  the 
steps,  feeling  that  he  ought  to  do  something,  but  knew 
not  what. 

He  was  stirred  with  anger,  because  Anna  had  placed 
them  both  in  such  a  false  position,  and  at  the  same  time 
he  felt  deep  pity  for  her  suffering. 

He  went  down  into  the  parquet,  and  thence  directly 
to  Anna's  loge.  Stremof  was  leaning  on  the  box,  talking 
with  her. 

"  There  are  no  more  tenors,"  he  said  ;  "  le  moule  en  est 
bris^  —  the  mould  is  broken  —  from  which  they  came." 

Vronsky  bowed  to  her  and  stopped,  exchanging  greet- 
ings with  Stremof. 

"  You  came  late,  it  seems  to  me,  and  you  lost  the  best 
aria,"  said  Anna  to  Vronsky,  looking  at  him  scornfully, 
as  it  seemed  to  him. 

"  I  am  not  a  very  good  judge,"  he  replied,  looking  at 
her  severely. 

"  Like  Prince  Yashvin,"  she  said,  smiling,  "who  thinks 
Patti  sings  too  loud. 

"  Thank  you,"  she  said,  taking  the  program  that  Vron- 
sky passed  to  her,  in  her  little  hand,  incased  in  a  long 
glove ;  and  at  the  same  moment  her  beautiful  face 
quivered ;  she  rose  and  went  to  the  back  of  the  box. 

The  last  act  had  hardly  begun,  when  Vronsky,  seeing 
Anna's  box  empty,  left  the  parquet,  though  he  was 
hissed  for  disturbing  the  quiet  of  the  theater  while  a 
cavatina  was  going  on,  and  went  back  to  the  hotel. 

Anna  was  already  in  her  room  ;  when  Vronsky  went  to 


^8  ANNA    KARENINA 

her  she  was  sitting  in  the  same  toilet  which  she  had  worn 
at  the  theater.  She  was  sitting  in  the  first  chair  she  had 
come  to,  near  the  wall,  looking  straight  before  her. 
When  she  saw  Vronsky  enter,  she  glanced  at  him  with- 
out moving. 

**  Anna,"  he  said. 

"  You,  you  are  to  blame  for  it  all !  "  she  exclaimed, 
rising,  with  tears  of  anger,  and  despair  in  her  voice. 

"  I  begged  you,  I  implored  you,  not  to  go ;  I  knew 
that  it  would  be  unpleasant  to  you."  .... 

"Unpleasant!"  she  exclaimed ;  "it  was  horrible!  I 
shall  not  forget  it  as  long  as  I  live.  She  said  that  it 
was  a  disgrace  to  sit  near  me." 

"She  was  a  stupid  woman  to  say  such  a.  thing;  but 
why  did  you  run  the  risk  of  hearing  it;  why  did  you 
expose  yourself  ?".... 

"  I  hate  your  calm  way.  You  should  never  have 
driven  me  to  this ;  if  you  loved  me ....  " 

"  Anna  !  what  has  my  love  to  do  with  this  .-*  "  .... 

"  Yes,  if  you  loved  me  as  I  love  you,  if  you  suffered 
as  I ...."  she  said,  .looking  at  hini  witjb  an  expr^sijiqn  of 
terror.  i-Md^// nuvii  -   nri^loicir-  •?  —  VA-tA 

He  felt  sorry  for -her,  and  yet  he'  was  vexed  with  her. 
He  protested  his  love,  because  he  saw  that  it  was  the 
only  way  to  calm  her ;  and  he  refrained  from  reproach- 
ing her,  but  in  his  heart  he  reproached  her. 

And  his  expressions  of  love,  which  seemed  to  him  so 
banal  that  he  was  ashamed  of  himself  for  repeating  them, 
she  drank  in,  and  gradually  became  herself  again. 

Two  days  later  they  left  for  the  country,  completely 
reconciled. 


od 


PART   SIXTH 


CHAPTER  I 

DARYA  ALEKSANDROVNA,  with  her  children, 
was  spending  the  summer  at  Pokrovskoye,  at  the 
house  of  her  sister,  Kitty  Levin.  The  house  on  her  own 
estate,  at  Yergushovo,  was  all  in  ruins,  and  Levin  and 
his  wife  had  urged  her  to  come  to  them  for  the  summer. 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  heartily  approved  of  this  arrange- 
ment. He  assured  them  that  he  very  much  regretted 
that  his  duties  would  prevent  him  from  spending  the 
summer  with  his  family  in  the  country,  for  that  would 
be  the  greatest  possible  delight  for  him,  and  if  he  stayed 
in  Moscow  he  could  occasionally  run  down  for  a  day  or 
two  at  a  time. 

Besides  the  Oblonskys  and  all  their  children,  the 
Levins  had  with  them  the  old  princess,  who  considered 
her  presence  near  her  daughter  at  this  particular  time 
indispensable;  they  had  also  Varenka,  Kitty's  Soden 
friend,  who  was  fulfilling  her  promise  of  making  Kitty  a 
visit  when  she  should  have  been  married.  All  these 
were  Kitty's  relatives  and  friends.  Levin,  though  he 
liked  them  all,  still  felt  some  regret  for  his  own  people 
and  his  own  ways,  which  were  swallowed  up  as  in  a  flood 
by  the  "  Shcherbatsky  element,"  as  he  called  it.  Of  his 
own  relatives  that  summer  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  was  the 
only  representative,  and  he  was  not  a  Levin  but  a  Koz- 
nuishef.  So  that  the  Levin  spirit  was  at  a  great  dis- 
count. There  were  so  many  persons  in  the  long-deserted 
house  that  almost  all  the  rooms  were  occupied,  and 
almost  every  day  the  old  princess,  as  she  sat  down  at 
table,  would  count  the  guests  and  send  off  to  the  special 
table  the  grandson  or  granddaughter  who  made  the  num- 
ber thirteen.     And  Kitty,  diligently  occupied  with  her 

59 


6o  ANNA    KARENINA 

housekeeping,  found  it  no  small  burden  to  provide  tur- 
keys, chickens,  and  ducks  for  the  satisfaction  of  the 
various  appetites  of  young  and  old,  made  keen  by  the 
country  air. 

The  whole  family  were  at  table.  Dolly's  children 
were  planning  to  go  out  and  hunt  for  mushrooms  with  the 
governess  and  Varenka,  when,  to  the  great  astonishment 
of  all,  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch,  who  enjoyed  among  all  the 
guests  a  great  reputation,  amounting  almost  to  rever- 
ence, on  account  of  his  wit  and  learning,  evinced  a  desire 
to  join  the  expedition. 

"Allow  me  to  go  with  you,"  said  he,  addressing 
Varenka.  "  I  am  very  fond  of  getting  mushrooms ;  I 
think  it  is  a  very  admirable  occupation." 

"  Why,  certainly,  we  shall  be  very  glad .... "  she 
answered,  blushing. 

Kitty  exchanged  looks  with  Dolly.  The  proposition 
of  the  learned  and  intellectual  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  to  go 
with  Varenka  after  mushrooms  confirmed  an  idea  which 
had  been  engaging  Kitty  for  some  time. 

She  hastened  to  say  something  to  her  mother  so  that 
their  looks  might  not  be  observed. 

After  dinner  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  was  sitting  at  the 
drawing-room  window  with  his  cup  of  coffee,  still  talk- 
ing with  his  brother  on  some  topic  which  they  were  dis- 
cussing, but  he  kept  his  eyes  on  the  door  through  which 
the  children  would  have  to  pass  when  they  should  start 
after  the  mushrooms.  Levin  was  sitting  at  the  window 
near  his  brother.  Kitty  was  standing  near  her  husband, 
evidently  expecting  the  end  of  a  conversation  which  did 
not  interest  her,  so  that  she  might  say  something  to  him. 

"  You  have  changed  a  good  deal  since  you  were 
married,  and  for  the  better....  "  said  Sergyei  Ivanovitch, 
smiUng  at  Kitty,  and  evidently  not  taking  much  interest 
either  in  the  conversation,  but  at  the  same  time  he  re- 
mained true  to  his  passion  for  defending  the  most 
paradoxical  themes. 

"  Katya,  it  is  not  well  for  you  to  stand,"  said  her 
husband,  moving  up  a  chair  for  her  and  giving  her  a 
significant  look. 


ANNA    KARENINA  6\ 

"Well,  we  will  finish  this  some  other  time,"  said 
Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  as  he  saw  the  children  come  run- 
ning out. 

In  advance  of  the  rest,  galloping  sidewise  in  her 
tightly  fitting  stockings,  came  Tania,  waving  a  basket 
and  Sergyei  Ivanovitch's  hat. 

Boldly  darting  up  to  him,  and  with  sparkling  eyes,  — 
they  were  just  like  her  father's  handsome  eyes,  —  she 
gave  Sergyer  Ivanovitch  his  hat,  and  made  believe  that 
she  was  going  to  put  it  on  him,  tempering  her  audacity 
with  a  timid  and  affectionate  smile. 

"Varenka  is  waiting,"  said  Tania,  carefully  putting  his 
hat  on  his  head,  seeing  by  Sergyei  Ivanovitch's  smile 
that  she  might  do  so. 

Varenka  was  standing  at  the  door.  She  had  put  on 
a  yellow  muslin  frock,  and  had  tied  a  white  hat  over  her 
head. 

"  I  am  coming —  I  am  coming,  Varvara  Andreyevna!  " 
cried  Sergyei'  Ivanovitch,  finishing  his  cup  of  coffee 
and  putting  his  handkerchief  and  cigarette-case  into  his 
pocket. 

"  Is  n't  Varenka  charming  .-*  "  asked  Kitty  of  her  hus- 
band, as  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  got  up.  She  said  this  so 
that  he  might  hear,  for  this  was  what  she  especially 
wanted.  "  And  how  pretty  she  is,  royally  pretty.  — 
Varenka,"  cried  Kitty,  "  are  you  going  to  the  woods  by 
the  mill  ?     We  will  join  you  there." 

"  You  really  forget  your  condition,  Kitty,"  said  the 
old  princess,  warningly,  as  she  came  hastily  to  the  door. 
"You  ought  not  to  shout  so  loud." 

Varenka,  on  hearing  Kitty's  voice  and  the  princess's 
reproof,  came  up  to  them  with  quick,  light  steps.  Her 
quickness  of  motion,  the  bright  color  that  flushed  her 
cheek,  all  proved  that  some  metamorphosis  was  taking 
place  in  her.  Kitty  knew  that  this  was  something  un- 
usual, and  watched  her  attentively.  She  now  called 
Varenka  only  for  the  sake  of  bestowing  on  her  a  silent 
benediction,  in  the  interest  of  an  important  event  which 
she  firmly  believed  would  take  place  that  day  in  the 
woods. 


62  ANNA    KARENINA 

"Varenka,  I  shall  be  very  glad  if  a  certain  thing 
comes  to  pass,"  she  said  to  her  in  a  whisper,  and  giving 
her  a  kiss. 

"  Are  you  coming  with  us  ?  "  asked  Varenka  of  Levin, 
confused,  and  pretending  that  she  had  not  heard  what 
had  been  said. 

"  Yes,  but  only  as  far  as  the  barns ;  I  shall  have  to 
stop  there." 

"  What  do  you  propose  to  do  there  .''  "  asked  Kitty. 

"  I  have  some  new  carts  to  examine  and  test.  —  And 
where  shall  I  find  you  ?  " 

"  On  the  terrace." 


CHAPTER   II 

All  the  women  were  gathered  on  the  terrace.  They 
generally  liked  to  sit  there  after  dinner,  but  to-day  they 
had  a  special  matter  of  interest  before  them.  Besides 
the  making  of  baby-shirts  and  the  knitting  of  bands,  in 
which  all  of  them  were  engaged  at  that  time,  they  were 
engaged  in  superintending  the  cooking  of  some  pre- 
serves after  a  recipe  unknown  to  Agafya  Mikhailovna. 
Kitty  had  brought  with  her  this  new  process,  which  had 
been  in  use  in  her  own  home  and  required  no  water. 
Agafya  Mikhailovna,  who  had  before  been  shown  how 
to  do  it  in  this  way,  considering  that  what  had  always 
been  done  at  the  Levins'  could  not  be  improved  on, 
insisted  on  pouring  water  into  the  berries,  declaring 
it  could  not  be  made  otherwise.  She  had  been  detected 
doing  this,  and  now  the  berries  were  cooking  in  the 
presence  of  them  all,  and  Agafya  Mikhailovna  was  to 
be  brought  to  a  realizing  sense  of  the  fact  that  the 
preserves  could  be  made  without  the  use  of  water. 

Agafya  MikhaYlovna,  with  flushed  and  heated  face 
and  disheveled  hair  and  with  her  sleeves  rolled  up  to 
the  elbow,  was  moving  a  porringer  round  and  round 
over  a  portable  stove  and  looking  gloomily  at  it,  wishing 
with  all  her  soul  that  the  berries  would  thicken  and  not 
boil.  -^    ' 


ANNA   KARENINA  63 

The  old  princess,  conscious  that  Agafya  Mikhaflovna's 
indignation  must  be  directed  against  her  as  the  chief 
adviser  in  the  concoction  of  the  sweetmeat,  pretended 
that  she  was  busy  with  something  else,  and  was  not 
interested  in  it ;  but  though  she  talked  of  extraneous 
affairs  she  occasionally  glanced  at  the  cooking  out  of 
the  corner  of  her  eyes. 

"  I  always  buy  my  girls'  dresses  at  a  cheap  shop,"  the 
princess  was  saying  in  regard  to  something  they  had 

been    talking   about "  Had  n't   you   better   take   off 

the  scum,  my  dear  ?  "  ^  she  added,  addressing  Agafya 
Mikhailovna.  "  It  is  not  at  all  necessary  for  you  to  do 
it,  and  it  is  hot,"  said  she,  stopping  Kitty. 

"  I  will  do  it,"  said  Kitty,  who  had  got  up  and  was 
carefully  stirring  the  boiling  sugar  with  a  spoon,  oc- 
casionally pouring  out  a  little  on  a  plate  which  was 
already  covered  with  a  variegated,  yellowish  red  and 
sanguine  scum,  mixed  with  syrup. 

"How  they  will  like  to  lick  it!"  she  said  to  herself, 
thinking  of  her  children  and  remembering  how  she 
herself,  when  she  was  a  little  girl,  had  wondered  that 
grown-up  people  did  not  feed  upon  that  best  of  all 
things  —  scum ! 

"  Stiva  says  that  it  is  far  better  to  give  money,"  Dolly 
was  saying  in  regard  to  the  question  of  making  presents, 
which  they  had  been  discussing.     *'  But ....  " 

"How  can  one  give  money.''"  exclaimed  the  mother 
and  Kitty,  simultaneously.     "They  despise  it." 

"  Well,  for  example,  last  year  I  bought  our  Matriona 
Semyonovna,  not  a  poplin,  but  some  of  that  kind  ....  "  said 
the  princess. 

"  I  remember  she  wore  it  on  your  name-day." 

"  A  lovely  figure  !  So  simple  and  ladylike.  I  should 
have  liked  one  of  it  myself,  if  she  had  not  one.  Like 
the  kind  Varenka  wears.     So  pretty  and  cheap." 

"  Now  I  think  it  is  done,"  said  Dolly,  dropping  the 
syrup  from  the  spoon. 

"  When  it  crystallizes  it  is  done.  Cook  it  a  little 
more,  Agafya  Mikhaflovna." 

*  Galubushka,  little  dove. 


64  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  What  an  absurdity !  "  exclaimed  Agafya  Mikliar- 
lovna.     "  It  would  be  the  same  anyway,"  she  added. 

"  Oh  !  what  a  beauty  he  is  !  Don't  scare  him  !  "  sud- 
denly exclaimed  Kitty,  looking  at  a  sparrow  which 
perched  on  the  rail,  and,  turning  the  heart  of  a  berry 
over,  began  to  peck  at  it. 

"  Yes,  but  you  ought  to  be  farther  away  from  the 
charcoal,"  said  her  mother. 

^'  A  propos  de  Varenka,'"  said  Kitty  in  French,  in  which 
language  indeed  they  had  been  speaking  all  the  time  so 
that  Agafya  Mikhai'lovna  might  not  understand  them, 
"  do  you  know,  maman,  that  I  somehow  expect  some- 
thing decided.  You  know  what  I  mean.  How  nice  it 
would  be." 

"What  a  master-hand  at  matchmaking  you  are,"  ex- 
claimed Dolly.  "  How  adroitly  she  has  brought  them 
together." 

"  No,  but  tell  me,  maman,  what  do  you  think  of  it  .-* " 

"  What  do  I  think  of  it  ?  He  can  at  any  time  have 
his  choice  of  all  the  best  in  Russia ; "  by  he  she  meant 
Sergyei'  Ivanovitch.  "  He  is  not  so  young  as  he  was, 
but  still  I  know  many  would  set  their  caps  for  him. 
She  is  very  good,  but  he  might...." 

"  No,  indeed,  you  know  perfectly  well  that  nothing 
better  could  be  imagined  for  either  of  them.  In  the 
first  place,  she  is  charming,"  said  Kitty,  bending  down 
one  finger. 

"  She  pleases  him  very  much,  that  is  true,"  said  Dolly, 
in  confirmation. 

"  In  the  next  place,  he  has  such  a  position  in  the  world 
that  it  would  make  no  difference  to  him  what  his  wife's 
property  or  social  standing  was.  He  needs  only  one 
thing  —  a  sweet,  pretty,  even-tempered  wife." 

"Yes,  he  might  be  very  happy  with  her,"  said  Dolly, 
in  confirmation  of  this  also. 

"  In  the  third  place,  she  must  love  him,  and  so  it  is 
now....  and  so  it  would  be  perfectly  lovely....  I  expect 
when  they  come  in  from  the  woods  it  will  be  all  decided. 
I  shall  read  it  instantly  in  their  eyes.  I  should  be  so 
glad What  do  you  think  about  it,  Dolly .'' " 


ANNA    KARENINA  65 

"  Do  not  get  so  excited.  You  really  must  not  get  so 
excited,"  said  her  mother. 

"  But  I  am  not  excited,  mamma.  I  think  that  he  will 
surely  propose  to  her  to-day." 

"  Oh,  how  strange  it  is  how  and  when  a  man  pro- 
poses. —  Even  if  there  is  an  obstacle,  it  is  suddenly 
swept  away,"  said  Dolly,  smiling  pensively  and  recall- 
ing the  old  days  with  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

"  Mamma,  how  did  papa  propose  to  you,"  asked  Kitty, 
suddenly. 

"There  was  nothing  extraordinary  about  it  —  very 
simply,"  replied  the  princess ;  but  her  face  grew  all 
radiant  at  the  remembrance. 

"  No,  but  how  was  it  ?  Did  you  love  him  before  you 
allowed  him  to  speak  .-*  " 

Kitty  found  a  special  charm  in  the  fact  that  now  she 
could  talk  with  her  mother,  as  with  an  equal,  on  the 
most  important  questions  in  the  lives  of  women. 

"  Of  course  I  loved  him.  He  came  to  visit  us  in  the 
country." 

"  But  how  was  it  decided,  mamma } " 

"  Do  you  really  think  that  you  young  people  have  in- 
vented something  new .''  It  is  always  one  and  the  same 
thing ;  it  is  decided  by  looks  and  smiles." 

"  How  well  you  describe  it,  mamma.  That  is  just  it, 
'by  looks  and  smiles,'"  said  Dolly,  confirming  what  her 
mother  had  said. 

"  But  what  words  did  he  say  ?  " 

"  What  words  did  Kostia  say  to  you } " 

"  He  wrote  in  chalk How  long  it  seems  since  then," 

said  Kitty. 

And  the  three  ladies  sat  occupied  with  the  same  thought. 

Kitty  was  the  first  to  break  the  silence.  She  had 
been  thinking  about  that  long-past  winter  before  her 
marriage,  and  her  infatuation  for  Vronsky. 

"There  is  one  thing  —  Varenka's  first  love,"  said  she, 
remembering  this  by  a  natural  connection  of  thought. 
"  I  wanted  to  give  Sergyel  Ivanovitch  a  hint  of  that  to 
warn  him.  All  men,"  she  added,  "are  awfully  jealous 
of  our  past." 

VOL.  III.  —  5 


(S6  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Not  all,"  said  Dolly.  *'  You  judge  by  your  husband. 
I  believe  he  is  even  now  tormented  by  the  remembrance 
of  Vronsky  ;  is  n't  that  so  ?  " 

"  He  is !  "  replied  Kitty,  with  a  pensive  smile  in  her  eyes. 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  what  there  is  in  your  past  life  to 
disquiet  him,"  exclaimed  the  princess,  her  mother,  re- 
senting the  inference  that  her  maternal  vigilance  was 
called  in  question.  "  Is  it  because  Vronsky  paid  you 
some  attention.''     That  happens  to  every  young  girl." 

"  Yes,  but  we  were  not  talking  about  that,"  said  Kitty, 
blushing. 

"  No,  permit  me  to  finish  what  I  was  saying,"  pursued 
the  princess  ;  "  and  besides,  you  yourself  would  not  per- 
mit me  to  have  an  explanation  with  Vronsky,  do  you 
remember  ? " 

"  Oh,  mamma !  "  exclaimed  Kitty,  with  an  exclamation 
of  pain.  i,u]j3  n. 

"There  is  no  need  of  your  being  vexed Your  be- 
havior toward  him  could  never  have  been  anything  but 
perfectly  proper.  I  myself  should  have  challenged  him  ! 
However,  my  darling,  don't  allow  yourself  to  get  ex- 
cited.    Please  remember  this,  and  calm  yourself." 

"  I  am  perfectly  calm,  majnan." 

"  How  fortunate  it  turned  out  for  Kitty  that  Anna 
appeared  on  the  scene,"  said  Dolly,  "and  how  unfortu- 
nate for  her.  How  their  positions  are  reversed,"  she 
added,  overwhelmed  by  her  own  thought.  "  Anna  was 
so  happy  then  and  Kitty  thought  herself  so  miserable. 
I  often  think  of  her.     What  a  complete  change !  " 

"  What  is  the  use  of  thinking  about  her  ?  She  is  a 
vile,  disgusting,  heartless  woman,"  exclaimed  the  prin- 
cess, who  could  not  forget  that  Kitty  had  married  Levin 
instead  of  Vronsky. 

"  What  is  the  good  of  speaking  about  her,  anyway !  " 
said  Kitty,  in  disgust.     "  I  do  not  think  about  her  nor 

do  I  wish  to  think  of  her  at  all I  do  not  wish  to  think 

about  her,"  she  repeated,  hearing  her  husband's  well- 
known  step  on  the  steps  leading  to  the  terrace. 

"  Whom  do  you  wish  not  to  think  about .-' "  asked 
Levin,  appearing  on  the  terrace. 


ANNA   KARENINA  67 

No  one  answered,  and  he  did  not  repeat  his  question. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  I  am  disturbing  your  feminine 
realm,"  said  he,  looking  angrily  at  them  all,  and  perceiv- 
ing that  they  were  talking  about  something  which  they 
would  not  talk  about  in  his  presence.  For  an  instant  he 
felt  that  he  shared  Agafya  Mikhaiflovna's  sentiments  — 
her  dissatisfaction  at  the  Shcherbatsky  way  of  making 
preserves  without  water,  and  especially  the  alien  regime 
of  his  wife's  family  !  Nevertheless,  he  smiled  and  went 
up  to  Kitty.  "Well,  how  is  it.?"  he  asked,  looking  at  her 
with  the  same  expression  every  one  used  in  addressing  her. 

",A11  right,"  said  Kitty,  with  a  smile;  "and  how  is  it 
with  you  ? " 

"  The  three-horse  team  will  take  a  larger  load  than  we 
can  put  on  the  telyega.  Shall  we  go  to  meet  the  chil- 
dren }     I  have  ordered  the  men  to  harness." 

*'  What,  are  you  going  to  take  Kitty  in  the  linyeifka  ^  ?" 
exclaimed  the  princess,  reproachfully. 

"We  shall  walk  the  horses,  princess." 

Levin  never  called  the  princess  "  viaman,''  as  his 
brothers-in-law  did,  and  the  princess  resented  it.  But 
Levin,  though  he  loved  and  respected  her,  could  not 
call  her  so  without  doing  violence  to  his  feelings  toward 
the  memory  of  his  own  mother. 

"  Come  with  us,  maman,"  said  Kitty. 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  countenance  such  imprudence  !  " 

"  Well,  then,  I  will  walk ;  that  is  good  for  me,"  said 
Kitty,  rising  to  take  her  husband's  arm. 

"  Good  for  you  !  But  there 's  reason  in  all  things," 
said  the  princess. 

"  Well,  Agafya  Mikhailovna,  are  your  preserves  done } 
Is  the  new  method  good .-' "  asked  Levin,  smiling  at  the 
housekeeper  in  his  desire  to  cheer  her. 

"  Perhaps  they  're  good ;  but,  in  my  opinion,  much 
overdone." 

"  There 's  one  thing  about  them  that 's  better,  Agafya 
MikhaTlovna,  they  won't  spoil,"  said  Kitty,  divining  her 
husband's  intention,  and  with  the  same  feeling  address- 
ing the  old  servant.     "  And  you  know  the  ice  in  the  ice- 

^  Linyaka  is  a  wide  drozhsky  with  several  seats. 


68  ANNA    KARENINA 

house  is  all  melted  and  we  can't  get  any  more.  As  for 
your  spiced  meats,  mamma  assures  me  that  she  has  never 
eaten  any  better,"  she  added,  adjusting,  with  a  smile,  the 
housekeeper's  loosened  neckerchief. 

Agafya  Mikhaiflovna  looked  angrily  at  Kitty.  "  Do 
not  try  to  console  me,  baruinya.  To  see  you  with  him  is 
enough  to  content  me." 

This  familiar  way  of  speaking  of  her  master  touched 
Kitty. 

"  Come  and  show  us  the  best  places  to  find  mush- 
rooms." 

The  old  woman  raised  her  head,  smiHng,  as  if  to  say, 
"  One  would  gladly  guard  you  from  all  hatred,  if  it  were 
possible." 

"  Follow  my  advice,  please,  and  put  over  each  pot  of 
jelly  a  round  piece  of  paper  soaked  in  rum,  and  you  will 
not  need  ice  in  order  to  preserve  them,"  said  the 
princess. 

CHAPTER   III 

Kitty  was  especially  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  be 
alone  with  her  husband,  because  she  had  noticed  how  a 
shadow  of  dissatisfaction  had  crossed  his  telltale  face 
when  he  stepped  on  the  terrace  and  asked  what  they 
were  talking  about,  and  no  one  replied. 

As  they  walked  along  in  front  of  the  others,  and,  los- 
ing sight  of  the  house,  took  to  the  well-trodden,  dusty 
road,  bestrewn  with  rye  and  corn,  she  seized  his  hand 
and  pressed  it  against  her  side.  He  had  already  for- 
gotten the  momentary  unpleasant  impression,  and  now 
that  he  was  alone  with  her,  and  while  the  thought  of 
her  approaching  maternity  did  not  for  an  instant  escape 
from  his  mind,  he  experienced  a  novel  joy  in  the  sense 
of  the  presence  of  a  beloved  woman  —  a  joy  perfectly 
free  from  anything  sensual.  There  was  nothing  special 
to  talk  about,  but  he  liked  to  hear  the  sound  of  her 
voice,  which,  like  the  expression  of  her  eyes,  had  changed, 
owing  to  her  condition.     In  her  voice,  as  well  as  in  her 


ANNA    KARENINA  69- 

eyes,  there  was  a  gentleness  and  gravity  like  that  which 
people  show  when  their  attention  has  been  concentrated 
on  some  one  favorite  task. 

"  You  are  not  getting  tired,  are  you  ?  Lean  on  me 
more,"  said  he. 

"  No,  I  am  so  glad  to  have  a  chance  to  be  alone  with 
you,  and  I  confess  that  I  miss  our  winter  evenings  when 
we  two  were  alone  together,  much  as  I  enjoy  having 
them  here !  " 

"That  was  good,  but  this  is  better.  Both  are  better," 
said  he,  pressing  her  hand. 

"  Do  you  know  what  we  were  talking  about  when 
you  came .-'  " 

"  About  preserves }  " 

"  Yes,  about  preserves ;  but  afterward  about  the  way 
men  propose."  [ 

"Ah!"  said  Levin,  listening  rather  to  the  sound  of 
her  voice  than  to  the  words  which  she  spoke,  and  all 
the  time  thinking  of  the  road  which  they  were  following 
down  to  the  forest,  and  carefully  avoiding  the  places 
that  might  cause  her  to  stumble. 

"  But  how  about  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  and  Varenka } 
Have  you  noticed  it.-* ....  I  very  much  wish  it  might  come 
about,"  she  went  on  to  say.  "  What  do  you  think  about 
it?" 

And  she  glanced  into  his  face. 

"I  don't  know  what  to  think,"  replied  Levin,  with  a 
smile.  "  Sergyei  in  this  respect  was  always  a  mystery  to 
me.     I  think  I  told  you  about  it."  .... 

"  Yes,  that  he  was  in  love  with  a  young  girl,  but  she 
died.".... 

"  That  was  when  I  was  a  child ;  I  knew  it  by  tradi- 
tion. I  remember  him  as  he  was  then.  He  was  won- 
derfully charming.  But  since  then  I  have  watched  him 
with  women.  He  is  polite  ;  he  likes  some  of  them  ;  but 
you  can't  help  feeling  that  for  him  they  are  merely  peo- 
ple, not  women." 

"Yes,  but  now  in  the  case  of  Varenka ....  it  seems  to 
me  there  is  some  ....  " 

"  Maybe  there  is ....  but  one  must  know  him He  is 


7d  ANNA   KARENINA 

a  peculiar,  a  remarkable  man.  He  lives  only  a  spiritual 
life.     He  is  too  pure  and  high-minded  a  man  ...." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  How  could  this  bring  him  to 
a  lower  level  ? " 

"  I  don't  say  it  would,  but  he  is  so  accustomed  to  live 
a  spiritual  life  only  that  he  cannot  reconcile  himself  to 
what  is  matter  of  fact  And  Varenka  is  quite  matter  of 
fact." 

Levin  had  by  this  time  become  accustomed  to  speak 
his  thoughts  with  all  freedom,  not  taking  pains  to  couch 
it  in  explicit  words ;  he  knew  that  his  wife  in  such  mo- 
ments of  intimate  communion  as  now  would  understand 
what  he  expressed  by  a  hint,  and  she  did  understand 
him. 

"  Yes,  but  she  has  none  of  that  practicality  such  as  I 
have.  I  can  understand  that  he  would  never  fall  in  love 
with  me.     She  is  all  soul." 

"  That  is  not  so,  he  is  so  fond  of  you.  And  I  am 
always  so  glad  that  my  friends  like  you.".... 

"  Yes,  he  is  kind  to  me  ;  but ....  " 

"But  not  as  it  was  with  our  lamented  Nikolenka.... 
you  loved  each  other,"  said  Levin,  in  conclusion.  "  But 
why  not  speak  it  out  ? "  he  added.  "  I  often  reproach 
myself  that  one  so  quickly  forgets.  Oh,  what  a  terrible, 
what  a  fascinating  man  he  was!....  But  what  were  we 
talking  about  .-*  "  said  Levin,  after  a  silence. 

"You  mean  that  he  is  incapable  of  falling  in  love," 
said  she,  expressing  her  husband's  thought  in  her  own 
way. 

"  I  do  not  say  that,  but  he  has  none  of  that  weakness 
which  is  requisite ....  and  I  always  have  envied  him,  and 
envy  him  still,  in  spite  of  my  happiness." 

"  You  envy  him  because  he  is  incapable  of  falling  in 
love  ? " 

"  I  envy  him  because  he  is  better  than  I  am,"  said 
Levin,  smiling.  "  He  does  not  live  for  himself ;  it  is 
duty  which  guides  him,  and  so  he  has  a  right  to  be 
serene  and  well  satisfied." 

"And  you  .-^  "  asked  Kitty,  with  a  mischievous  smile. 

He  could  never  follow  the  course  of  her  thoughts 


ANNA   KARENINA  71 

when  they  caused  her  to  smile.  But  the  last  deduction 
was  that  her  husband,  who  had  the  greatest  admiration 
for  his  brother,  and  who  humbled  himself  before  him, 
was  insincere.  Kitty  knew  that  this  insincerity  of  his 
was  caused  by  his  love  for  him,  from  a  sort  of  consci- 
entious scruple  at  being  too  happy,  and  especially  from 
a  never  ceasing  desire  to  be  better  —  and  she  loved  this 
in  him,  and  that  was  why  she  smiled, 

"But  why  should  you  be  dissatisfied?"  she  asked, 
with  the  same  smile.  >1j.j 

Her  disbelief  in  his  self-dissatisfaction  pleased  him, 
and  he  unconsciously  provoked  her  to  explain  the 
reasons  for  her  disbelief. 

"  I  am  happy,  but  I  am  dissatisfied  with  myself ....  " 
said  he. 

"  How  can  you  be  dissatisfied,  if  you  are  happy  ? " 

"  How  can  I  express  it  ? ....  In  my  heart  of  hearts  I 
wish  nothing  else  except  that  you  should  not  stumble. 
Oh  !  you  must  not  jump  so,"  he  exclaimed,  interrupting 
his  argument  with  a  reproach,  because  she  had  made  a 
too  vivacious  motion  in  jumping  over  a  branch  which 
lay  in  the  path. 

"  But  when  I  criticize  myself  and  compare  myself 
with  others,  especially  with  my  brother,  I  am  conscious 
of  all  my  inferiority." 

"  But  why  ? "  persisted  Kitty,  with  the  same  smile. 
"  Are  n't  you  always  doing  for  others  ?  And  your  farm- 
ing, your  book.? " .... 

"Yes,  I  feel  this  especially  now;  and  you  are  to 
blame,"  said  he,  pressing  her  hand.  "  I  do  this  so,  so 
superficially.  Ah,  if  I  could  love  all  this  work  as  I  love 
you  ! ....  But  of  late  I  work  on  it  as  if  it  were  a  task  im- 
posed on  me." 

"  But  what  do  you  say  about  papa } "  asked  Kitty. 
"  Is  he  unworthy  because  he  does  nothing  for  the  com- 
monwealth ?  "  I^ol 

"  He.-*....  oh,  no!  But  one  must  have  just  such  sim- 
plicity, transparency,  goodness,  as  he  has  ;  but  I  have  n't, 
have  I .''  If  I  do  not  work,  I  am  tormented.  'T  is  you  who 
have  made  it  so.     If  it  were  not  for  you,  and  if  it  were 


71  ANNA   KARENINA 

not  for  what  is  coming,"  said  he,  with  a  significant 
glance  at  her  figure,  "  I  should  devote  all  my  powers 
to  this  work ;  but  now  I  can't,  and  my  conscience  pricks 
me.     I  do  it  like  a  task,  it  is  all  pretense  ....  " 

"Would  you  like  to  exchange  with  SergyeY  Ivano- 
vitch,"  asked  Kitty  ;  "  would  you  like  to  work  for  nothing 
but  your  duty  and  the  general  welfare  of  mankind .-' " 

"  Of  course  not.     The  fact  is,  I  am  so  happy  that  I 

can't  reason  clearly So  you  think  the  proposal  will 

take  place  to-day,  do  you .'' "  he  asked,  after  a  moment's 
silence. 

"  I  think  so,  and  then  I  think  not.  But  I  wish  with 
all  my  heart  it  might.  Here,  wait ! "  She  stooped 
down  and  plucked  a  daisy  growing  by  the  roadside. 
"  Now,  count ;  he  'II  propose,  he  'II  not  propose  y'  she  said, 
giving  him  the  flower. 

"  He  '11  propose,  he  '11  not  propose,"  repeated  Levin, 
picking  off  the  narrow,  white,  trembling  petals. 

"  No,  no ! "  cried  Kitty,  stopping  him  and  seizing  his 
arm,  as  she  excitedly  watched  his  fingers.  "  You  pulled 
off  two ! " 

"Well,  that  little  one  doesn't  count,"  said  Levin,  tear- 
ing off  a  short  undeveloped  petal.  "  But  here  comes  the 
linyeifka  to  meet  us." 

"  Kitty,  you  have  n't  fatigued  yourself  ? "  cried  the 
princess.    . 

"  Not  the  least  in  the  world,  mamma." 

"Well,  get  in,  if  the  horses  are  quiet  and  will  walk." 

But  there  was  no  need  of  riding ;  the  place  was  so 
near  .they  continued  walking. 

CHAPTER   IV 

Varenka,  in  her  white  kerchief  setting  off  her  dark 
locks,  and  surrounded  by  children  whom  she  was  good- 
naturedly  and  gayly  entertaining,  and  evidently  excited 
by  the  possibility  of  a  declaration  from  a  man  who  was 
agreeable  to  her,  was  very  fascinating.  Sergyef  Ivano- 
vitch  walked  by  her  side,  and  could  not  refrain  from 


ANNA   KARENINA  73 

admiring  her.  As  he  looked  at  her  he  recalled  all  the 
pleasant  remarks  he  had  heard  her  make,  all  the  good- 
ness that  he  had  found  in  her,  and  he  confessed  to  him- 
self more  and  more  that  the  feeling  which  she  aroused 
in  him  was  something  peculiar,  like  what  he  had  ex- 
perienced once,  only  long,  long  before,  in  his  early  youth. 

The  feeling  of  pleasure  at  being  near  her  kept  grow- 
ing stronger,  and  at  last  when,  as  he  put  into  her  basket 
a  monstrous  birch  mushroom  with  thin  stem  and  edges, 
he  looked  into  her  eyes,  and,  noticing  the  blush  of  pleas- 
ure and  timid  emotion  which  spread  over  her  face,  he 
himself  grew  confused,  and  smiled  with  a  mute  smile 
which  said  too  much. 

"  If  this  is  the  way  it  is  going,  I  must  deliberate  and 
come  to  a  decision,  and  not  give  way  like  a  child  to  the 
impulse  of  a  moment." 

"  I  am  going  now  to  hunt  for  mushrooms  indepen- 
dently of  the  rest  of  you,  otherwise  my  acquisitions  will 
not  be  noticed,"  said  he;  and  he  went  off  by  himself  from 
the  edge  of  the  woods,  where  they  had  been  walking 
along  the  velvety  turf  among  the  old  birch  trees,  scattered 
here  and  there  in  the  forest  together  with  the  gray  trunks 
of  aspens  and  dark  clumps  of  hazelnuts.  Going  off  forty 
steps  or  so,  and  coming  to  a  clump  of  the  bush  called 
beresklet,  which  was  in  full  flower  with  its  rosy  catkins, 
Sergyef  Ivanovitch  sheltered  himself  behind  it,  knowing 
that  he  would  not  be  seen. 

Around  him  it  was  perfectly  still.  Only  up  in  the 
tree-tops  above  his  head,  ceaseless,  like  a  swarm  of  bees, 
buzzed  the  flies,  and  occasionally  he  heard  the  voices  of 
the  children.  Suddenly,  not  far  from  the  edge  of  the 
woods,  rang  out  Varenka's  contralto  voice,  calling  Grisha, 
and  a  happy  smile  spread  over  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch's  face. 
When  he  realized  what  he  was  doing,  he  shook  his  head 
disapprovingly  at  his  state  of  mind,  and,  taking  out  a 
cigar,  he  began  to  smoke. 

It  was  some  time  before  he  could  light  a  match  against 
the  bole  of  a  birch  tree.  The  juicy  scales  of  the  white 
bark  dampened  the  phosphorus,  and  the  match  refused 
to  burn.     At  last  one  of  the  matches  took  fire,  and  the 


74  ANNA    KARENINA 

fragrant  cigar-smoke,  like  a  wide  wavering  scarf,  floated 
up  and  away  above  the  bush  under  the  pendant  twigs 
of  the  birches.  As  he  followed  the  whiff  of  smoke  with 
his  eyes,  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  slowly  walked  on,  thinking 
over  the  situation. 

"And  why  should  I  not.?"  he  asked  himself.  "If 
this  was  a  caprice  of  passion,  if  I  had  experienced  only 
this  attachment,  this  mutual  attachment  — for  I  may 
call  it  mutual — and  if  I  felt  that  it  would  run  counter 
to  the  whole  scheme  of  my  life  — if  I  felt  that  in  giving 
way  to  this  impression  I  should  change  my  calling  and 
duty  —  then  it  would  not  do  at  all.  The  one  thing  that 
I  can  bring  against  it  is  that  when  I  lost  Marie  I  vowed 
that  I  would  never  marry,  in  remembrance  of  her.    This 

is  the  only  thing  that  I  can  say  against  this  feeling 

This  is  serious,"  said  SergyeY  Ivanovitch  to  himself,  but 
at  the  same  time  he  recognized  that  this  consideration 
had  personally  for  him  no  great  importance,  but  would 
simply  spoil  in  the  eyes  of  others  the  poetic  rdle  which 
he  had  been  keeping  up  so  long. 

"  But  besides  this,  no  matter  how  long  I  searched,  I 
should  never  find  out  what  would  be  said  against  my 
feeling.  •  If  I  used  all  my  wits,  I  could  never  find  any 
one  better." 

Among  all  the  women  and  girls  whom  he  had  ever 
known  he  could  not  think  of  one  who  united  to  such  a 
high  degree  all,  yes,  verily,  all  the  qualities  which  in  a 
cold  calculation  he  should  wish  to  see  in  his  wife.  She 
had  all  the  freshness  and  charm  of  youth,  and  yet  she 
was  no  longer  a  child  and  if  she  loved  him  she  loved 
him  sensibly,  as  a  woman  ought  to  love  :  this  was  one 
thing.  Another  was :  she  was  not  only  far  removed 
from  worldly-mindedness,  but  evidently  found  fashionable 
society  distasteful;  but  at  the  same  time  she  knew  society 
well  and  had  all  those  ways  of  a  woman  of  good  society, 
lacking  which  married  life  for  SergyeY  Ivanovitch  was 
unthinkable.  Thirdly,  she  was  rehgious,  but  not  like  a 
child,  irresponsibly  religious  and  good,  as  Kitty,  for 
example,  was,  but  her  life  was  founded  on  religious  con- 
victions.    Even   in  trifles  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  found  in 


ANNA   KARENINA  75 

her  all  that  he  desired  in  a  wife.  She  was  poor  and 
unencumbered,  so  that  she  would  not  bring  a  throng  of 
relatives  and  their  influence  into  her  husband's  home, 
as  he  saw  was  the  case  with  Kitty ;  but  she  would  be 
in  everything  pledged  to  her  husband,  which  was  one  of 
the  conditions  which  he  had  demanded  for  himself 
in  case  he  ever  had  any  family  life. 

And  this  young  woman,  having  all  these  qualities, 
loved  him.  He  was  modest,  but  he  could  not  help  see- 
ing this.  And  he  liked  her.  One  obstacle  stood  in  the 
way  —  his  age.  But  his  family  were  long-lived,  he  had 
not  as  yet  a  single  gray  hair,  no  one  took  him  to  be 
more  than  forty,  and  he  remembered  that  Varenka  had 
said  that  only  in  Russia  men  of  fifty  considered  them- 
selves old  men,  while  in  France  a  man  of  fifty  reckoned 
himself  dans  la  force  de  Vdge  and  one  of  forty  was  nn 
jeune  homme.  But  what  signified  his  years  when  he 
felt  himself  as  young  in  spirit  as  he  had  been  twenty 
years  before }  Was  not  youth  the  feeling  which  he 
enjoyed  when,  coming  out  again  from  the  forest  into  the 
clearing,  he  saw  in  the  clear  sunlight  Varenka's  grace- 
ful figure  in  her  yellow  frock  and  with  her  basket,  mov- 
ing along  with  light  steps  past  the  bole  of  an  ancient 
birch  tree,  and  the  impression  produced  by  the  sight 
of  Varenka  blended  with  the  surprising  beauty  of  a 
field  of  oats  shining  yellow  under  the  oblique  rays  of 
the  sun,  and  beyond  the  field  the  old  forest,  variegated 
with  yellow  and  stretching  away  into  the  azure  distance  ,•* 
His  heart  swelled  with  joy.  A  feeling  of  tenderness 
seized  him.  He  felt  within  him  that  his  mind  was  made 
up.  Varenka,  who  had  just  stooped  down  to  pick  up  a 
mushroom,  with  an  agile  motion  straightened  herself  up 
again  and  glanced  around. 

Sergyei  Ivanovitch,  tossing  away  his  cigar,  went 
toward  her  with  resolute  steps. 


76  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER  V 

"Vavara  Andreyevna,  when  I  was  very  young,  I 
formed  for  myself  an  ideal  of  the  woman  whom  I  should 
love  and  whom  I  should  be  happy  to  call  my  wife.  I 
have  lived  a  long  life,  and  now  for  the  first  time  I  find 
in  you  all  that  I  was  seeking.  I  love  you  and  I  offer 
you  my  hand." 

Sergyei"  Ivanovitch  was  saying  these  words  to  himself 
when  he  was  within  ten  steps  of  Varenka.  She  was 
kneeling  on  the  grass  and  defending  with  her  hands  a 
mushroom  from  Grisha,  and  at  the  same  time  calling  to 
little  Masha. 

"  Here,  come  here.  Little  ones....  lots  of  them,"  she 
cried,  in  her  deep,  pleasant  voice. 

Though  she  saw  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  approaching  she 
did  not  rise  nor  did  she  change  her  position ;  but  every- 
thing told  him  that  she  was  aware  of  his  presence  and 
was  glad. 

"  Did  you  find  any  ? "  she  asked,  turning  her  sweet 
face  toward  him  with  a  smile. 

"  Not  one,"  replied  Sergyei  Ivanovitch.     "  And  you }" 

She  made  no  reply,  her  attention  being  just  then 
absorbed  by  the  children  who  surrounded  her. 

"  Here  's  one  for  you  near  the  twig,"  and  she  pointed 
out  a  little  agaricus  pushing  its  elastic  red  cap  through 
the  dry  grass,  from  which  it  was  extricating  itself. 

Varenka  got  up,  after  Masha  had  plucked  the  mush- 
room, breaking  it  into  two  white  halves.  "That 
reminds  me  of  my  childhood,"  she  remarked,  as  she 
joined  SergyeY  Ivanovitch  and  walked  with  him  away 
from  the  children. 

They  proceeded  a  few  steps  in  silence.  Varenka  saw 
that  he  wanted  to  speak ;  she  suspected  what  he  had  in 
mind,  and  felt  stifled  with  the  emotions  of  joy  and  terror. 
They  had  now  gone  so  far  from  the  rest  that  no  one 
could  have  heard  them,  yet  he  had  not  opened  his  mouth 
to  speak.  Varenka  would  have  done  better  not  to  say 
a  word.     After  a  silence  it  would  have  been  easier  to 


ANNA   KARENINA  77 

say  what  they  wanted  to  say  than  after  any  casual 
words.  But  against  her  own  will,  as  it  were  unexpect- 
edly, Varenka  broke  out :  — 

"  And  so  you  did  not  find  any.  But  there  are  never 
so  many  mushrooms  in  the  woods  as  along  the  edge." 

Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  sighed  and  made  no  answer.  He 
was  annoyed  because  she  spoke  about  mushrooms.  He 
wanted  to  bring  her  back  to  the  first  words  which  she 
had  spoken  about  her  childhood ;  but,  as  it  were,  con- 
trary to  his  will,  after  a  brief  silence,  he  made  an  obser- 
vation on  what  she  had  said  last. 

"  I  have  heard  that  the  white  mushrooms  are  found  pre- 
eminently on  the  edge  of  the  forest,  but  I  can't  tell  them." 

A  few  moments  more  passed ;  they  had  gone  still 
farther  away  from  the  children,  and  were  wholly  alone. 

Varenka's  heart  beat  so  violently  that  she  heard  its 
throbs,  and  she  was  conscious  that  she  was  blushing, 
turning  pale,  and  then  blushing  again. 

To  be  the  wife  of  such  a  man  as  Koznuishef  after  her 
position  with  Mme.  Stahl  seemed  to  her  the  height  of 
happiness.  Moreover,  she  was  almost  convinced  that 
she  was  in  love  with  him.  And  this  was  to  be  decided 
immediately  !  It  was  a  terrible  moment  for  her ;  terrible, 
both  what  he  would  say,  and  what  he  would  not  say. 

Now,  or  never,  it  would  have  to  be  decided ;  Sergyeif 
Ivanovitch  also  felt  this.  Everything  in  Varenka's 
looks,  in  her  heightened  color,  in  the  way  she  dropped 
her  eyes,  betrayed  the  most  painful  expectation. 

Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  saw  this  and  was  sorry  for  her. 
He  even  felt  that  he  should  wrong  her  if  he  kept  silence. 
He  made  an  effort  to  recall  his  recent  arguments  in  favor 
of  making  the  decision.  He  even  repeated  to  himself 
the  words  in  which  he  was  going  to  couch  his  declaration  ; 
but  instead  of  these  words,  by  some  combination  unex- 
pected to  himself,  he  asked  :  — 

"  What  is  the  difference  between  a  white  mushroom 
and  a  birch  mushroom  ?  " 

Varenka's  lips  trembled  as  she  answered  :  — 

"  There  is  very  little  difference  in  the  cap,  but  it  lies 
in  the  root." 


7$  ANNA   KARENINA 

And  as  soon  as  these  words  were  spoken  both  of 
them  felt  that  this  was  the  end  of  it,  that  what  should 
have  been  said  would  never  be  said,  and  the  emotion 
which  up  to  this  moment  had  reached  its  highest  pitch 
gradually  died  away. 

"  The  birch  mushroom,  or  its  root,  reminds  one  of  a 
black  beard  which  has  not  been  shaved  for  two  days," 
said  Sergyei  Ivanovitch,  calmly. 

"  Quite  true,"  answered  Varenka,  smiling,  and  invol- 
untarily the  direction  of  their  walk  changed.  They  were 
going  back  toward  the  children.  Varenka  was  puzzled 
and  hurt,  but  at  the  same  time  she  experienced  a  sense 
of  relief.  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  mentally  reviewed  his 
arguments  in  favor  of  marriage,  and  found  them  mis- 
taken.    He  could  not  be  unfaithful  to  Marie's  memory. 

"Gently,  children,  gently,"  cried  Levin,  testily,  as  the 
children  sprang  toward  Kitty  with  shouts  of  glee. 

Behind  the  children  came  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  and 
Varenka.  Kitty  needed  not  to  question  them.  She 
knew  by  their  calm  and  slightly  mortified  manner  that 
the  hope  which  she  had  been  nursing  would  not  be 
realized. 

"  Well,  how  is  it  ?  "  her  husband  asked,  when  they 
returned  to  the  house. 

"  It  will  not  happen,"  said  Kitty,  with  a  smile  and 
manner  which  reminded  him  of  her  father,  as  Levin  had 
often  remarked  to  his  delight. 
.  iJ^Why  won't  it  happen  .-* " 

■  -^^This  is  why,"  said  she,  taking  his  hand,  raising  it  to 
her  mouth,  and  touching  it  with  her  closed  lips.  "  As 
people  kiss  a  bishop's  hand  !  " 

"  Which  one  has  failed  of  it  ?  "  he  asked,  laughing. 
./A'iBoth.     It  must  be  so  when....  " 

"Here  come  the  muzhiks...." 
tnt*  No,  not  yet" 


aoU 


ANNA   KARENINA  7^ 


CHAPTER  VI 

While  the  children  took  their  supper,  the  older  peo- 
ple sat  on  the  balcony  and  talked  as  if  nothing  had 
happened ;  but  all,  and  especially  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  and 
Varenka,  knew  very  well  that  an  important  event  had 
occurred,  although  it  was  a  negative  one.  The  two  ex- 
perienced a  feeling  such  as  a  boy  has  when,  having  failed 
in  the  examination,  he  is  either  kept  in  the  same  class  or 
is  excluded  forever  from  an  institution.  All  present, 
feeling  likewise  that  something  had  taken  place,  talked 
with  a  forced  animation. 

Levin  and  Kitty  felt  especially  happy  and  in  love  with 
each  other  that  evening.  And  that  they  were  happy  in 
their  love  seemed  to  make  it  impolite  to  comment  on  the 
unskilfulness  of  those  who  did  not  know  how  to  be 
happy,  and  this  made  them  feel  guilty. 

"  Take  my  word  for  it,  Alexandre  will  not  come," 
said  the  princess. 

That  evening  they  were  expecting  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch  from  the  train,  and  the  old  prince  had  written  that 
perhaps  he,  also,  would  come.  "  And  if  he  does  n't,  I 
know  why,"  continued  the  princess;  "  he  says  that  young 
people  ought  to  be  left  alone  during  the  first  part  of 
their  married  lives." 

"Yes,  papa  is  abandoning  us  for  that  very  reason. 
He  has  not  been  to  see  us  at  all.  But  how  are  we 
young  folks  ?     I  am  sure  we  are  quite  old." 

"  Only,  if  he  does  not  come,  and  I  have  to  take  my 
leave  of  you  children ! "  said  the  princess,  with  a  mel- 
ancholy sigh. 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  you,  mamma  ? "  cried  both 
daughters  at  once. 

"  You  can  think  how  it  is  with  him.     Here,  now  ....  " 

And  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  the  old  princess's 
voice  broke.  The  daughters  exchanged  glances  in 
silence. 

"  Maman  is  always  finding  some  melancholy  topic  !  " 
said  their  eyes.      They  did   not  know  that,   however 


8o  ANNA    KARENINA 

pleasant  it  was  for  the  princess  to  visit  her  daughters, 
and  however  necessary  she  felt  that  she  was,  neverthe- 
less both  she  and  her  husband  had  been  very  sad  ever 
since  they  had  given  up  their  last  beloved  daughter 
and  the  family  nest  had  become  empty. 

"What  is  it,  Agafya  Mikhailovna  ?  "  suddenly  asked 
Kitty  of  the  old  housekeeper,  whom  she  saw  standing 
near  with  a  mysterious  and  significant  look  in  her  eyes. 

"  It  is  about  supper." 

"Now,  that  is  excellent,"  said  Dolly.  "You  go  and 
make  your  arrangements,  and  I  will  hear  Grisha  recite 
his  lesson.     He  has  not  done  anything  all  day." 

"  The  lesson  is  my  part !  No,  Dolly,  I  will  go,"  cried 
Levin,  springing  up. 

Grisha,  who  had  already  entered  the  gymnasium,  was 
obliged  to  keep  up  his  lessons  during  the  summer. 
Darya  Aleksandrovna,  who  had  already  begun,  in  Mos- 
cow, to  study  Latin  with  her  son,  now  that  she  had 
come  to  the  Levins',  had  made  it  a  rule  to  go  over  with 
him,  at  least  once  a  day,  his  most  difficult  lessons  in 
Latin  and  arithmetic.  Levin  had  taken  it  on  himself 
to  substitute  for  her.  But  the  mother,  having  once 
listened  while  Levin  was  hearing  the  recitation,  and 
noticing  that  he  did  not  teach  as  the  instructor  in  Mos- 
cow did,  with  an  awkward  attempt  not  to  hurt  his  feel- 
ings, told  Levin  decidedly  that  he  must  go  according 
to  the  book,  as  his  tutor  did,  and  that  she  had  better 
take  charge  of  the  lessons  again. 

Levin  was  annoyed  with  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  owing 
to  whose  carelessness  the  mother  had  charge  of  the 
children's  education,  though  she  understood  nothing 
about  it  at  all ;  and  he  was  annoyed  with  the  teachers, 
because  they  had  such  bad  methods  of  teaching.  But 
he  promised  his  sister-in-law  that  he  would  conduct  the 
recitations  as  she  wished.  And  so  he  continued  to  take 
charge  of  Grisha's  studies,  no  longer,  however,  in  his 
own  method,  but  according  to  the  book,  and  therefore 
perfunctorily,  and  frequently  forgetting  the  lesson-hour. 
And  that  is  what  had  happened  that  day. 

"No,  I  will  go,  Dolly,  and  you  keep  your  seat,"  said 


ANNA   KARENINA  8i 

lie.  "  We  are  going  along  in  due  order  by  the  book. 
Only,  now  that  Stiva  is  coming,  we  shall  be  going  hunt- 
ing, so  we  shall  have  to  neglect  them." 

And  Levin  went  to  find  Grisha. 

Varenka  was  saying  almost  the  same  thing  to  Kitty. 
Varenka  had  found  the  way  of  being  useful  even  in  the 
Levins'  happy,  well-ordered  household. 

"  I  will  go  and  see  about  supper,  and  you  keep  your 
seat,"  said  she,  and  she  joined  Agafya  Mikhai'lovna. 

"  Yes,  yes !  but  you  won't  find  the  chickens.  Then ....  '* 
said  Kitty. 

"  Agafya  Mikha'flovna  and  I  will  settle  the  difficulty," 
said  Varenka,  and  disappeared  with  her. 

"  What  a  pretty  girl ! "  exclaimed  the  princess. 

"  Not  pretty,  maman,  but  the  charmingest  girl  in  the 
world." 

'And  so  you  are  expecting  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  are 
you }  "  said  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  evidently  not  liking  to 
have  the  conversation  about  Varenka  prolonged.  "  It 
would  be  hard  to  find  two  brothers-in-law  less  alike," 
said  he,  with  a  sly  smile.  "  One  versatile,  living  only 
in  society,  like  a  fish  in  the  water ;  the  other,  our  Kostia. 
full  of  life  and  activity,  quick  at  everything,  but  as  soon 
as  he  gets  into  society  he  either  gives  up  the  ghost  or 
flops  about  aimlessly,  like  a  fish  on  dry  land !  " 

"Yes,  he  is  very  heedless,"  said  the  princess,  address- 
ing Sergyef  Ivanovitch.  "  I  wanted  especially  to  ask 
you  to  persuade  him  that  it  is  impossible  for  her "  — 
she  was  referring  to  Kitty  —  '*  to  stay  here ;  she  cer- 
tainly ought  to  be  taken  to  Moscow.  He  says  write  for 
a  doctor.... " 

"  Maman,  he  is  doing  everything ;  he  agrees  to  all 
you  want,"  said  Kitty,  vexed  with  her  mother  for  draw- 
ing Sergyei"  Ivanovitch  into  this  matter  as  a  judge. 

While  they  were  talking,  the  whinnying  of  a  horse 
on  the  driveway  was  heard,  and  the  sound  of  wheels  on 
the  stones. 

Before  Dolly  could  jump  up  to  go  and  meet  her  hus- 
band. Levin  jumped  out  of  the  window  of  the  room  down- 
stairs where  he  was  teaching  Grisha,  and  put  Grisha  out 


84  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  It' s  Stiva,"  cried  Levin,  from  below  the  balcony. 
"  We  had  finished,  Dolly;  don't  you  worry  !  "  he  added, 
as  the  boy  darted  off  to  meet  the  carriage. 

"Is,  ea,  id,  ejus,  ejus,  ejiis,"  cried  Grisha,  as  he  ran 
down  the  avenue. 

"  And  there 's  some  one  with  him !  It  must  be  papa ! " 
cried  Levin,  standing  at  the  entrance  of  the  driveway. 
"  Kitty,  don't  come  down  by  the  steep  stairs.  Come 
round ! " 

But  Levin  was  mistaken  in  thinking  that  the  other 
man  in  the  carriage  was  the  old  prince.  When  he 
came  close  he  saw,  sitting  next  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
not  the  prince,  but  a  handsome,  portly  young  man,  in 
a  Scotch  cap  with  long  floating  ribbons.  This  was 
Vasenka  Veslovsky,  a  third  cousin  of  the  Shcherbat- 
skys,  a  brilliant  young  member  of  Moscow  and  Pe- 
tersburg society  — "  one  of  the  best  fellows  that  ever 
lived,  and  a  devotee  of  hunting,"  as  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch expressed  it  in  introducing  him. 

Veslovsky  was  not  in  the  least  disconcerted  by  the 
surprise  which  his  appearance,  in  place  of  the  old 
prince,  caused.  He  gayly  greeted  Levin,  reminding 
him  of  their  former  acquaintance,  and  took  Grisha  into 
the  carriage,  lifting  him  up  over  the  pointer  which 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  brought  with  him. 

Levin  did  not  get  into  the  carriage,  but  followed  on 
foot.  He  was  somewhat  put  out  by  the  non-arrival  of 
the  old  prince,  whom  he  liked  better  and  better  the 
more  he  saw  him ;  he  was  still  more  put  out  at  the 
appearance  of  this  Vasenka  Veslovsky,  a  man  who  was 
utterly  unknown  and  superfluous.  He  seemed  to  him 
still  more  unknown  and  superfluous  when,  as  Levin 
approached  the  front  door,  about  which  had  collected 
a  lively  throng  of  old  and  young,  he  kissed  Kitty's  hand 
with  a  remarkably  flattering  and  gallant  look. 

"  Your  wife  and  I  are  cousins,  and  old  friends,"  said 
Vasenka  Veslovsky,  heartily  pressing  Levin's  hand  a 
second  time. 

"  Well,  how  is  it,  any  game  .'* "  asked  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch, addressing  Levin  almost  before  he  had  greeted 


ANNA   KARENINA  83 

the  others.     "Vasenka  and  I  have  the  most  ferocious 

intentions How  are  you,  mainan,  since  we  saw  each 

other  in  Moscow  ?....  Well,  Tania,  how  goes  it?  Get 
the  things  from  the  back  of  the  calash,  please,"  said  he, 
addressing  every  one  at  once.  "  How  well  you  look, 
Dollenka,"  said  he  to  his  wife,  again  kissing  her  hand, 
holding  it  in  his,  and  smoothing  it. 

Levin,  who  a  few  moments  before  had  been  in  the 
happiest  frame  of  mind,  now  looked  at  them  all  with 
indignant  eyes,  and  everything  disgusted  him. 

"Whom  did  he  kiss  yesterday  with  those  same  lips  .''  " 
he  queried,  as  he  saw  how  affectionate  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch  was  to  his  wife.  He  looked  at  Dolly,  and  even 
she  was  displeasing  to  him.  "Of  course  she  cannot 
believe  in  his  love  for  her.  How,  then,  can  she  seem 
so  glad.-*     Repulsive!  "  said  Levin  to  himself. 

He  looked  at  the  princess,  who  had  seemed  to  him  so 
charming  a  moment  before,  and  her  manner  of  receiv- 
ing this  Veslovsky  and  his  ribbons,  as  if  she  were  at 
home  there,  displeased  him. 

Even  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  who  had  come  out  on  the 
porch  with  the  rest,  seemed  to  him  disagreeable  by  rea- 
son of  the  hypocritical  friendliness  with  which  he  met 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch ;  for  Levin  knew  that  his  brother 
neither  liked  nor  respected  Oblonsky. 

And  Varenka  disgusted  him,  because  she,  with  her 
sainte  nitouche  look,  nevertheless  met  this  stranger  as 
if  she  thought  only  what  sort  of  a  husband  would  he 
make  for  her. 

And  most  displeasing  of  all  was  Kitty,  as  she  fell  into 
conformity  with  the  tone  of  gayety  with  which  that 
gentleman  regarded  his  visit,  as  if  it  were  a  festival  for 
himself  and  all  the  rest ;  especially  disagreeable  was 
the  peculiar  smile  with  which  she  responded  to  his  smile. 

Noisily  talking,  they  all  went  into  the  house,  but  as 
soon  as  they  had  sat  down,  Levin  turned  on  his  heel 
and  started  off. 

Kitty  saw  that  something  was  amiss  with  her  husband. 
She  wanted  to  take  advantage  of  a  favorable  moment 
and  have  a  little  talk  with  him  alone,  but  he  hastened 


84  ANNA    KARENINA 

from  her,  declaring  that  he  had  business  to  attend  to  at 
the  office.  Not  for  a  long  time  had  his  affairs  seemed 
to  him  so  important  as  they  did  at  that  day. 

"  It  may  be  a  holiday  for  them,"  he  said  to  himself, 
"  but  here  are  affairs  of  importance  to  be  attended  to, 
and  they  can't  be  delayed,  and  without  them  life  could 
not  be  carried  on." 


CHAPTER  VII 

Only  when  they  had  sent  to  tell  him  supper  was 
ready  did  Levin  go  back  to  the  house  again.  On  the 
stairway  Kitty  and  Agafya  Mikhailovna  were  standing 
holding  a  consultation  over  the  wines  for  supper. 

"  But  why  do  you  make  such  a  fuss  ?  Give  them  what 
you  usually  do." 

"  No,   Stiva   does  n't   drink Kostia,  wait,  what   is 

the  matter  with  you  ? "  exclaimed  Kitty,  hastening  after 
him  ;  but  he,  without  heeding  her,  went  with  long  strides 
into  the  dining-room,  and  immediately  began  to  take  part 
in  the  lively  conversation  which  Vasenka  Veslovsky  and 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  were  enjoying. 

"  What  do  you  say .''  Shall  we  go  hunting  to-morrow  .■' " 
asked  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

"Please  let  us  go,"  said  Veslovsky,  changing  his  seat 
to  another  chair,  and  doubling  his  fat  leg  under  him. 

"  I  shall  be  very  glad ;  yes,  we  will  go.  Have  you 
had  any  hunting  this  year  yet  ?  "  asked  Levin,'  looking 
at  Veslovsky's  leg,  but  his  cordiality  was  put  on,  as 
Kitty  could  easily  see,  and  it  did  not  become  him.  "  I 
doubt  if  we  find  any  woodcock,  but  snipe  are  abundant. 
We  shall  have  to  start  early.  You  will  not  be  too  tired  ? 
Are  you  tired,  Stiva  ?  " 

"  I  tired  ?  I  don't  know  what  it  is  to  be  tired.  I  'm 
ready  to  stay  up  all  night.  We  '11  go  and  take  a 
walk." 

"  Certainly,  let  us  stay  up  all  night.  Capital,"  said 
Veslovsky. 

"  Oh,  yes,  we  are  agreed  on  that  point,  that  you  can 


ANNA   KARENINA  85 

stay  up  all  night  and  also  keep  other  people  awake," 
said  Dolly,  in  that  tone  of  playful  irony  which  she 
almost  habitually  employed  in  addressing  her  husband. 
"  In  my  opinion,  I  had  better  be  going  to  bed.  I  won't 
eat  any  supper.     I  '11  go  now." 

"  No,  Dollenka,  sit  down,"  said  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch,  going  to  the  other  side  of  the  great  table  and 
taking  a  seat  near  his  wife.  "  I  've  so  many  things  to 
tell  you  about," 

"  Probably  mighty  little !  " 

"Do  you  know — Veslovsky  has  been  at  Anna's .-^ 
She  lives  only  seventy  versts  ^  away  from  here ;  he  is 
going  there  when  he  leaves  us,  and  I  intend  to  go  too. 
Veslovsky,  come  here." 

Vasenka  approached  the  ladies,  and  sat  down  next  to 
Kitty. 

"  Oh,  please  tell  us  about  it.  Have  you  really  been 
to  Anna  Arkadyevna's  ?  How  is  she .''  "  asked  Darya 
Aleksandrovna. 

Levin  had  remained  at  the  other  end  of  the  table,  and 
while  he  kept  on  talking  with  the  princess  and  Varenka, 
he  observed  that  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  Dolly,  Kitty,  and 
Veslovsky  were  having  an  animated  and  mysterious  con- 
versation. Not  only  were  they  talking  confidentially, 
but  it  seemed  to  him  that  his  wife's  face  expressed  a 
deep  tenderness,  as,  without  dropping  her  eyes,  she 
looked  into  Vasenka's  handsome  face,  while  he  was 
talking  vivaciously. 

"  Their  establishment  is  superb,"  Vasenka  Veslovsky 
was  saying  in  reference  to  Vronsky  and  Anna ;  "  of 
course,  I  don't  take  it  on  myself  to  pass  judgment  on 
them,  but  when  you  are  there  in  their  house,  you  feel 
yourself  at  home." 

"  What  are  their  plans  .-* " 

"They  would  like  to  pass  the  winter  in  Moscow,  I 
believe." 

"How  jolly  it  would  be  for  us  to  go  there  together 
When  shall  you  be  there .''  "  Oblonsky  asked  Vasenka. 

"  I  am  going  to  spend  July  with  them." 
1 46.41  miles. 


86  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  And  are  you  going  ?  "  he  asked  his  wife. 

"  I  have  long  been  wanting  to  go,  and  I  certainly 
shall,"  said  Dolly.  "  I  am  sorry  for  her,  and  I  know  her. 
She  is  a  lovely  woman.  When  you  have  gone  away,  I 
shall  go  alone ;  that  will  not  disturb  any  one,  and  it 
would  be  better  for  me  to  go  without  you." 

"Just  the  thing,"  answered  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 
"And  you,  Kitty?" 

"  I  ?  Why  should  I  go  to  see  her .?  "  said  Kitty  ;  and, 
blushing  with  vexation,  she  glanced  at  her  husband. 

"  Do  you  know  Anna  Arkadyevna  ? "  asked  Veslovsky ; 
"  she  is  a  very  fascinating  woman." 

"Yes,"  answered  Kitty,  blushing  still  more,  and  she 
rose  and  joined  her  husband.  "  So  you  are  going  hunt- 
ing to-morrow,  are  you? "  she  asked  him. 

Levin's  jealousy  during  those  few  moments,  and 
especially  at  the  blush  which  covered  her  cheeks  while 
she  was  talking  with  Veslovsky,  had  already  reached  an 
acute  stage.  Now,  hearing  her  question,  he  interpreted 
it  in  his  own  way.  Strange  as  it  was  afterward  for  him 
to  remember  this,  now  it  seemed  clear  to  him  that  the 
reason  for  her  asking  him  if  he  was  going  hunting  and 
for  her  interest  in  it  was  to  know  if  he  would  give  Va- 
senka  Veslovsky  that  pleasure,  and  that  proved  that  she 
was  already  in  love  with  him ! 

"Yes,  I  am  thinking  of  it,"  he  answered,  in  a  voice 
so  unnatural  and  constrained  that  he  himself  was  horri- 
fied at  it. 

"  Well,  you  had  better  stay  at  home  to-morrow  ;  Dolly 
has  hardly  seen  her  husband  yet.  Go  day  after  to- 
morrow." 

Levin  now  translated  Kitty's  words  thus  :  — 

"  Do  not  separate  me  from  /lim.  You  may  go ;  it  is 
all  the  same  to  me ;  but  let  me  enjoy  the  society  of  this 
attractive  young  man." 

"  Oh,  if  you  desire  it,  we  will  stay  at  home  to-morrow," 
answered  Levin,  with  especial  pleasantness. 

Meantime,  Vasenka,  not  suspecting  the  effect  his 
presence  had  produced,  rose  from  the  table,  and  ap- 
proached Kitty  with  an  affectionate  smile. 


ANNA   KARENINA  87 

Levin  noticed  that  smile.  He  grew  pale  and  for  a 
moment  could  not  get  his  breath. 

"  How  does  he  dare  to  look  at  my  wife  in  that  way  ? " 
He  was  boiling  ! 

"  We  are  to  go  hunting  to-morrow,  are  we  not .'' " 
asked  Vasenka,  and  he  sat  down  in  a  chair  and  again 
doubled  one  leg  under  him,  as  his  habit  was. 

Levin's  jealousy  grew  still  more  intense.  Already  he 
saw  himself  a  deceived  husband,  whom  his  wife  and  her 
lover  were  plotting  to  get  rid  of  that  they  might  enjoy 
each  other  in  peace. 

Nevertheless,  he  asked  Veslovsky,  with  all  friendliness 
and  hospitality,  about  his  hunting-gear,  his  guns  and 
boots,  and  agreed  to  go  the  next  day. 

To  Levin's  happiness  the  old  princess  put  an  end  to 
his  torture  by  advising  Kitty  to  go  to  bed.  But  even 
this  was  accompanied  by  new  suffering  for  Levin.  On 
bidding  his  hostess  "  good  night,"  Vasenka  tried  to  kiss 
her  hand  again.  But  Kitty,  blushing  and  drawing  away 
her  hand,  said,  with  a  naive  rudeness  for  which  her  mother 
afterward  chided  her  :  — 

"  That  is  not  the  custom  with  us." 

In  Levin's  eyes  she  was  blameworthy  for  permitting 
such  liberties  with  her,  and  still  more  so  for  being  so 
awkward  in  showing  her  disapprobation. 

"  Why  should  you  go  to  bed .-' "  said  Oblonsky,  who 
had  taken  several  glasses  of  wine  at  dinner,  and  was.  in 
his  most  genial  and  poetic  mood.  "  Look,  Kitty,"  said  he, 
pointing  to  the  moon  just  rising  above  the  lindens, 
"  how  lovely  !  Veslovsky,  it  is  just  the  time  for  sere- 
nading. You  know  he  has  a  splendid  voice ;  he  and  I 
tried  some  on  the  way  down.  He  has  brought  two  new 
ballads  with  him.     He  and  Varvara  might  sing  to  us." 

After  they  had  all  left,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  and 
Veslovsky  still  for  a  long  time  walked  up  and  down  in 
the  avenue,  and  their  voices  could  be  heard  as  they 
practised  singing  over  the  new  ballads. 

Hearing  these  voices,  Levin  sat  scowling  in  an  easy- 
chair  in  his  wife's  room,  and  obstinately  refused  to  an- 


88  ANNA   KARENINA 

swer  her  questions  as  to  what  was  the  matter  with  him. 
But  at  last  Kitty,  timidly  smiling,  asked  him  :  "  Is  there 
anything  about  Veslovsky  that  has  displeased  you?" 

This  question  loosened  his  tongue,  and  he  told  her  all. 
What  he  said  filled  him  with  vexation,  and  so  he  grew 
still  more  excited. 

He  stood  up  in  front  of  his  wife  with  his  eyes  flashing 
terribly  under  his  contracted  brows  and  his  hands  pressed 
against  his  chest  as  if  exerting  all  his  force  to  restrain 
himself.  His  face  would  have  been  harsh  and  even 
cruel,  had  it  not  expressed  also  such  keen  suffering. 
His  cheeks  trembled  and  his  voice  shook.  "  Don't  think 
me  jealous  ;  the  word  is  disgusting.  I  could  not  be 
jealous  and  at  the  same  time  believe  that....  I  cannot 
tell  you  what  I  feel,  but  it  is  horrible  to  me  ....  I  am  not 
jealous,  but  I  am  hurt,  humiliated,  that  any  one  should 
dare  to  look  at  you  so.".... 

"  Why,  look  at  me  how  ?  "  asked  Kitty,  honestly  try- 
ing to  recall  all  the  remarks  and  incidents  of  the  evening 
and  all  their  possible  significance.  In  the  depth  of  her 
heart  she  had  thought  that  there  was  something  pecul- 
iar at  the  time  when  Veslovsky  followed  her  to  the 
other  end  of  the  table,  but  she  dared  not  acknowledge 
it  even  to  herself,  and  still  more  she  did  not  wish  to 
say  this  to  him  and  thus  increase  his  suffering. 

"  But  what  could  he  find  attractive  in  me  in  my  con- 
dition ?  "  .... 

"  Akh !  "  he  cried,  clutching  his  head "  You  should 

not   have   said  that That   means,  if   you  had   been 

attractive...." 

"  Now  stop,  Kostia,  and  listen  to  me  ! "  said  Kitty, 
looking  at  him  with  a  passionately  compassionate  ex- 
pression.    "  What  can  you  be   thinking   about  ?     You 

know  you  are  the  only  person  in  the  world  for  me 

But  you  would  not  wish  me  to  shut  myself  up  away 
from  everybody .-' " 

At  first  she  had  been  wounded  by  this  jealousy  of  his, 
which  spoiled  even  the  slightest  and  most  innocent 
pleasures ;  but  she  was  ready  now  to  renounce,  not 
merely  the  trifling  things,  but  everything,  for  the  sake 


ANNA    KARENINA  89 

of  calming  him  so  as  to  cure  him  of  the  suffering  which 
he  was  enduring. 

"  Try  to  understand  all  the  horrible  absurdity  of  my 
position,"  he  went  on  to  say,  in  a  whisper  of  despair. 
"  He  is  my  guest,  and  if  it  were  not  for  his  silly  gallantry, 
and  his  habit  of  sitting  on  his  leg,  he  has  certainly  done 
nothing  unbecoming ;  he  certainly  thinks  himself  irre- 
proachable, and  so  I  am  obliged  to  seem  polite." 

"But,  Kostia,  you  exaggerate  things,"  said  Kitty, 
glad  at  heart  to  see  the  force  of  his  love  for  her,  which 
now  was  expressed  in  his  jealousy. 

"  But  more  terrible  to  me  than  all  this  is  that,  when 
you  are  an  object  of  worship  to  me,  and  we  are  so  happy, 
so  peculiarly  happy,  this  trashy  fellow, ....  but  why  should 
I  call  him  names .''  He  has  done  nothing  to  me.  But 
why  should  our  happiness....  " 

"  Listen,  Kostia ;  I  believe  I  know  what  has  offended 
you." 

"  Why  is  it,  why  is  it  ?  " 

"  I  saw  how  you  were  looking  when  we  were  at 
supper." 

"  Well,  well  ? "  asked  Levin,  excitedly. 

She  told  him  what  they  were  talking  about.  And  as 
she  recounted  it,  she  sighed  with  her  emotion.  Levin 
was  silent ;  then,  observing  his  wife's  pale,  excited  face, 
he  clutched  his  head  again. 

"  Katya,"  cried  he,  "  I  have  tired  you !  Galubchik, 
forgive  me !  This  is  sheer  craziness.  I  am  a  burden 
to  you,  Katya !  I  am  a  fool !  How  could  I  torture 
myself  over  such  a  trifle  !  " 

"  I  am  sorry  for  you." 

"  For  me,  for  me  .■*  that  I  am  insane  ! ....  but  still  it  is 
horrible  to  think  that  any  stranger  might  destroy  our 
happiness ! " 

"  Of  course,  this  is  outrageous  ....  " 

"  No,  to  disprove  this,  I  will  keep  him  with  us  all 
summer,  and  I  '11  spread  myself  in  heaping  favors  on 
him,"  said  Levin,  kissing  his  wife's  hands.  "  You  '11  see. 
And  to-morrow  —  yes,  certainly  to-morrow,  we  will  go  ! ' 


90  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  next  morning  the  ladies  were  not  yet  up  when 
the  hunting-traps  ^  were  waiting  at  the  door,  and  Laska, 
who  since  dawn  had  realized  that  hunting  was  in  pros- 
pect, and  having  frisked  and  barked  till  she  was  tired, 
was  sitting  up  on  the  katki  next  the  coachman,  looking 
with  excitement  and  disapprobation  at  the  door  at  which 
the  huntsmen  were  so  provokingly  dilatory  in  making 
their  appearance. 

The  first  to  appear  was  Vasenka  Veslovsky,  in  a 
green  blouse,  with  a  cartridge-belt  of  fragrant  Russia 
leather,  shod  in  high  new  boots,  which  reached  half- 
way up  his  thighs,  his  Scotch  cap,  with  ribbons,  on  his 
head,  and  having  an  English  gun  of  rather  recent  style, 
but  without  strap  or  bandoleer. 

Laska  sprang  toward  him  and  welcomed  him,  and  asked 
in  her  way  if  the  others  were  coming ;  but,  receiving 
no  answer,  she  returned  to  her  post,  and  waited  with 
bent  head  and  one  ear  pricked  up.  At  last  the  door 
opened  noisily,  and  let  out  Krak,  the  pointer,  circling 
round  and  leaping  into  the  air,  and  after  him  came  his 
master,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  with  gun  in  hand  and 
cigar  in  mouth. 

"  Down,  Krak,  down!  "^  exclaimed  Oblonsky,  caress- 
ingly, to  the  dog,  which  leaped  up  to  his  breast  and 
caught  his  paws  on  his  game-pouch.  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch wore  pigskin  sandals,  leggings,  torn  trousers,  and  a 
short  overcoat.  On  his  head  was  the  ruin  of  what  had 
once  been  a  hat ;  but  his  gun  was  of  the  most  modern 
pattern,  and  his  game-bag  as  well  as  his  cartridge-box, 
though  worn,  were  of  the  finest  quality. 

Vasenka  Veslovsky  had  never  before  realized  the  fact 
that  the  height  of  elegance  for  a  huntsman  is  to  be  in  rags, 
but  to  have  the  equipment  of  the  very  finest  quality. 
He  understood  this  now,  as  he  gazed  at  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch, whose  elegant,  well-nurtured,  and  aristocratic 

1  Katki  and  telyegas. 

*  Tubo  is  the  Russian  address  to  the  dog. 


ANNA    KARENINA  91 

figure  was  so  gayly  brilliant,  though  in  rags,  and  he 
made  up  his  mind  to  profit  by  this  example  the  next 
time  he  should  go  hunting. 

"Well,  where  is  our  host?"  asked  he. 

"  He  has  a  young  wife,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
smiling. 

"  And  how  charming  she  is  !  " 

"  He  must  have  gone  in  to  see  her  again,  for  I  saw 
him  all  ready  to  start." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  right.  Levin  had  gone 
back  to  Kitty  to  make  her  say  over  again  that  she 
forgave  him  for  his  absurd  behavior  of  the  evening 
before,  and  to  ask  her  for  Christ's  sake  to  be  more 
careful.  The  most  important  thing  was  for  her  to  keep 
the  children  at  a  distance,  for  they  were  always  likely 
to  run  into  her.  Then  he  needed  once  more  to  receive 
assurance  from  her  that  she  would  not  be  angry  with 
him  because  he  was  going  away  for  two  days,  and  to 
reiterate  his  desire  that  she  should  infallibly  send  him  a 
note  the  next  morning  by  a  mounted  courier,  if  it  were 
only  two  words,  so  that  he  might  know  that  she  was 
comfortable. 

Kitty,  as  always,  had  regretted  the  two  days'  separa- 
tion from  her  husband ;  but  as  she  saw  him  full  of 
animation,  and  seeming  especially  big  and  strong  in  his 
hunting-boots  and  white  blouse,  and  recognized  that,  to 
her  incomprehensible,  enthusiasm  for  hunting,  she  forgot 
her  own  regret  in  her  delight  in  his  happiness,  and  cheer- 
fully bade  him  good-by. 

"  Pardon,  gentlemen ! "  cried  Levin,  hurrying  down 
to  the  porch.  "  Has  the  breakfast  been  put  up  ?  Why 
is  the  chestnut  horse  on  the  off  side .''  Well,  then,  it 
makes  no  difference.     Down,  Laska  !  charge  ! 

"  Put  him  among  the  geldings,"  said  he,  addressing  the 
cowherd  who  was  waiting  for  him  on  the  door-steps  with 
a  question  about  the  young  ram.  "  It  is  my  blunder 
that  he 's  become  ugly." 

Levin  jumped  down  from  the  katki  in  which  he  had 
already  taken  his  seat,  and  met  a  hired  carpenter  who 
was  just  approaching  the  porch. 


92  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Now,  yesterday  evening  you  did  n't  come  to  my 
office  and  here  you  are  delaying  me :  well,  what  is  it  ?  " 

"  You  bid  me  make  a  new  stairway.  Three  steps  will 
have  to  be  added.  And  we  can  get  all  the  lumber  at 
once.     It  would  be  much  more  convenient." 

"You  should  have  listened  to  me,"  said  Levin,  in  a 
tone  of  annoyance.  "  I  said,  *  Fix  the  string-boards,  and 
then  cut  in  the  steps.'  Now,  don't  try  to  mend  them. 
Do  as  I  ordered,  make  a  new  one." 

The  matter  in  question  was  this :  in  the  wing  which 
was  building,  the  carpenter  had  spoiled  a  staircase  by 
framing  it  separately,  and  not  taking  the  slope  into 
account,  so  that  the  steps  were  all  at  an  angle  when  it 
was  put  into  its  place.  But  now  the  carpenter  wanted 
to  add  three  steps  and  keep  the  same  framework. 

"  It  would  be  much  better,..." 

"  But  where  would  it  go,  even  if  you  added  three 
steps .''  " 

"  Excuse  me,"  said  the  carpenter,  with  a  disdainful 
smile.  "  It  would  go  up  to  the  same  landing.  Of  course 
you  'd  pull  it  out  below,"  said  he,  with  a  persuasive  ges- 
ture.    *'  It  will  fit,  it  will  surely  fit." 

"  But  three  steps  add  to  the  length  of  it  —  how 
would  that  improve  it .''  " 

After  an  idle  argument  in  which  the  carpenter  kept 
obstinately  repeating  the  same  words,  Levin  took  his 
ramrod  and  proceeded  to  outline  the  plan  of  the  stair- 
way in  the  dust. 

"  Now  do  you  see  .-•  " 

"  As  you  command,"  said  the  carpenter,  with  a  sud- 
den light  flashing  into  his  eyes,  and  evidently  at  last 
comprehending  what  Levin  was  driving  at.  "  I  see,  we 
shall  have  to  make  a  new  one." 

"  Well,  then,  do  as  you  were  ordered,"  cried  Levin, 
taking  his  place  in  the  katki  again.  "  Let  us  start ! 
Hold  the  dogs,  Filipp  !  " 

Levin,  now  that  he  had  left  behind  him  all  domestic 
and  business  cares,  felt  such  a  powerful  sense  of  the 
joy  of  living  and  such  expectation  that  he  did  not  care 
to  talk.     Moreover,  he  experienced  that  sense  of  con- 


ANNA    KARENINA  93 

centrated  emotion  which  every  huntsman  feels  as  he 
approaches  the  field  of  his  activity.  If  anything  occu- 
pied him  now,  it  was  the  question  whether  they  should 
find  anything  in  the  Kolpensky  marshes,  and  how  would 
Laska  come  out  in  comparison  with  Krak,  and  what  sort 
of  luck  he  would  that  day  enjoy.  Should  he  do  himself 
credit  as  a  huntsman  before  this  stranger .''  How  would 
Oblonsky  shoot .-"     Better  than  he  .-' 

Oblonsky  was  occupied  with  similar  thoughts  and 
was  not  talkative.  Vasenka  Veslovsky  was  the  only 
voluble  one ;  and  now,  as  Levin  listened  to  him,  he  re- 
proached himself  for  his  injustice  of  the  previous  eve- 
ning. He  was  a  capital  fellow,  simple,  good-natured, 
and  very  gay.  If  Levin  had  known  him  in  his  bachelor 
days,  he  would  have  become  intimate  with  him.  But 
Levin  rather  disliked  his '  holiday  view  of  life  and  a 
certain  free  and  easy  elegance.  He  seemed  to  arrogate 
to  himself  a  marked  and  indubitable  superiority  because 
of  his  long  finger-nails  and  his  little  cap  and  everything 
else  corresponding ;  but  this  could  be  condoned  in  view 
of  his  good  nature  and  irreproachable  manners.  He 
pleased  Levin  because  he  was  well  educated,  and  spoke 
French  and  English  admirably,  in  fact,  was  a  man  of 
his  own  walk  in  life. 

Vasenka  was  completely  carried  away  by  the  Step- 
nay  a  Donskaya  horse  on  the  left  of  the  three-span.  He 
kept  going  into  raptures  over  her.  "  How  splendid  it 
would  be  to  gallop  over  the  steppe  on  a  steed  of  the 
steppe  !  Is  n't  that  so  .''  "  he  cried.  He  imagined  that 
galloping  over  the  steppe  on  such  a  horse  was  some- 
thing wild  and  poetic,  with  no  possibility  of  disappoint- 
ment ;  but  his  innocence,  especially  in  conjunction  with 
his  good  looks,  his  pleasant  smile,  and  his  graceful 
motion,  was  very  captivating.  And  because  he  was 
naturally  sympathetic  to  Levin,  or  else  because  Levin, 
in  consequence  of  his  injustice  to  him  the  evening  be- 
fore, tried  to  find  all  his  best  qualities,  they  got  on 
famously. 

They  had  gone  scarcely  three  versts  when  Veslovsky 
suddenly  remembered  his  cigars  and  pocket-book,  and 


94  ANNA   KARENINA 

could  not  tell  whether  he  had  lost  them  or  left  them  on 
his  table.  There  were  three  hundred  and  seventy  rubles 
in  the  pocket-book,  and  he  could  not  leave  them  so. 

"  Do  you  know,  Levin,  I  could  take  your  Cossack 
horse  and  gallop  back  to  the  house.  It  would  be 
elegant!  " 

"Oh,  no,"  replied  Levin,  who  calculated  that  Va- 
senka's  weight  must  be  not  less  than  two  hundred  and 
forty  pounds;  "my  coachman  can  easily  do  the  errand." 

The  coachman  was  sent  back  on  the  Cossack  horse, 
and  Levin  drove  on  with  the  pair. 


CHAPTER   IX 

"  Well,  what 's  our  line  of  march ,-'  Give  us  a  good 
idea  of  it,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

"  This  is  my  plan :  we  will  go  first  to  Gvozdevo. 
Just  this  side  of  Gvozdevo  is  a  snipe  marsh,  but  on  the 
other  side  of  Gvozdevo  extend  splendid  woodcock 
marshes,  and  there  '11  be  game  there.  It 's  hot  now, 
but  toward  the  cool  of  the  day  —  it 's  twenty  versts  from 
here  —  we  will  try  the  field.  We  will  spend  the  night 
there,  and  then  to-morrow  we  will  strike  into  the  great 
marshes." 

"  But  is  n't  there  anything  on  the  way  ?  " 

**  Yes,  but  it  would  delay  us,  and  it  is  too  hot.  There 
are  two  splendid  little  places,  but  it  is  hardly  worth 
while." 

It  was  Levin's  intention  to  attack  these  places,  but 
as  they  were  near  home,  he  could  go  there  at  any 
time,  and  as  they  were  small  he  thought  that  three 
hunters  were  too  many.  Therefore,  he  prevaricated 
when  he  said  that  it  was  hardly  worth  while. 

When  they  came  up  to  the  little  marsh.  Levin  was 
proposing  to  drive  by ;  but  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  with 
the  experienced  eye  of  a  huntsman,  immediately  saw  the 
water-soaked  ground  which  was  visible  from  the  road. 

"  Shan't  we  try  that  ? "  he  asked,  pointing  to  the 
marsh. 


ANNA    KARENINA  95 

*'  Levin,  please  stop,  how  splendid !  "  Vasenka  Ves- 
lovsky  began  to  beg,  and  Levin  could  not  well  refuse. 

Before  they  had  fairly  stopped,  the  dogs,  in  eager 
emulation,  darted  into  the  marsh. 

"Krak!....  Laska!  "  .... 

The  dogs  turned  back. 

*'  There  won't  be  room  enough  for  three.  I  will  wait 
here,"  said  Levin,  hoping  that  they  would  not  find  any- 
thing except  lapwings,  which  flew  up  from  in  front  of 
the  dogs,  and,  as  they  skimmed  away  over  the  marshy 
ground,  uttered  the  most  mournful  cries. 

"No;  come  on,  Levin,  let  us  all  go  together,"  called 
Veslovsky. 

"  It 's  a  fact,  there  is  n't  room.  Back,  Laska,  back. 
You  don't  need  more  than  one  dog,  do  you  .-*  " 

Levin  remained  by  the  lineika  and  with  jealousy  in 
his  heart  watched  the  huntsmen,  who  were  tramping 
through  the  whole  bog.  There  was  nothing  in  it,  how- 
ever, except  moor-hens  and  lapwings,  one  of  which  Va- 
senka killed. 

"  Now  you  see  that  I  gave  you  good  advice  about  the 
marsh,"  said  Levin.     "  It's  only  a  waste  of  time." 

"  No,  it 's  good  fun  all  the  same  !  Did  you  see  .-*  " 
exclaimed  Vasenka,  awkwardly  climbing  into  the  wagon 
with  his  gun  and  his  lapwing  in  his  hands.  "  Did  n't  I 
make  a  stunning  good  shot  ?  Well,  will  it  take  long  to 
get  to  the  other  one  ?  " 

Suddenly  the  horses  plunged.  Levin  gave  himself  a 
violent  bump  on  the  head  against  some  one's  gun,  and  a 
shot  went  off.  The  gun  really  went  off  before,  but  it 
seemed  to  Levin  the  other  way.  It  happened  that 
Vasenka  in  uncocking  his  gun  fired  one  barrel.  The 
shot  buried  itself  in  the  ground  and  no  damage  was  done 
to  any  one.  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  shook  his  head  and 
laughed  reproachfully  at  Veslovsky.  But  Levin  had 
not  the  heart  to  rebuke  him.  In  the  first  place,  any 
reproach  would  seem  to  be  called  forth  by  a  danger  past 
and  by  the  bump  on  his  forehead ;  and  in  the  second 
place,  Veslovsky  was  so  innocently  filled  with  remorse 
and  afterward  laughed  so  good-naturedly  and  so  con- 


$6  ANNA    KARENINA 

tagiously  over  their  common  alarm  that  no  one  could 
help  joining  in. 

When  they  reached  the  second  marsh,  which  was  of 
considerable  size  and  sure  to  occupy  much  time,  Levin 
advised  not  getting  out.  But  Veslovsky  again  put  in  his 
entreaties.  Again,  since  the  marsh  was  not  big  enough 
for  three,  Levin,  like  a  hospitable  host,  remained  by  the 
teams.  As  soon  as  they  stopped,  Laska  darted  off  to 
the  tussocks.  Vasenka  Veslovsky  was  the  first  to  follow 
the  dog.  And  before  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  reached  the 
wet  ground  a  snipe  flew  up.  Veslovsky  missed  it,  and 
the  bird  flew  over  into  an  unmown  meadow.  But  this 
snipe  was  predestined  to  be  Veslovsky's.  Krak  again 
pointed  it,  and  Veslovsky  killed  it  and  returned  to  the 
teams. 

"  Now  you  go,  and  I  will  stay  by  the  horses,"  said  he. 

The  huntsman's  fever  had  by  this  time  taken  posses- 
sion of  Levin.  He  turned  the  reins  over  to  Veslovsky 
and  went  into  the  swamp.  Laska,  who  had  been  for 
some  time  pitifully  whining  and  complaining  at  the  in- 
equality of  fate,  darted  toward  the  tussock-filled  bog 
which  Levin  knew  so  well,  and  to  which  Krak  had  not 
yet  found  his  way. 

"  Why  don't  you  hold  her  back  ? "  cried  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch. 

"  She  won't  scare  them  away,"  replied  Levin,  delight- 
ing in  his  dog  and  following  after  her. 

As  Laska  went  forward,  the  nearer  she  came  to  the 
tussocks  the  greater  grew  her  gravity.  A  little  marsh 
bird  only  for  a  second  distracted  her  attention.  She 
.Tiade  one  sweep  around  the  tussocks,  then  began  a 
second,  but  suddenly  trembled  and  stood  stock  still. 

"  Come,  Stiva,  come,"  cried  Levin,  feeling  how  his 
heart  was  beginning  to  throb,  and  how,  suddenly  as  if 
some  bolt  had  slipped  in  his  ears,  all  sounds,  losing  their 
sense  of  proportion,  disconnectedly  but  distinctly  began 
to  come  to  him.  He  heard  Stepan  Arkady evitch's  steps, 
distinguishing  them  from  the  distant  stamping  of  horses, 
he  heard  the  crunching  sound  of  a  corner  of  a  tussock 
torn  away  by  the  roots,  and  he  could  distinguish  above 


ANNA    KARENINA  97 

it  the  whir  of  a  woodcock's  wings.  He  could  also  hear, 
not  far  behind  him,  a  strange  splashing  in  the  water, 
but  what  it  was  he  could  not  make  out.  Choosing  a 
place  for  his  feet,  he  moved  toward  the  dog. 

"Goon." 

Not  a  snipe,  but  a  woodcock,  flew  up  from  under  the 
dog's  nose.  Levin  raised  his  gun,  but  at  the  instant  he 
aimed  the  same  noise  of  splashing  in  the  water  grew 
louder  and  nearer,  and  together  with  it  Veslovsky's 
voice  loudly  shouting  something.  Levin  saw  that  he  was 
aiming  too  far  behind  the  woodcock,  but  still  he  fired. 

Turning  round  to  discover  what  made  the  noise.  Levin 
saw  that  the  horses  attached  to  the  katki  were  no  longer 
in  the  road,  but  were  in  the  swamp. 

Veslovsky,  desirous  of  watching  the  shooting,  had 
driven  down  to  the  swamp  and  had  entangled  the  horses. 

"The  devil  take  him,"  said  Levin  to  himself,  turning 
back  to  the  entangled  horses. 

"  Why  did  you  drive  in  so  far .-'  "  he  asked  dryly  ;  and, 
summoning  the  coachman,  he  began  to  disengage  the 
horses. 

Levin  was  vexed  because  they  had  caused  him  to 
miss  his  shot,  but  still  more  so  because  neither  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  nor  Veslovsky  would  help  him  to  unhar- 
ness and  get  out  the  team ;  but  the  reason  for  this  was 
that  they  had  not  the  slightest  comprehension  of  the  art 
of  harnessing. 

Not  vouchsafing  Vasenka  a  single  word  in  answer  to 
his  assurance  that  where  he  stood  it  was  perfectly  dry, 
Levin  silently  worked  with  the  coachman  to  unhitch  the 
horses.  But  afterward,  warming  up  to  the  work,  and 
noticing  how  zealously  and  assiduously  Veslovsky  dragged 
at  the  katki  by  its  side  and  even  broke  a  part  of  it  off, 
Levin  blamed  himself  because,  under  the  influence  of  the 
feeling  which  he  had  had  the  evening  before,  he  had 
been  too  cool  toward  Veslovsky,  and  he  tried  by  especial 
friendliness  to  atone  for  his  curtness. 

When  everything  was  brought  to  order  again  and  the 
teams  were  on  the  highway,  Levin  gave  orders  to  get 
the  luncheon  ready. 


9$  ANNA   KARENINA 

**  Bon  app^tit,  botuie  conscience.  Ce  poulet  va  tombef 
jusqiian  fond  de  mes  bottes,"  exclaimed  Vasenka,  grow- 
ing lively  again,  and  employing  a  quaint  French  proverb, 
as  he  devoured  his  second  chicken.  "  Now  our  misfor- 
tunes are  ended ;  now  everything  will  go  on  famously. 
Only  as  a  punishment  for  my  sin  I  must  certainly  sit 
on  the  driver's  box.  Isn't  that  so?  hey  .-^  —  No,  no, 
I  am  a  born  Automedon.  Just  see  how  I  will  tool  you 
along,"  he  insisted,  not  letting  go  the  reins  when  Levin 
asked  him  to  give  up  to  the  coachman.  "  No,  I  must 
atone  for  my  sin,  and  I  like  it  immensely  on  the  box." 
And  he  drove. 

Levin  was  somewhat  afraid  that  he  would  tire  out  the 
horses,  especially  the  chestnut  on  the  left,  which  he 
could  not  control ;  but  reluctantly  he  gave  in  to  his 
gayety,  listened  to  the  love-songs  which  Veslovsky,  sit- 
ting on  the  box,  sang  all  the  way,  or  to  his  stories  and 
personation  of  an  Englishman  driving  a  four-in-hand, 
and  after  they  had  enjoyed  their  luncheon  they  reached 
the  marshes  of  Gvozdevo  in  the  gayest  possible  spirits. 


CHAPTER   X 

Vasenka  drove  the  horses  so  furiously  that  they 
reached  the  marshes  too  early  and  it  was  still  hot.  On 
reaching  the  important  marsh,  the  real  goal  of  their  jour- 
ney, Levin  could  not  help  wondering  how  he  might  rid 
himself  of  Vasenka  and  so  get  along  without  impediment. 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  evidently  the  same  desire,  and 
Levin  could  read  in  his  face  that  expression  of  anxiety 
which  a  genuine  huntsman  always  betrays  before  he 
goes  out  on  the  chase  —  he  also  detected  a  certain  good- 
natured  slyness  characteristic  of  him. 

"  How  shall  we  go  in  .-^  I  can  see  the  marsh  is  ex- 
cellent, and  there  are  the  hawks,"  said  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch, pointing  to  two  big  birds  circling  over  the  tall 
grass.     •'  Where  hawks  are  there  is  sure  to  be  game  !  " 

♦'  Well,  do  you  see,  gentlemen .? "  said  Levin,  with  a 
rather  gloomy  expression,  pulling  up  his  boots  and  con 


ANNA    KARENINA  99 

templating  the  caps  on  his  fowHng-piece.  "  Do  you  see 
that  tall  grass  ?  "  He  pointed  to  an  islet  shading  into  a 
black  green  in  the  midst  of  the  wet  meadow  which,  al- 
ready half  mown,  extended  along  the  right  bank  of  the 
river,  "  The  marsh  begins  here  directly  in  front  of  you 
—  where  it  is  so  green.  From  there  it  extends  to  the 
right  where  those  horses  are  going;  there  are  the  tus- 
socks and  you  will  find  snipe  there,  and  so  on  around 
this  high  grass  clear  up  to  the  alders  and  the  mill  itself. 
That  direction,  you  see  where  the  ground  is  overflowed, 
that  is  the  best  place.  I  've  killed  as  many  as  seven- 
teen woodcock  there.  We  will  separate  with  the  two 
dogs  in  different  directions,  and  then  we  will  meet  at  the 
mill." 

"Well,  who  will  go  to  the  right,  who  to  the  left.''" 
asked  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "  There  is  more  room  to 
the  right ;  you  two  go  that  way  and  I  will  take  the  left," 
said  he,  with  pretended  indifference. 

"  Capital,  we  will  shoot  more  than  he  does.  Come 
on,  come  on,  come  on,"  cried  Veslovsky. 

Levin  saw  that  he  was  in  for  it,  so  they  started  off 
together. 

As  soon  as  they  struck  into  the  marsh  the  dogs  began 
to  hunt  round  and  darted  off  for  the  swamp.  Levin 
well  knew  what  that  careful  and  indeterminate  manoeuver 
of  Laska's  meant ;  he  also  knew  the  place,  and  he  was 
on  the  lookout  for  a  bevy  of  woodcock. 

"  Veslovsky,  come  in  line,  in  line,"  he  cried  in  a  voice 
of  anguish  to  his  companion,  who  insisted  in  falling  be- 
hmd.  Since  the  accidental  discharge  of  the  weapon  at 
the  Kolpensky  marsh.  Levin  could  not  help  taking  an 
interest  in  the  direction  in  which  Veslovsky's  gun-barrel 
was  pointing. 

"  Now,  I  won't  bother  you,  don't  worry  about  me  !  " 

But  Levin  could  not  help  worrying,  and  he  remem- 
bered Kitty's  words  as  she  said  good-by  to  him  :  "  Look 
out  that  you  don't  shoot  one  another." 

Closer  and  closer  ran  the  dogs,  avoiding  each  other, 
each  following  her  own  scent ;  the  expectation  of  start- 
ing up  a  woodcock  was  so  strong  that  the  squeak  of 


loo  ANNA    KARENINA 

his  heel  as  he  lifted  it  out  of  the  mud  seemed  to  Levin 
like  the  cry  of  the  bird ;  he  clutched  and  squeezed  the 
butt  of  his  gun. 

Bang !  Bang !  A  gun  went  off  directly  behind  his 
ear. 

It  was  Vasenka  shooting  at  a  flock  of  ducks  which 
were  splashing  about  in  the  swamp,  and  alighted  far 
away  from  the  huntsmen  in  an  irregular  line.  Before 
Levin  had  a  chance  to  glance  round,  a  woodcock 
drummed,  —  another,  a  third,  and  half  a  dozen  more 
flew  up  one  after  the  other. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  shot  one  at  the  very  instant  he 
was  about  beginning  his  zigzags,  and  the  woodcock  fell 
in  a  heap  in  the  swamp.  •  Oblonsky  took  his  time  in 
aiming  at  another  which  was  flying  low  toward  the  high 
grass,  and  simultaneously  with  the  flash  the  bird  fell 
and  it  could  be  seen  skipping  from  the  mown  grass, 
flapping  its  white  uninjured  wing. 

Levin  was  not  so  fortunate ;  he  shot  at  too  close 
range  for  the  first  woodcock,  and  missed ;  he  was  about 
to  follow  after  it,  but  just  as  it  was  rising  again,  another 
flew  up  from  almost  under  him  and  diverted  his  atten- 
tion, causing  him  to  miss  again. 

While  they  were  reloading,  still  another  woodcock 
flew  up,  and  Veslovsky,  who  had  got  his  gun  loaded 
first,  fired  two  charges  of  small  shot  into  the  water. 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  picked  up  his  woodcock,  and  looked 
at  Levin  with  flashing  eyes. 

"  And  now  let  us  separate,"  said  he,  and  limping  with 
his  left  leg,  and  holding  his  gun  ready  cocked  and  whis- 
tling to  his  dog,  he  started  off  by  himself.  Levin  and 
Veslovsky  took  the  other  direction. 

It  always  happened  with  Levin  that  when  his  first 
shots  were  unsuccessful,  he  grew  excited,  lost  his  temper, 
and  shot  badly  the  rest  of  the  day.  So  it  was  in  the 
present  instance.  The  woodcock  were  abundant ;  they 
kept  flying  up  from  before  the  dogs,  and  from  under 
the  huntsmen's  feet,  and  Levin  might  have  easily  re- 
trieved his  fortunes  ;  but  the  longer  he  hunted,  the  more 
he  disgraced  himself  before  Veslovsky,  who  kept  mer- 


ANNA   KARENINA  loi 

ril}i  firing  recklessly,  never  killing  anything  and  never  in 
the  slightest  degree  abashed  at  his  ill  luck.  Levin 
moved  forward  hotly,  growing  more  and  more  excited, 
and  finally  he  came  not  to  have  much  hope  of  bringing 
down  his  game.  Laska  seemed  to  understand  this  state 
of  things.  She  began  to  follow  the  scent  more  lazily, 
and  looked  at  the  huntsmen  with  almost  an  air  of  doubt 
and  reproach.  Shot  followed  shot.  The  gunpowder- 
smoke  hung  round  the  sportsmen,  but  in  the  great  wide 
meshes  of  the  hunting-bag  lay  only  three  light  little 
woodcock.  And  of  those  one  was  killed  by  Veslovsky, 
and  one  of  them  they  both  brought  down. 

Meantime  on  the  other  side  of  the  swamp  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch's  shots  were  heard,  not  very  frequently, 
but,  as  it  seemed  to  Levin,  very  significantly,  and  at 
almost  each  one  he  would  hear  him  cry :  — 

"  Krak,  Krak,  apporte." 

This  still  more  excited  Levin.  The  woodcock  kept 
flying  up  into  the  air  over  the  high  grass.  The  drum- 
ming on  the  ground  and  the  cries  of  the  birds  in  the  air 
continued  incessantly  on  all  sides,  and  the  woodcock, 
which  flew  up  before  them  and  swept  through  the  air, 
kept  settling  down  again  in  front  of  the  huntsmen.  Now 
instead  of  two  hawks  there  were  dozens  of  them  scream- 
ing over  the  marsh. 

After  they  had  shot  over  the  larger  half  of  the  swamp, 
Levin  and  Veslovsky  directed  their  steps  to  a  place 
where  there  were  alternating  strips  of  meadow-land, 
which  the  peasants  were  accustomed  to  mow.  Half  (rf 
these  strips  had  already  been  mown. 

Although  there  was  less  hope  of  finding  game  where 
the  grass  was  tall  than  where  it  had  been  cut,  Levin 
had  agreed  with  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  to  join  him  there, 
and  so  he  proceeded  with  his  companion  across  the  mown 
and  unmown  strips. 

"  Hi !  sportsmen,"  cried  a  muzhik,  who  with  several 
others  were  sitting  around  an  unharnessed  cart.  "  Come 
and  have  a  bite  with  us.     We  '11  give  you  some  wine." 

Levin  looked  round. 

"  Come  on,  we  've  plenty,"  shouted  a  jolly  bearded 


io!2  ANNA    KARENINA 

muzhik  with  a  red  face,  displaying  his  white  teeth  and 
holding  up  a  green  bottle  which  glittered  in  the  sun. 

"  QiCest-ce  qu'ils  disentf  "  asked  Veslovsky. 

"  They  invite  us  to  drink  some  vodka  with  them. 
They  have  probably  just  finished  their  meadows.  I  'd 
go  if  I  were  you,"  said  Levin,  not  without  craftiness,  for 
he  hoped  that  Veslovsky  would  be  tempted  by  the 
vodka  and  would  go  for  it. 

"  Why  should  they  treat  us  .-'  " 

"  Oh,  they  are  probably  having  a  jollification.  Really, 
you  had  better  go.     It  will  interest  you." 

"  Allans,  c' est  curieux." 

"  Go  ahead,  go,  you  will  find  the  road  to  the  mill," 
cried  Levin  ;  and,  looking  round,  he  saw  to  his  delight 
that  Veslovsky,  stooping  over  and  dragging  one  leg 
after  the  other,  and  carrying  his  musket  on  his  out- 
stretched arm,  was  making  his  way  from  the  swamp 
toward  the  peasants. 

"You  come  too,"  cried  the  muzhik  to  Levin.  "  Don't 
be  afeared,^  we  '11  give  you  a  tart." 

Levin  felt  a  strong  inclination  to  drink  a  glass  of 
vodka  and  to  eat  a  piece  of  bread.  He  was  tired  and 
could  hardly  lift  his  feet  out  of  the  bog,  and  for  a  moment 
he  hesitated.  But  the  dog  was  pointing,  and  imme- 
diately all  his  weariness  vanished,  and  he  lightly  made 
his  way  over  the  marsh  toward  the  dog.  The  woodcock 
flew  from  under  his  feet;  he  fired  and  brought  it  down. 
The  dog  pointed  again  —  pil !  From  in  front  of  the 
dbg  another  arose.  Levin  blazed  away.  But  the  day 
was  unfortunate  ;  he  missed,  and  when  he  looked  for 
the  one  he  had  killed,  it  was  nowhere  to  be  found.  He 
searched  all  through  the  tall  grass,  but  Laska  had  no 
faith  that  her  master  had  killed  it,  and  when  he  sent 
her  to  find  it,  she  pretended  to  circle  round  but  did  not 
really  search. 

Even  without  Vasenka,  on  whom  Levin  had  laid  the 
blame  for  his  bad  luck,  there  was  no  improvement. 
There  also  woodcock  abounded,  but  Levin  missed  shot 
after  shot. 

^  He  says  niabos'  for  nebos\  nichavo  for  nichevo. 


ANNA   KARENINA  lej 

The  slanting  rays  of  the  sun  were  still  hot ;  his  clothes, 
wet  through  with  perspiration,  stuck  to  his  body  ;  his 
left  boot,  full  of  water,  was  heavy  and  made  a  sucking 
noise ;  over  his  face,  begrimed  with  gunpowder,  the  per- 
spiration ran  in  drops ;  there  was  a  bitter  taste  in  his 
mouth  ;  his  nose  was  filled  with  the  odor  of  smoke  and 
of  the  bog ;  in  his  ears  rang  the  incessant  cries  of  the 
woodcock;  his  gun-barrels  were  so  hot  that  he  could 
not  touch  them  ;  his  heart  beat  with  loud  and  rapid 
strokes,  his  hands  trembled  with  excitement,  his  weary 
legs  kept  stumbling  and  catching  in  the  roots  and  tus- 
socks :  but  still  he  kept  on  shooting.  At  last,  having 
made  a  disgraceful  failure,  he  threw  down  his  gun  and  cap. 

"No,  I  must  get  my  wits  back,"  he  said  to  himself; 
and,  picking  up  his  gun  and  cap,  he  called  Laska  to  heel, 
and  quitted  the  swamp.  As  he  came  out  on  the  dry 
ground  he  sat  down  on  a  tussock,  took  off  his  boots  and 
stockings,  poured  out  the  water,  then  he  went  back  to 
the  swamp,  took  a  long  drink  of  the  boggy-smelling 
water,  soaked  his  hot  gun-barrels,  and  washed  his  face 
and  hands.  After  he  had  cooled  off,  he  again  went 
down  to  the  place  where  he  would  find  the  woodcock, 
and  he  made  up  his  mind  not  to  lose  his  self-control 
again.  He  meant  to  be  calm,  but  it  was  the  same  as 
before.  His  finger  would  press  the  trigger  before  he 
had  taken  fair  aim  at  the  bird.  Indeed,  it  went  from 
bad  to  worse. 

He  had  only  five  birds  in  his  game-bag  when  he 
quitted  the  marsh  and  went  to  the  alder-wood  where  he 
had  agreed  to  meet  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

Before  he  caught  sight  of  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  he 
saw  his  dog  Krak,  all  black  with  the  marsh  slime,  and 
with  an  air  of  triumph  as  he  came  leaping  out  from  under 
the  up-turned  root  of  an  alder  and  began  to  snuff  at 
Laska.  Then  appeared  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 's  stately 
figure  in  the  shade  of  the  alders.  He  came  along,  still 
limping,  but  with  flushed  face,  all  covered  with  perspi- 
ration and  with  his  collar  flung  open. 

"  Well,  how  is  it  ?  Have  you  killed  many  ?"  he  criedy 
with  a  gay  smile. 


I04  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  How  is  it  with  you  ?  "  asked  Levin,  But  there  was 
no  need  of  asking,  because  he  could  see  his  overflowing 
game-bag. 

"  Oh,  just  a  trifle."  He  had  fourteen  birds.  "What 
a  splendid  marsh.  Veslovsky  must  have  bothered  you. 
Two  can't  hunt  well  with  the  same  dog,"  said  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  to  soften  the  effect  of  his  triumph. 


CHAPTER   XI 

When  Levin  and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  reached  the 
peasant's  izba,  where  Levin  always  stopped  when  he 
was  out  hunting,  Veslovsky  was  already  there.  He  was 
laughing  his  merrily  contagious  laugh,  sitting  in  the 
middle  of  the  hut  and  clinging  with  both  hands  to  a 
bench  from  which  a  soldier,  the  brother  of  their  host,  was 
pulling  him  in  his  efforts  to  haul  off  his  muddy  boots. 

"  I  have  only  just  got  here.  lis  ont  ///  charmants. 
Imagine  it  —  they  gave  me  plenty  to  eat  and  drink. 
What  bread,  't  was  marvelous.  D^licieux.  And  such 
vodka  I  never  tasted  !  And  they  utterly  refused  to  take 
any  payment.  They  kept  saying  :  '  Drink  it  down,'  or 
something  like  that." 

"  Why  should  they  take  money  .''  They  regarded  you 
as  a  guest.  Do  you  suppose  they  had  vodka  to  sell .'' " 
asked  the  soldier,  who  at  last  succeeded  in  pulling  off 
the  wet  boot  together  with  the  mud-stained  stocking. 

Notwithstanding  the  dirtiness  of  the  izba,  which  the 
huntsmen  and  their  dogs  had  tracked  all  over  with  mud, 
notwithstanding  the  smell  of  bog  and  gunpowder  with 
which  it  was  filled,  and  notwithstanding  the  absence  of 
knives  and  forks,  the  three  men  drank  their  tea  and  ate 
their  luncheon  with  appetites  such  as  only  hunting  pro- 
duces. After  they  had  washed  up  and  cleansed  off  the 
mud,  they  went  to  a  hay-loft  where  the  coachman  had 
prepared  them  beds. 

Although  it  was  already  dark,  not  one  of  the  huntsmen 
felt  any  inclination  to  go  to  sleep.  After  they  had  in- 
dulged in  various  recollections  and  stories  of  shooting, 


ANNA    KARENINA  105 

of  dogs,  and  of  previous  expeditions,  the  conversation 
turned  on  a  theme  which  interested  them  all.  As  it 
happened,  Vasenka  kept  going  into  raptures  over  the 
fascination  of  this  their  camp  and  the  fragrance  of  the 
hay,  and  the  charm  of  the  broken  telyega  —  it  seemed 
to  him  to  be  broken  because  the  front  part  was  taken 
off  —  and  about  the  hospitality  of  the  muzhiks,  who  had 
given  him  vodka  to  drink,  and  about  the  dogs,  which 
were  lying  each  at  his  master's  feet. 

Then  Obion  sky  gave  an  account  of  a  charming  meet 
which  he  had  attended  the  summer  before  at  the  place  of  a 
man  named  Malthus,  who  was  a  well-known  railway  mag- 
nate. Stepan  Arkadyevitch  told  what  wonderful  marshes 
and  game  preserves  Malthus  rented  in  the  govern- 
ment of  Tver,  what  equipages,  dog-carts,  and  wagonettes 
were  provided  for  the  sportsmen,  and  how  a  great  break- 
fast tent  was  carried  to  the  marshes  and  pitched  there. 

"  I  can't  comprehend  you,"  exclaimed  Levin,  raising 
himself  on  his  hay.  "  I  should  think  such  people  would 
be  repulsive  to  you,  I  can  understand  that  a  breakfast 
with  Lafitte  might  be  very  delightful ;  but  is  n't  such 
luxury  revolting  to  you  ?  All  these  people,  like  all 
monopolists,  acquire  money  in  such  a  way  that  they  gain 
the  contempt  of  people  ;  they  scorn  this  contempt  and 
then  use  their  ill-gotten  gains  to  buy  off  this  contempt !  " 

"  You  're  perfectly  right,"  assented  Veslovsky.  "  Per- 
fectly. Of  course  Oblonsky  does  this  out  of  bonhomie, 
but  others  say,  '  Oblonsky  goes  there.'  "  .... 

"Not  in  the  least,"  —  Levin  perceived  that  Oblonsky 
smiled  as  he  said  this.  "  I  simply  consider  that  this 
man  is  no  more  dishonorable  than  any  other  of  our  rich 
merchants  or  nobles.  They  all  have  got  their  money 
by  hard  work  and  by  their  brains." 

"  Yes,  but  what  kind  of  hard  work }  Is  it  hard  work 
to  secure  a  concession  and  then  farm  it  out } " 

"  Of  course  it  is  hard  work.  Hard  work  in  this  sense, 
that  if  it  were  not  for  such  men,  then  we  should  have 
no  railways." 

"  But  it  is  not  hard  work  such  as  the  muzhik  or  the 
student  has." 


io6  ANNA    KARENINA 

"Agreed,  but  it  is  work  in  this  sense,  that  it  is  a  form 
of  activity  which  gives  us  results  —  railways.  But  per- 
haps you  argue  that  railways  are  useless." 

"  No ;  but  that  is  another  question.  I  am  willing  to 
acknowledge  that  they  are  useful.  But  all  gains  that 
are  disproportionate  to  the  amount  of  labor  expended  are 
dishonorable." 

"  But  who  is  to  determine  the  suitability  .''  " 

"  Property  acquired  by  any  dishonest  way,  by  craft," 
said  Levin,  feeling  that  he  could  not  very  well  make  the 
distinction  between  honorable  and  dishonorable.  "  For 
example,  the  money  made  by  stock-gambling,"  he  went 
on  to  say,  "that  is  bad,  and  so  are  the  gains  made  by 
fortunes  acquired  without  labor,  as  it  used  to  be  with 
the  speculators  in  monopolies ;  only  the  form  has  been 
changed.  Le  rot  est  mort,  vive  le  roi!  We  had  only  just 
done  away  with  brandy-farming  when  the  railways  and 
stock-gambling  came  in ;  it  is  all  money  acquired  with- 
out work." 

"  Yes,  that  may  be  very  wise  and  ingenious  reasoning. 
—  Lie  down,  Krak,"  cried  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  address- 
ing the  dog,  which  was  licking  his  fur  and  tossing  up 
the  hay.  Oblonsky  was  evidently  convinced  of  the  cor- 
rectness of  his  theory,  and  consequently  argued  calmly 
and  dispassionately.  "  But  you  do  not  make  the  dis- 
tinctions clear  between  honest  and  dishonest  work.  Is 
it  dishonest  when  I  receive  a  higher  salary  than  my 
head  clerk,  although  he  understands  the  business  better 
than  I  do.?" 

"  I  don't  know." 

"  Well,  I  will  tell  you  one  thing :  what  you  receive 
for  your  work  on  yout  estate  is  —  let  us  say  —  five 
thousand  above  your  expenses ;  but  this  muzhik,  our  host, 
hard  as  he  works,  does  not  get  more  than  fifty  rubles, 
and  this  disparity  is  just  as  dishonorable  as  that  I  re- 
ceive more  than  my  head  clerk  or  that  Malthus  receives 
more  than  a  railway  engineer.  On  the  contrary,  it  seems 
to  me  that  the  hostility  shown  by  society  to  these  men 
arises  from  envy/' .... 

"  No,  that  is  unjust,"  said  Veslovsky ;  "it  cannot  be 


ANNA   KARENINA  i^ 

envy,  and  there  is  something  unfair  in  this  state  of 
things." 

"  Excuse  me,"  persisted  Levin.  "  You  say  it  is  unfair 
for  me  to  receive  five  thousand  while  the  muzhik  gets 
only  fifty ;  you  're  right.  It  is  unfair.  I  feel  it, 
but...." 

"  The  distinction  holds  throughout.  Why  do  we  eat, 
drink,  hunt,  waste  our  time,  while  he  is  forever  and  ever 
at  work  "{  "  said  Vasenka  Veslovsky,  who  was  evidently 
for  the  first  time  in  his  life  thinking  clearly  on  this  ques- 
tion, and  therefore  was  willing  to  be  frank. 

"  Yes,  you  feel  so,  but  you  don't  give  your  estate  up 
to  the  muzhik,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  not  sorry  of 
a  chance  to  tease  Levin. 

Of  late  there  had  arisen  between  the  two  brothers-in- 
law  a  secretly  hostile  relationship  ;  since  they  had  mar- 
ried sisters,  a  sort  of  rivalry  existed  between  them  as  to 
which  of  them  had  the  best  way  of  living,  and  now  this 
hostility  expressed  itself  by  the  conversation  taking  a 
personal  turn. 

"  I  do  not  give  it  because  no  one  demands  this  of  me, 
and  even  if  I  wanted  to,  I  could  not,"  replied  Leviti.-- 

"  Give  it  to  this  muzhik;  he  would  not  refuse  it." ,   n" 

"  But  how  could  I  give  it  to  him  ?  Should  I  come 
with  him  and  sign  the  deed  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know ;  but  if  you  are  convinced  that  you 
have  not  the  right....  " 

"  I  am  not  altogether  convinced.  On  the  contrary  I 
feel  that  I  have  no  right  to  give  it  away,  that  I  have 
certain  obligations  both  to  the  land  and  to  my  family." 

"  No,  excuse  me  ;  if  you  consider  that  this  inequality 
is  unjust,  then  why  don't  you  do  so  ?  " 

"I  do  it,  only  in  a  negative  way,  in  the  sense  that 
I  do  not  try  to  increase  the  discrepancy  that  exists  be- 
tween him  and  me." 

"  No,  but  that  is  a  paradox,  if  you  will  allow  me  to 
say  so." 

"  Yes,  that  is  a  sort  of  sophistical  statement,"  averred 
Veslovsky.  —  "  Ho!  friend,"  ^  he  exclaimed,  addressing 

^  Khozain. 


16«  ANNA    KARENINA 

their  host,  who  had  just  then  come  into  the  loft,  mak- 
ing the  door  creak  on  its  hinges,  "  are  n't  you  asleep 
yet?" 

"  No,  how  can  one  sleep  ?  But  I  supposed  you 
gentlemen  were  asleep  —  still,  I  heard  talking.  I  wanted 
to  get  a  hook.  —  Will  she  bite.-*"  he  added,  carefully 
slipping  along  in  his  bare  feet. 

"  But  where  do  you  sleep  ?" 

"  We  are  on  night  duty." 

"Oh,  what  a  night,"  exclaimed  Veslovsky,  catching 
a  glimpse  of  the  edge  of  the  izba  and  the  unharnessed 
wagons  in  the  faint  light  of  the  west  through  the  now 
widely  opened  door.  "  Just  listen  to  those  women's 
voices  singing ;  it  is  not  bad  at  all.  Who  is  singing, 
friend  ? "  said  he,  addressing  the  muzhik. 

"  Oh,  those  are  the  girls  from  the  farm,  singing  to- 
gether." 

"  Come,  let 's  go  out  and  take  a  walk !  We  shall 
never  go  to  sleep.     Come  on,  Oblonsky." 

"What's  theuse.-*"  said  Oblonsky,  stretching,  "it's 
more  comfortable  here." 

"  Well,  then,  I  '11  go  alone,"  exclaimed  Veslovsky, 
jumping  up  eagerly  and  putting  on  his  shoes  and 
stockings.  "  Good-by — da  svidanya  —  gentlemen.  If 
there  's  any  fun,  I  will  come  and  call  you.  You  have 
given  me  good  hunting  and  I  won't  forget  you." 

"  He  's  a  splendid  young  fellow,"  said  Oblonsky,  after 
Veslovsky  had  gone  out  and  the  muzhik  had  shut  the 
door  again. 

"  Yes,  he  is,"  replied  Levin,  still  continuing  to  think 
of  what  they  had  been  talking  about.  It  seemed  to 
him  that  he  had  clearly,  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  uttered 
his  thoughts  and  feelings,  and  yet  these  men,  who  were 
by  no  means  stupid  or  insincere,  agreed  in  declaring 
that  he  indulged  in  sophistries.     This  confused  him. 

"This  is  the  way  of  it,  my  friend,"  said  Oblonsky. 
"  One  of  two  things  must  be  :  either  you  must  agree  that 
the  present  order  of  society  is  all  right,  and  then  stand  up 
for  your  rights,  or  confess  that  you  enjoy  unfair  privileges, 
as  I  do,  and  get  all  the  good  out  of  them  that  you  can." 


ANNA    KARENINA  109 

"  No ;  if  this  was  unfair,  you  could  not  get  any  enjoy- 
ment out  of  these  advantages ....  at  least  I  could  not. 
With  me  the  main  thing  would  be  to  feel  that  I  was  not 
to  blame." 

"  After  all,  why  should  we  not  go  out,"  said  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  evidently  growing  tired  of  this  discus- 
sion. "  You  see  we  are  not  going  to  sleep.  Come  on, 
let 's  go  out." 

Levin  made  no  reply.  What  he  had  said  in  their 
conversation  about  his  doing  right  only  in  a  negative 
sense  occupied  his  mind.  **  Can  one  be  right  only  in 
a  negative  way  .■'  "  he  asked  himself. 

"  How  strong  the  odor  of  the  fresh  hay  is,"  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  as  he  got  up.  "  It  is  impossible 
to  go  to  sleep.  Vasenka  is  hatching  some  scheme  out 
there.  Don't  you  hear  them  laughing,  and  his  voice.-' 
Won't  you  come  ?     Come  on." 

"  No,  I  am  not  going,"  said  Levin. 

"  Is  this  also  from  principle  ?"  asked  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch, with  a  smile,  as  he  groped  round  in  the  dark- 
ness for  his  cap. 

"  No,  not  from  principle,  but  why  should  I  go  .-*  " 

"  Do  you  know  you  are  laying  up  misfortune  for 
yourself  .-*"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  having  found  his 
cap,  and  getting  up. 

"  Why  so  ?  " 

"  Don't  I  see  how  you  are  giving  in  to  your  wife  ? 
I  heard  how  much  importance  you  attached  to  the  ques- 
tion whether  she  approved  of  your  going  off  for  a 
couple  of  days'  hunting.  That  is  very  well  as  an  idyl, 
but  it  does  n't  work  for  a  whole  lifetime.  A  man  ought 
to  be  independent ;  he  has  his  own  masculine  interests. 
A  man  must  be  manly,"  said  Oblonsky,  opening  the 
door. 

"What  does  that  mean  ....  going  and  flirting  with  the 
farm  girls  .■*  "  asked  Levin. 

"  Why  not  go,  if  there  's  fun  in  it  ?  Ca  ne  tire  pas  d 
consequence.  My  wife  would  not  be  any  the  worse  off 
for  it,  and  it  affords  me  amusement.  The  main  thing 
is  the  sanctity  of  the  home.     There  should  not  be  any 


tio  ANNA    KARENINA 

trouble  at  home.  But  there  is  no  need  of  a  man's  tying 
his  hands." 

"  Perhaps  not,"  said  Levin,  dryly,  and  he  turned  over 
on  his  side.  "  To-morrow  I  must  start  early  and  I  shan't 
wake  any  one,  and  I  shall  start  at  daybreak." 

^^  Messieurs,  venez  2^//^,"  called  Vasenka,  returning. 
"  Charmante  !  I  have  discovered  her!  Channante  !  A 
perfect  Gretchen,  and  she  and  I  have  already  scraped 
acquaintance.  Truly  she  is  mighty  pretty,"  he  cried, 
with  such  an  expression  of  satisfaction  that  any  one 
would  think  that  she  had  been  made  for  his  especial 
benefit,  and  that  he  was  satisfied  with  the  work  of  the 
one  who  had  prepared  her  for  him. 

Levin  pretended  to  be  asleep,  but  Oblonsky,  putting 
on  his  slippers  and  Hghting  a  cigar,  left  the  barn  and 
soon  their  voices  died  away. 

It  was  long  before  Levin  could  go  to  sleep.  He 
heard  his  horses  munching  their  hay,  then  the  muzhik 
setting  out  with  his  eldest  son  to  watch  the  animals  in 
the  pasture,  then  the  soldier  going  to  bed  on  the  other 
side  of  the  loft  with  his  nephew,  the  youngest  son  of 
their  host ;  he  heard  the  little  boy  in  a  low  voice  telling 
his  uncle  his  impressions  regarding  the  dogs,  which  to 
him  seemed  terrible  and  monstrous  beasts  ;  then  the  boy 
asking  what  these  dogs  caught,  and  the  soldier  in  a 
hoarse  and  sleepy  voice  telHng  him  that  the  next  day  the 
huntsmen  would  go  to  the  swamp  and  would  fire  off  their 
guns;  and  then,  the  boy  still  continuing  to  ply  him  with 
questions,  the  soldier  hushed  him  up,  saying,  "  Go  to 
sleep,  Vaska,  go  to  sleep,  and  you  will  see,"  and  soon 
the  man  began  to  snore  and  all  became  quiet.  All  that 
was  heard  was  the  neighing  of  the  horses  and  the  cries 
of  the  woodcock. 

"  Why  is  this  simply  revolting  .-*  "  he  asked  himself. 
"  Well,  what 's  to  be  done .''  It  is  not  my  fault."  And 
he  began  to  think  of  the  morrow. 

"  To-morrow  I  will  start  early  in  the  morning,  and  I 
will  take  it  on  myself  not  to  get  excited.  I  will  bring 
down  some  woodcock.  And  there  are  plenty  of  snipe ! 
And  when  I  get  back,  there  '11  be  a  letter  from  Kitty. 


ANNA    KARENINA  iii 

Yes,  perhaps    Stiva  is  right ;  I   am  not  manly  toward 

her;   I   am  too  much  under  my  wife's  thumb But 

what  is  to  be  done  about  it?     This  also  is  revolting." 

Through  his  dream  he  heard  Veslovsky  and  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  gayly  talking  and  laughing.  For  an 
instant  he  opened  his  eyes.  The  moon  had  risen,  and 
through  the  open  doors  he  saw  them  standing  there  in 
the  bright  moonlight,  and  talking.  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch was  saying  something  about  the  freshness  of  a 
young  girl,  comparing  her  to  a  walnut  just  out  of  its 
shell,  and  Veslovsky  laughing  his  contagious  laugh, 
made  some  reply,  evidently  repeating  the  words  spoken 
by  some  muzhik,  "You'd  better  be  going  home." 

Levin  spoke  through  his  dream,  "  Gentlemen,  to- 
morrow morning  at  daybreak." 


CHAPTER   XII 

Waking  at  earliest  dawn,  Levin  tried  to  wake  his 
companions.  Vasenka,  lying  on  his  stomach,  with  one 
leg  in  a  stocking,  was  sleeping  so  soundly  that  it  was 
impossible  to  get  any  reply  from  him.  Oblonsky,  only 
half  awake,  refused  to  start  out  so  early.  And  even 
Laska,  sleeping  curled  up  in  a  round  ball  at  the  edge 
of  the  hay,  got  up  reluctantly,  and  lazily  stretched  out 
and  straightened  her  hind  legs,  one  after  the  other. 
Levin,  putting  on  his  boots,  took  his  gun  and  cautiously 
opening  the  creaking  door  of  the  shed,  went  outdoors. 
The  coachmen  were  sleeping  near  the  wagons ;  the 
horses  were  dozing.  Only  one  sheep  was  drowsily  eat- 
ing with  his  nose  in  the  trough.  It  was  still  gray  in 
the  yard. 

"  You  are  up  early,  are  n't  you,  my  dear,"  said  the  old 
peasant  woman,  the  mistress  of  the  house,  coming  out 
from  the  izba,  and  addressing  him  in  a  friendly  way,  like 
an  old  acquaintance. 

"  Yes,  I  'm  going  out  shooting,  auntie.  Can  I  go  this 
way  to  the  swamp  .-'  " 

"  Directly  behind  the  barns,  follow  the  foot-path  along 


ir2  ANNA   KARENINA 

by  the  hemp-field."  Stepping  cautiously  with  her  barej 
sunburnt  feet,  the  old  woman  accompanied  Levin  as  far 
as  the  fence  back  of  the  barn.  "  Go  straight  on  and 
you  '11  come  to  the  swamp.  Our  boys  went  there  last 
evening." 

Laska  ran  merrily  ahead  along  the  foot-path.  Levin 
followed  her  with  swift,  light  steps,  constantly  watching 
the  'sky.  He  had  an  idea  that  he  would  reach  the 
swamp  before  the  sun  would  be  up.  But  the  sun  did 
not  loiter.  The  moon,  which  had  been  shining  brightly 
when  he  first  came  out,  was  now  growing  pallid  like  a 
lump  of  quicksilver.  The  morning  star,  which  before 
was  most  conspicuous,  now  almost  defied  detection ; 
certain  spots  before  almost  indistinguishable  on  the 
distant  field,  now  were  becoming  plainly  visible ;  these 
were  heaps  of  rye.  The  dew,  though  it  could  not  be 
seen  in  the  absence  of  the  sunlight,  was  so  dense  on  the 
fragrant  tall  hemp  from  which  the  seed  had  already 
been  gathered,  that  it  wet  Levin's  legs  and  blouse  above 
his  belt.  In  the  transparent  stillness  of  the  morning  the 
slightest  sounds  were  audible.  A  bee,  humming  like  a 
bullet,  whizzed  by  Levin's  ear.  He  looked  around  and 
discovered  a  second  and  yet  a  third.  They  were  com- 
ing from  the  hives  and  were  flying  over  the  hemp-field 
and  disappearing  in  the  direction  of  the  swamp.  The 
foot-path  led  directly  into  the  marsh,  which  could  be 
detected  by  the  mists  rising  over  it,  here  denser,  there 
thinner,  so  that  clumps  of  grass  and  cytisus  bushes 
looked  like  little  islands  emerging  from  them.  Peasant 
boys  and  men,  who  had  been  on  night  duty,  were 
scattered  about  on  the  edge  of  the  swamp  and  along  the 
roadside,  and  all  of  them  were  sleeping  wrapped  up  in 
their  kaftans.  At  a  little  distance  from  them  three 
horses  were  moving  about  unfastened.  One  of  them 
carried  clinking  chains.  Laska  ran  along  by  her 
master's  side,  eager  to  dash  ahead,  and  with  her  eyes 
on  everything.  After  they  had  passed  the  sleeping 
muzhiks  and  had  reached  the  first  swampy  places.  Levin 
examined  the  priming  of  his  gun  and  let  the  dog  go. 

One  of  the  horses,  a  fat  chestnut  three-year-old,  see- 


ANNA    KARENINA  iij 

ing  Laska,  shied,  and,  lifting  his  tail,  whinnied.  The  two 
other  horses  were  also  startled,  and  dashed  through  the 
water  and  galloped  out  of  the  swamp.  As  they  pulled 
their  hoofs  out  of  the  soft,  sticky  mud,  they  made  a 
noise  like  smacking.  Laska  paused,  looking  with 
amused  eyes  at  the  horses,  and  seemed  to  ask  her 
master  what  she  should  do.  Levin  caressed  her  and 
gave  a  whistle  as  a  signal  that  she  might  begin  her 
work.  Laska,  joyous  and  full  of  importance,  darted  on 
over  the  soil  of  the  marsh,  which  quaked  under  her 
weight. 

As  soon  as  she  got  fairly  into  the  bog,  Laska  in- 
stantly distinguished  amid  all  the  well-known  odors  of 
roots  and  swamp-grass  and  the  mud  and  the  droppings 
of  the  horses,  the  scent  of  the  bird  perceptible  through 
the  whole  place  —  the  penetrating  bird  odor  which 
more  than  anything  else  excited  her.  Wherever  there 
was  moss  or  sage  bushes  this  odor  was  peculiarly  strong, 
but  it  was  impossible  to  make  out  in  which  direction  it 
increased  or  diminished  in  strength.  In  order  to  get 
her  bearings,  the  dog  had  to  bear  to  the  lee  of  the  wind. 
Unconscious  of  any  effort  in  moving  her  legs,  Laska  in 
an  eager  gallop,  yet  so  restrained  that  she  was  able  to 
stop  at  a  bound,  if  anything  of  consequence  presented  it- 
self, dashed  toward  the  right  away  from  the  breeze  which 
was  now  beginning  to  blow  freshly  from  the  east.  Snuff- 
ing the  air  with  her  widespread  nostrils,  she  suddenly 
became  conscious  that  she  was  no  longer  following  a 
trail,  but  was  on  the  game  itself  —  not  one  bird  alone, 
but  many.  Laska  slackened  her  speed.  The  birds 
were  there,  but  she  could  not  as  yet  determine  exactly 
where.  In  order  to  find  the  exact  spot,  she  began 
another  circle,  when  suddenly  the  voice  of  her  master 
called  her  back. 

"  Here,  Laska,"  he  cried,  directing  her  toward  the 
other  side.  She  paused  as  if  to  ask  him  if  she  had  not 
better  keep  on  as  she  had  begun.  But  he  repeated  his 
command  in  a  stern  voice,  sending  her  to  a  tussock- 
covered  place  overflowed  with  water,  where  there  could 
not  possibly  be  anything. 

VOL.  III.  —  8 


n4  ANNA    KARENINA 

She  heard  him,  and,  pretending  to  obey  him,  so  as  to 
satisfy  him,  ran  hastily  over  the  spot  indicated,  and  then 
returned  to  the  place  which  had  attracted  her  before, 
and  instantly  perceived  them  again.  Now  that  he  no 
longer  bothered  her  she  knew  exactly  what  to  do,  and 
without  looking  where  she  was  going,  stumbling  over 
tussocks  to  her  great  indignation  and  falling  into  the 
water,  but  quickly  extricating  herself  with  her  strong, 
agile  legs,  she  began  to  circle  round,  so  as  to  get  her 
exact  bearings. 

The  scent  of  the  birds  kept  growing  stronger  and 
stronger,  more  and  more  distinct,  and  suddenly  it  be- 
came perfectly  evident  to  her  that  one  of  them  was  there, 
just  behind  a  certain  tussock  not  five  steps  in  front  of  her, 
and  she  stopped  and  trembled  all  over.  Her  legs  were 
so  short  that  she  could  not  see  anything,  but  she  knew 
by  the  scent  that  the  bird  was  sitting  there  not  five  steps 
distant  from  her.  She  pointed,  growing  each  instant 
more  certain  of  her  game  and  full  of  joy  in  the  anticipa- 
tion. Her  tail  stuck  straight  out  and  only  the  end  of  it 
quivered.  Her  mouth  was  open  slightly.  Her  ears  were 
cocked  up.  Indeed,  one  ear  had  been  all  the  time  pricked 
up  as  she  ran,  and  she  was  panting  heavily,  but  cautiously, 
and  looking  round  still  more  cautiously,  rather  with  her 
eyes  than  with  her  head,  to  see  if  her  master  was  coming. 
He  was  coming,  leaping  from  tussock  to  tussock,  and 
more  slowly  than  usual  it  seemed  to  her ;  his  face  bore 
the  expression  which  she  knew  so  well,  and  which  was 
so  terrible  to  her.  It  seemed  to  her  that  he  was  coming 
slowly,  and  yet  he  was  running ! 

Remarking  Laska's  peculiar  method  of  search  as  she 
crouched  down  close  to  the  ground  and  took  such  long 
strides  that  her  hind  legs  seemed  to  rake  the  ground, 
and  noticing  her  slightly  opened  mouth.  Levin  knew 
that  she  was  on  the  track  of  snipe,  and  offering  a 
mental  prayer  to  God  that  he  might  not  miss  especially 
his  first  shot,  he  followed  the  dog.  As  he  came  up 
close  to  her  he  looked  from  his  superior  height  and  saw 
with  his  eyes  what  she  perceived  only  with  her  nose. 
In  a  nook  between  two  tussocks  not  more  than  six  feet 


ANNA   KARENINA  ^15 

away  from  him  a  snipe  was  sitting.  With  head  raised 
it  was  listening.  Then,  slightly  spreading  and  closing 
its  wings  and  awkwardly  wagging  its  tail,  it  hid  behind 
its  nook. 

"  At  him,  at  him  !  "  cried  Levin,  pushing  Laska  from 
behind. 

*'  But  I  can't  move,"  thought  Laska.  "  Where  shall 
I  go  ?  From  here  I  smell  'em,  but  if  I  stir  I  shan't 
find  anything,  or  know  what  they  are  or  where  they 
are." 

But  Levin  again  pushed  the  dog  with  his  knee,  and 
in  an  excited  whisper  he  cried  again,  "At  him,  Lasotchka, 
at  him  !  " 

"Well,  if  he  wants  me  to  do  it,  I  will,  but  I  won't 
answer  for  the  consequences  now,"  she  said  to  herself, 
and  she  darted  forward  with  all  her  might  between  the 
tussocks  !  She  no  longer  went  by  scent,  but  only  by 
her  eyes  and  ears,  and  did  not  know  what  she  was 
doing. 

Ten  paces  from  the  first  place  a  second  snipe  arose 
with  a  loud  squawking  and  a  characteristic  drumming 
of  wings.  Instantly  the  shot  rang  out  and  the  bird  fell 
heavily  with  its  white  breast  on  the  moist  ground.  Still 
another  immediately  flew  up,  not  even  roused  by  the  dog. 

When  Levin  aimed  at  it  it  was  already  a  long  shot, 
but  he  brought  it  down.  After  flying  twenty  feet  or 
more  the  second  snipe  rose  high  into  the  air,  then,  spin- 
ning like  a  top,  fell  heavily  to  the  ground  on  a  dry 
spot. 

"That  is  the  talk,"  thought  Levin,  thrusting  the  fat 
snipe,  still  warm,  into  his  hunting-bag.  "  Ha,  Lasotchka, 
there  's  some  sense  in  this,  hey  ?  " 

When  Levin,  having  reloaded,  went  still  farther  into 
the  swamp,  the  sun  was  already  up,  though  it  was  as 
yet  hidden  behind  masses  of  clouds.  The  moon,  which 
had  now  lost  all  its  brilliancy,  looked  like  a  white  cloud 
against  the  sky;  not  a  star  was  to  be  seen.  The  swampy 
places,  which  before  had  been  silvered  with  the  dew, 
were  now  yellow.  The  whole  swamp  was  amber.  The 
blue  of  the  grass  changed  into  yellowish  green.     The 


ii6  ANNA    KARENINA 

marsh  birds  bustled  about  among  the  bushes  glittering 
with  dew  and  casting  long  shadows  along  by  the  brook. 
A  hawk  awoke  and  perched  on  a  hayrick,  turning  his 
head  from  side  to  side,  looking  with  displeasure  at  the 
marsh.  The  jackdaws  flew  fieldward,  and  a  barefooted 
urchin  was  already  starting  to  drive  the  horses  up  to  an 
old  man  who  had  been  spending  the  night  there,  and  was 
now  crawling  out  from  under  his  kaftan.  The  gun- 
powder smoke  lay  white  as  milk  along  the  green  grass. 
One  of  the  peasant  children  ran  down  to  Levin.  ,  i?, 

"There  were  some  ducks  here  last  evening,  uncle," ^ 
he  cried,  and  followed  him  at  a  distance. 

And  Levin  experienced  a  feeling  of  the  keenest  satis- 
faction in  killing  three  woodcock,  one  after  the  other, 
while  the  boy  was  watching  him  and  expressing  his 
approbation. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

The  superstition  of  hunters,  that  if  the  first  shot 
brings  down  bird  or  beast,  the  field  will  be  good,  was 
justified. 

Tired  and  hungry,  but  delighted,  Levin  returned 
about  ten  o'clock,  after  a  run  of  thirty  versts,  having 
brought  down  nineteen  snipe  and  woodcock  and  one 
duck,  which,  for  want  of  room  in  his  game-bag,  he  hung 
at  his  belt.  His  companions  had  been  long  up ;  and 
after  waiting  till  they  were  famished,  they  had  eaten 
breakfast.  . 

"  Hold  on,  hold  on  !  I  know  there  are  nineteen," 
cried  Levin,  counting  for  the  second  time  his  woodcock 
and  snipe,  with  their  bloodstained  plumage,  and  their 
drooping  heads  all  laid  one  over  the  other,  so  different 
from  what  they  were  on  the  marsh. 

The  count  was  verified,  and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's 
envy  was  delightful  to  Levin. 

It  was  also  delightful  to  him,  on  returning  to  his 

^  Dyadenka,  little  uncle. 


ANNA   KARENINA  try 

lodging,  to  find  there  a  messenger  who  had  just  come 
from  Kitty,  bringing  him  a  letter. 

I  am  perfectly  well  and  happy,  and  if  you  fear  lest  I  shall 
not  be  sufficiently  cared  for,  you  may  be  reassured.  I  have  a 
new  body-guard  in  the  person  of  Marya  Vlasyevna.  [She  was 
a  midwife,  a  new  and  very  important  personage  in  Levin's  fam- 
ily.] She  came  over  to  see  me.  She  thinks  I  am  wonderfully 
well,  and  we  shall  keep  her  till  you  get  back.  We  are  all  well 
and  happy,  and  if  you  are  enjoying  yourself  and  the  hunting  is 
good  you  may  stay  another  day. 

These  two  pleasures  —  his  successful  hunt  and  the  let- 
ter from  his  wife  —  were  so  great,  that  they  effaced  from 
Levin's  mind  two  less  agreeable  incidents.  The  first 
was  the  fact  that  his  fast  horse,  who  had  apparently  been 
overworked  the  evening  before,  refused  to  eat  and  was 
out  of  sorts.     The  coachman  said  that  she  was  used  up. 

"  They  abused  her  last  evening,  Konstantin  Dmitritch," 
said  he.  "  The  idea  !  They  drove  her  ten  versts  at  full 
speed !  " 

The  second  unpleasantness,  which  for  the  first  mo- 
ment put  an  end  to  his  happy  frame  of  mind,  but  which 
afterward  caused  him  no  end  of  amusement,  arose  from 
the  fact  that  not  a  thing  was  left  for  him  from  all  the 
abundant  store  of  provisions  which  Kitty  had  put  up 
for  them,  and  which  it  seemed  ought  to  have  lasted 
them  a  whole  week.  As  he  returned  from  his  long  and 
weary  tramp.  Levin  had  indulged  his  imagination  in 
certain  tarts,  so  that  when  he  entered  the  izba  he 
actually  felt  the  taste  of  them  in  his  mouth  just  as  Laska 
scented  the  game,  and  he  immediately  ordered  Filipp 
to  serve  them  to  him.  It  then  transpired  that  not  only 
the  tarts,  but  all  the  cold  chicken,  had  disappeared. 

"  There  !  talk  of  appetites,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
laughing  and  nodding  at  Vasenka  Veslovsky ;  "  I  can- 
not complain  of  mine,  but  this  is  marvelous." 

"  Well !  what  shall  I  do  ?  "  cried  Levin,  glowering  at 
Veslovsky.     "  FiUpp,  give  me  some  cold  beef." 

"  Beef 's  all  gone  and  the  dogs  have  got  the  bones  !  " 
replied  Filipp. 


ii8  ANNA   KARENINA 

Levin  was  so  irritated  that  he  could  not  help  exclaim- 
ing, "I  should  think  you  might  have  left  something 
for  me  !  "  and  he  felt  like  crying. 

*'  Then  cook  me  a  woodcock,"  he  said,  with  trembling 
voice,  to  Filipp,  trying  not  to  look  at  Vasenka,  "  and 
bring  me  some  milk." 

But  after  he  drank  his  milk  he  was  mortified  because 
he  had  shown  his  disappointment  so  plainly  and  before 
a  stranger,  and  he  began  to  laugh  at  himself  for  his 
anger. 

In  the  afternoon  they  went  out  into  the  fields  again, 
and  even  Veslovsky  shot  several  birds,  and  at  night  they 
went  home. 

They  were  as  gay  on  their  return  as  they  had  been 
while  going.  Veslovsky  now  sang  songs,  and  now  told 
of  his  adventures  with  the  muzhiks  who  gave  him  his 
vodka  and  bade  him  drink  it  down  quick.  Then  he 
related  his  nocturnal  experiences  with  the  nuts  and  the 
farm  girl,  and  the  muzhik  who  asked  him  if  he  was 
married  or  not,  and  who,  when  he  found  that  he  was 
not  married,  said  to  him :  "  Well,  you  'd  better  not  be 
running  after  other  folks'  women ;  first  of  all  go  home 
and  get  a  wife  for  yourself." 

This  advice  greatly  amused  Veslovsky. 

"  Well,  on  the  whole,  I  am  awfully  glad  we  went, 
are  n't  you.  Levin .-'  " 

"Very  glad,"  replied  Levin,  sincerely,  and  he  was 
especially  happy  because  he  no  longer  felt  that  animosity 
which  he  had  felt  at  home  toward  Vasenka  Veslovsky ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  had  conceived  a  genuine  friend- 
ship for  him. 

CHAPTER   XIV 

About  ten  o'clock  the  next  morning,  after  inspecting 
the  farm,  Levin  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  room  in 
which  Vasenka  had  spent  the  night. 

" Entres"  cried  Veslovsky.  "Excuse  me,  but  I  am 
just  finishing  my  ablutions,''  he  added,  with  a  smile, 
standing  before  Levin  in  his  bare  skin. 


ANNA    KARENINA  119 

*'  Do  not  let  me  disturb  you,"  said  Levin,  and  he  sat 
down  by  the  window.     "  Did  you  sleep  well  ?  " 

"  Like  the  dead.     Is  it  a  good  day  for  hunting  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  drink,  tea  or  coffee .''" 

"  Neither ;  I  always  go  down  to  breakfast ;  I  am 
mortified  at  being  so  late.  The  ladies,  I  suppose,  are 
already  up  ?  Splendid  time  for  a  ride !  You  must  show 
me  your  horses." 

After  walking  around  the  garden,  examining  the  stable, 
and  performing  a  few  gymnastic  exercises  together  on 
the  parallel  bars.  Levin  and  his  guest  returned  to  the 
house  and  went  into  the  drawing-room, 

"  We  had  splendid  sport  and  got  so  many  new  im- 
pressions," said  Veslovsky,  approaching  Kitty,  who  was 
sitting  near  the  samovar.  "  What  a  pity  that  ladies  are 
deprived  of  this  pleasure !  " 

"  Well,  of  course  he  must  have  something  to  say  to 
the  lady  of  the  house,"  thought  Levin.  Again  he  de- 
tected something  peculiar  in  the  smile  and  in  the  tri- 
umphant air  with  which  his  guest  behaved  toward  Kitty. 

The  princess,  who  was  sitting  on  the  other  side  of  the 
table  with  Marya  Vlasyevna  and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
called  Levin  to  her  and  began  to  broach  her  idea  that 
they  should  go  to  Moscow  for  Kitty's  confinement,  and 
explained  to  him  how  the  rooms  should  be  prepared  for 
her. 

Just  as  all  the  preparations  for  his  wedding  had 
seemed  distasteful  to  Levin  because  they  were  so  insig- 
nificant in  comparison  with  the  majesty  of  the  event 
itself,  so  now  even  more  humiliating  were  all  the  prepa- 
rations for  the  approaching  confinement,  the  time  of 
which  they  were  reckoning  up  on  their  fingers.  He 
tried  to  shut  his  ears  to  all  the  talk  about  the  various 
kinds  of  swaddling-clothes  for  the  unborn  infant ;  he 
did  his  best  to  shut  his  eyes  to  all  the  mysterious  and 
numberless  bands  and  triangular  pieces  of  linen  to  which 
Dolly  seemed  to  attribute  special  importance  and  the 
like. 

The  event  of  the  birth  of  a  son  —  for  he  was  firmly 
persuaded  that  it  would  be  a  son — -seemed  to  him  so 


I20  ANNA    KARENINA 

extraordinary  that  he  could  not  believe  in  its  possibility  , 
and  while  on  the  one  hand  it  promised  him  a  happiness 
too  enormous  and  therefore  incredible,  on  the  other 
hand  it  seemed  to  him  too  mysterious  to  admit  of  trying 
to  imagine  what  it  meant,  and  consequently  all  this 
preparation  as  if  for  something  commonplace,  for  some- 
thing in  the  hands  of  men,  seemed  to  him  revolting  and 
humiliating.  The  princess  did  not  understand  his  feel- 
ings, and  she  attributed  his  unwillingness  to  think  and 
talk  about  this  to  indifference  and  carelessness,  and  so 
she  gave  him  no  peace.  She  had  just  been  charging 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  to  look  up  a  suite  of  rooms,  and 
now  she  called  Levin  to  her. 

"  Do  as  you  think  best,  princess ;  I  understand  nothing 
about  the  matter,"  said  he. 

"  But  it  must  be  decided  just  when  you  will  go  to 
Moscow." 

"  Truly  I  don't  know ;  what  I  know  is  that  millions  of 
children  are  born  away  from  Moscow,  and  doctors  ... 
and  all  that  ...." 

"  Yes,  but  in  that  case  ...." 

"  Let  Kitty  do  as  she  pleases  about  it." 

"  It  is  impossible  to  speak  with  Kitty  about  it.  Do 
you  want  me  to  frighten  her .''  Only  this  spring  Natali 
Golitsuin  died  in  consequence  of  an  unskilhxl  accoTic/ieur." 

"  I  shall  do  as  you  wish,"  repeated  Levin,  angrily. 

The  princess  began  to  say  something  more  to  him, 
but  he  was  not  listening.  Though  his  conversation  with 
the  princess  upset  him,  he  was  not  angered  by  what  she 
said,  but  by  what  he  saw  at  the  samovar. 

"  No  ;  that  can't  go  on,"  thought  he,  as  he  from  time 
to  time  glanced  over  at  Vasenka,  who  was  bending 
down  to  Kitty,  with  a  flattering  smile,  and  making  some 
remark  to  her ;  and  he  also  noticed  his  wife's  disturbed 
and  blushing  face. 

There  was  something  improper  in  Veslovsky's  attitude, 
his  smile,  his  eyes.  So,  too,  Kitty's  action  and  appear- 
ance seemed  to  him  unbecoming,  and  again  the  light 
flashed  in  his  eyes.  And  again,  as  happened  two  days 
before,  he  felt  himself  suddenly,  without  the  least  warn- 


ANNA    KARENINA  i2i- 

ing,  precipitated  from  the  height  of  happiness,  content- 
ment, and  dignity,  into  an  abyss  of  despair,  hatred,  and 
confusion.  Again  they  seemed  to  him,  each  and  all,  his 
enemies. 

"  Do  just  as  you  please,  princess,"  said  he  again, 
turning  round. 

"  Heavy  is  the  cap  of  Monomakh,"  said  Stepan  Ar- 
kadyevitch  in  jest,  referring  evidently,  not  to  Levin's 
conversation  with  the  princess,  but  to  the  cause  of 
Levin's  agitated  face,  which  he  had  noticed.  "  How 
late  you  are,  Dolly  !  " 

All  rose  to  greet  Darya  Aleksandrovna.  Vasenka 
also  arose,  but  only  for  a  moment ;  and  with  the  lack  of 
politeness  characteristic  of  up-to-date  young  men  toward 
ladies,  scarcely  bowing,  he  resumed  his  conversation  with 
some  humorous  remarks. 

"  Masha  has  been  wearing  me  all  out,"  said  Dolly. 
"  She  did  not  sleep  well  and  she  is  terribly  fretful  to-day." 

The  conversation  which  Vasenka  and  Kitty  were  en- 
gaged in  once  more  turned,  as  it  had  the  evening  before, 
on  Anna  and  whether  love  could  hold  outside  the  con- 
ventions of  society This  conversation  was  disagree- 
able to  Kitty,  and  it  agitated  her,  not  only  by  reason  of 
the  topic  and  the  tone  in  which  it  was  carried  on,  but 
still  more  because  she  was  already  conscious  of  the 
effect  it  would  have  on  her  husband.  But  she  was  too 
simple  and  innocent  to  understand  how  to  put  an  end 
to  it,  or  even  to  hide  the  signs  of  agitation  which  this 
young  man's  too  pronounced  attentions  produced  in  her. 
Whatever  she  did,  she  knew  perfectly  well  would  be  re- 
marked by  her  husband  and  would  be  absolutely  misin- 
terpreted. 

And  indeed,  when  she  asked  Dolly  what  was  the 
matter  with  Masha,  and  Vasenka,  waiting  till  this  new 
subject  of  conversation,  which  was  a  bore  to  him,  should 
be  finished,  stared  with  an  indifferent  look  at  Dolly, 
this  question  struck  Levin  as  an  unnatural  aijd  obnox- 
ious kind  of  slyness. 

"  Well,  are  we  going  after  mushrooms  to-day  ? "  asked 
Dolly. 


122  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Oh,  yes,  do  let  us  go,  I  should  like  to  get  some,' 
said  Kitty,  and  she  blushed.  For  mere  politeness'  sake 
she  wanted  to  ask  Vasenka  if  he  would  go  with  them, 
but  she  did  not  do  so. 

"  Where  are  you  going,  Kostia .-'  "  she  asked,  with  a 
guilty  air,  as  her  husband,  with  deliberate  steps,  went 
by  her  on  his  way  out  of  the  room. 

This  guilty  confusion  confirmed  all  his  suspicions. 

"  A  machinist  came  while  I  was  away.  I  have  not 
had  a  chance  to  see  him  yet,"  he  answered,  without 
looking  at  her. 

He  had  gone  down-stairs,  but  had  not  yet  left  his 
library,  before  he  heard  Kitty's  well-known  footsteps 
imprudently  hurrying  after  him. 

"  What  is  it.-*     We  are  busy,"  said  he,  curtly. 

"  Excuse  me,"  said  Kitty,  addressing  the  German  ma- 
chinist ;  "  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  to  my  husband." 

The  mechanic  was  about  to  leave,  but  Levin  stopped 
him  :  "  Don't  disturb  yourself." 

"  I  don't  want  to  lose  the  three  o'clock  train,"  re- 
marked the  German. 

Without  answering  him.  Levin  went  out  into  the  cor- 
ridor with  his  wife. 

"  Well,  what  do  you  wish  to  say  to  me .-' "  he  asked  in 
French. 

He  did  not  look  at  her  face,  and  did  not  want  to  see 
how  it  quivered  and  what  a  look  of  pathetic  humiliation 
was  in  her  eyes. 

"  I ....  I  wanted  to  say  that  it  is  impossible  to  live  so; 
it  is  torture  "  ....  murmured  she, 

"There  is  some  one  there  at  the  cupboard,"  he  re- 
plied angrily.     "  Don't  make  a  scene." 

"  Then  let  us  go  in  here,  then," 

Kitty  wanted  to  go  into  the  next  room,  but  there  the 
English  governess  was  teaching  Tania. 

"Then  let  us  go  into  the  garden." 

In  the  garden  they  ran  across  a  muzhik  who  was 
weeding  a  path.  And  now  no  longer  thinking  that  the 
muzhik  would  see  her  tearful  or  his  agitated  face,  not 
thinking  that  they  were  in  sight  of  people,  as  if  running 


ANNA    KARENINA  123 

from  some  unhappiness,  they  went  with  swift  steps 
straight  on,  feeling  that  they  must  have  a  mutual  expla- 
nation, and  find  some  lonely  spot  where  they  could  talk, 
and  free  themselves  from  this  misery  that  was  oppress- 
ing them  both. 

"  It  is  impossible  to  live  so.  It  is  torture.  I  suffer. 
You  suffer.  Why  is  it  .-*  "  she  said,  when  at  last  they 
reached  a  bench  standing  by  itself  in  the  corner  of  the 
linden  alley. 

"  But  tell  me  one  thing:  was  not  his  manner  indecent, 
improper,  horribly  insulting?"  he  asked,  standing  in 
front  of  her  in  the  same  position,  with  his  fists  doubled 
up  on  his  chest,  in  which  he  had  stood  before  her  two 
days  before. 

"  It  was,"  said  she,  in  a  trembling  voice  ;  "  but,  Kos- 
tia,  can't  you  see  that  I  am  not  to  blame  .''  All  this 
morning  I  have  been  trying  to  act  so  that....  but  oh, 
these  men....  why  did  he  come.?  How  happy  we 
were !  "  she  said,  choking  with  the  sobs  that  shook  her 
whole  body. 

The  gardener  saw  with  surprise  that,  though  nothing 
was  chasing  them,  and  there  was  nothing  to  run  away 
from,  and  there  was  nothing  especially  attractive  about 
the  bench  where  they  had  been  sitting,  yet  still  they 
went  past  him  back  to  the  house  with  peaceful,  shining 
faces. 

CHAPTER   XV 

As  soorl  as  he  had  taken  his  wife  to  her  room.  Levin 
went  to  seek  Dolly.  Darya  Aleksandrovna  also  was  in 
a  state  of  great  excitement.  She  was  pacing  up  and 
down  her  chamber,  and  scolding  little  Masha,  who 
stood  in  a  corner,  crying. 

"  You  shall  stay  all  day  in  the  corner,  and  eat  dinner 
alone,  and  you  shall  not  see  one  of  your  dolls,  and  you 
shall  have  no  new  dress,"  she  was  saying,  though  she 
did  not  know  why  she  was  punishing  the  child.  "  This 
is  a  naughty  little  girl,"  she  said  to  Levin;  "where  does 
she  get  this  abominable  disposition  .''  " 


124  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Why,  what  has  she  done  ? "  asked  Levin,  rather  in- 
differently, for  he  was  annoyed  to  find  that  he  had  come 
at  the  wrong  time  when  he  wished  some  advice  regard- 
ing his  own  affairs. 

"  She  and  Grisha  went  into  the  raspberry  bush,  and 
there  ....  but  I  can't  tell  you  what  she  did.  I  'd  a  thou- 
sand times  rather  have  Miss  Elliot.  This  governess 
does  n't  look  after  anything ....  she  's  a  machine.  Figiirez 
voiis,  que  la  petite  ...y 

And  Darya  Aleksandrovna  related  Masha's  misdeeds. 

"There's  nothing  very  bad  in  that.  That  doesn't 
signify  a  bad  disposition.  It  is  only  a  piece  of  childish 
mischief,"  said  Levin,  soothingly. 

"  But  what  is  the  matter  with  you  ?  You  look  troubled. 
What  has  happened  down-stairs  .-*  "  asked  Dolly,  and  by 
the  tone  of  her  questions  Levin  perceived  that  it  would 
be  easy  for  him  to  say  what  he  had  in  his  mind  to  say. 

"  I  have  n't  been  down-stairs.  I  have  been  alone  in 
the  garden  with  Kitty.  We  have  just  had  a  quarrel .... 
the  second  since....  Stiva  came." 

Dolly  looked  at  him  with  her  intelligent,  penetrating 
eyes. 

"  Now  tell  me,  with  your  hand  on  your  heart,"  he 
said,  "tell  me,  was  the  conduct,  not  of  Kitty,  but  of 
this  young  man,  anything  else  than  unpleasant,  not 
unpleasant,  but  intolerable,  insulting  even,  to  a  hus- 
band .?  " 

"  What  shall  I  say  to  you }  —  Stand,  stand  in  the 
corner!''  said  she  to  Masha,  who,  noticing  the  scarcely 
perceptible  smile  on  her  mother's  face,  started  to  go 
away.  "  Society  would  say  that  he  is  only  behaving  as 
all  young  men  behave.  //  fait  la  coiir  d  nne  j'eune  ei 
jolie  femme,  and  her  husband,  as  himself  a  gentleman 
of  society,  should  be  flattered  by  it." 

"Yes,  yes,"  said  Levin,  angrily;  "but  have  you 
noticed  it  ? " 

"  I  noticed  it,  of  course,  and  so  did  Stiva.  Just  after 
tea  he  said  to  me,  ^  Je  crois  que  Veslovsky  fait  tin  petit 
brin  de  conr  a  Kitty.'  "  ^ 

^  I  believe  Veslovsky  is  trying  to  flirt  with  Kitty. 


ANNA   KARENINA  125 

'•  Well,  that  settles  it.  Now  I  am  calm.  I  am  going 
to  send  him  away,"  said  Levin. 

"  What !  Are  you  out  of  your  senses  ?  "  cried  Dolly, 
alarmed.  "What  are  you  thinking  about,  Kostia .'' " 
she  went  on  with  a  laugh.  — "  You  may  go  now  to 
Fanny,"  she  said  to  the  child.  "  No !  If  you  like,  I 
will  speak  to  Stiva.  He  will  get  him  to  leave.  He  can 
say  you  are  expecting  company.  However,  it  is  not 
our  house." 

"  No,  no  !     I  will  do  it  myself." 

*'  You  will  quarrel."  .... 

"  Not  at  all,  I  shall  find  it  amusing,"  said  he,  with  a 
happier  light  shining  in  his  eyes.  "  There,  now,  Dolly, 
forgive  her ;  she  won't  do  it  again,"  he  said,  pointing 
to  the  little  culprit,  who  had  not  gone  to  Fanny,  but 
was  now  standing  irresolute  beside  her  mother,  and 
looking  askance  at  her  with  pleading  eyes. 

The  mother  looked  at  her.  The  little  girl,  sobbing, 
hid  her  face  in  her  mother's  lap,  and  Dolly  laid  her  thin 
hand  tenderly  on  her  head. 

"  Is  there  anything  in  common  between  us  and  that 
fellow  .'* "  thought  Levin,  and  he  went  to  find  Veslovsky. 

As  he  passed  through  the  hall  he  ordered  the  carriage 
to  be  made  ready  to  go  to  the  station. 

"  The  springs  were  broken  yesterday,"  the  servant 
answered. 

"  Then  bring  the  tarantas.  Only  be  quick  about  it. 
Where  is  the  guest .''  " 

"  He  went  to  his  room." 

Levin  found  Vasenka  in  the  act  of  trying  on  his 
gaiters  in  preparation  for  a  ride.  He  had  just  taken 
his  things  out  of  his  valise,  and  laid  aside  some  new  love- 
songs. 

Either  there  was  something  strange  in  Levin's  ex- 
pression, or  Vasenka  himself  was  conscious  that  ce  petit 
brin  de  coiir  which  he  was  making  was  rather  out  of 
place  in  this  family ;  but  at  all  events,  he  felt  as  uncom- 
fortable in  Levin's  presence  as  it  is  possible  for  an 
elegant  young  man  to  feel. 

"  Do  you  ride  in  gaiters  .■*  "  asked  Levin. 


126  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Yes ;  it 's  much  neater,"  replied  Vasenka,  putting 
up  one  fat  leg  on  a  chair,  and  struggling  with  the 
bottom  button,  and  smiling  with  genuine  good  humor. 

He  was  really  a  very  good-hearted  young  fellow,  and 
Levin  felt  sorry  for  him  and  conscience-stricken  for 
himself  as  his  host  when  he  saw  the  timidity  in  Vasenka's 
eyes. 

On  the  table  lay  a  fragment  of  a  stick  which  they 
had  broken  off  that  morning  while  trying  to  prop  up  the 
parallel  bars  for  their  gymnastic  exercises.  Levin  took 
this  fragment  in  his  hand  and  began  to  break  off  the 
ragged  ends,  not  knowing  how  to  commence. 

"  I  wanted  ....  "  He  stopped  for  a  moment ;  but  sud- 
denly remembering  Kitty  and  all  that  had  taken  place, 
he  went  on,  looking  him  squarely  in  the  eye.  "  I  have 
had  the  horses  put  in  for  you." 

"  What  do  you  mean  }  "  began  Vasenka,  in  surprise. 
"  Where  are  we  going  ?  " 

"  You  are  going  to  the  railway  station,"  said  Levin, 
with  a  frown,  breaking  off  the  end  of  the  stick. 

"  Are  you  going  away  ?     Has  anything  happened  ?  " 

"I  happen  to  be  expecting  company,"  Levin  went 
on,  breaking  off  pieces  of  his  stick  more  and  more  ner- 
vously with  his  strong  fingers.  "  Or,  no,  I  am  not 
expecting  any  one,  and  nothing  has  happened,  but  I 
beg  you  to  go  away.  You  may  explain  my  lack  in 
politeness  as  you  please." 

Vasenka  drew  himself  up. 

"  I  beg  yoH  to  explain  to  me,"  said  he,  with  dignity, 
comprehending  at  last. 

"  I  cannot  explain  to  you,  and  you  will  be  wise  not  to 
question  me,"  Levin  said  slowly,  trying  to  remain  calm, 
and  to  check  the  tremulous  motions  of  his  face. 

And  as  the  chipped  pieces  of  the  stick  were  by  this 
time  all  broken.  Levin  took  the  stick  in  his  fingers,  split 
it  in  two,  and  picked  up  the  part  that  fell  to  the 
floor. 

Apparently  the  sight  of  those  energetic  hands,  those 
very  muscles  which  he  had  seen  tested  that  morning 
while  they  were  doing  their  gymnastics,  those  flashing 


ANNA   KARENINA  iiy 

eyes,  and  the  quivering  face  and  the  subdued  sound  of 
his  voice  impressed  Vasenka  more  than  the  spoken 
words.  Shrugging  his  shoulders  and  smiHng  disdain- 
fully, he  submitted. 

'•  May  I  not  see  Oblonsky  ? " 

The  shrugging  of  the  shoulders  and  the  smile  did  not 
annoy  Levin.  *'  What  else  could  he  do .'' "  he  asked 
himself. 

"  I  will  send  him  to  you  immediately." 

"  What  sense  is  there  in  such  conduct !  "  exclaimed 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  when  he  had  learned  from  his 
friend  that  he  was  to  be  driven  from  the  house,  and 
finding  Levin  in  the  garden,  where  he  was  walking  up 
and  down  waiting  for  his  guest's  departure.  "  Mais 
c'est  ridiaile !  To  be  stung  by  such  a  fly  as  that ! 
Mais  c  est  dn  der^nier  ridicule  !  What  difference  does 
it  make  to  you  if  a  young  man ....  " 

But  the  spot  where  the  fly  had  stung  Levin  was  evi- 
dently still  sensitive,  because  he  turned  pale  again  and 
cut  short  the  explanations  which  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
tried  to  give. 

"  Please  don't  take  the  trouble  to  defend  the  young 
man  ;  I  can't  help  it.  I  am  sorry  both  for  you  and  for 
him.  But  I  imagine  it  won't  be  a  great  trial  for  him  to 
go  away,  and  my  wife  and  I  both  found  his  presence 
unpleasant." 

"  But  it  was  insulting  to  him.     Et  p7ds  cest  ridicule'' 

"  Well,  it  was  humiHating  and  extremely  disagreeable 
to  me.  I  am  not  to  blame  toward  him,  and  there  is  no 
reason  why  I  should  suffer  for  it." 

"  Well,  I  did  not  expect  this  of  you.  On  pent  itre 
jaloux,  mais  a  ce  point  c  est  du  dei'nier  ridiculed 

Levin  quickly  turned  away,  and  entered  the  thick 
shrubbery  by  the  driveway,  and  continued  to  walk  up 
and  down  the  path. 

Soon  he  heard  the  rumbling  of  the  tarantas,  and 
through  the  trees  he  saw  Vasenka  riding  up  the  road, 
sitting  on  the  straw  (for  unfortunately  the  tarantas  had 
no  seat),  the  ribbons  of  his  Scotch  cap  streaming  behind 
his  head  as  he  jolted  along. 


128  ANNA    KARENINA 

"What  now?"  thought  Levin,  as  he  saw  a  servant 
run  from  the  house  and  stop  the  cart.  It  was  only  to 
find  a  place  for  the  machinist,  whom  Levin  had  entirely 
forgotten.  The  machinist,  with  a  low  bow,  said  some- 
thing to  Veslovsky,  and  clambered  into  the  tarantas,  and 
they  drove  off  together. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  and  the  old  princess  were  in- 
dignant at  Levin's  conduct.  And  he  himself  felt  that 
he  had  been  not  only  ridiculous  in  the  highest  degree, 
but  even  blameworthy  and  disgraceful ;  but  as  he  re- 
membered all  that  he  and  his  wife  had  suffered,  he 
asked  himself  how  he  should  do  another  time  in  similar 
circumstances,  and  his  answer  was  that  he  should  do 
exactly  the  same  thing  again. 

In  spite  of  all  this,  toward  the  end  of  the  day,  all  of 
them,  with  the  exception  of  the  old  princess,  who  could 
not  forgive  Levin's  behavior,  became  extraordinarily 
gay  and  lively,  just  like  children  after  a  punishment  or 
like  grown  people  after  a  solemn  official  reception,  so 
that  in  the  evening,  in  the  absence  of  the  old  princess, 
they  talked  about  the  dismissal  of  Vasenka  as  about 
something  that  had  taken  place  long,  long  before.  And 
Dolly,  who  had  inherited  from  her  father  the  gift  of 
telling  a  funny  story,  made  Varenka  laugh  till  she  cried, 
by  telling  her  three  and  four  times,  and  each  time  with 
new  amusing  details,  how  she  had  just  put  on,  in  honor 
of  their  guest,  some  new  ribbons,  and  was  just  going 
into  the  drawing-room,  when,  at  that  very  minute,  the 
rattle  of  an  old  tumble-down  wagon  drew  her  to  the 
window.  Who  was  in  this  old  tumble-down  wagon  .-* 
Vasenka  himself !  and  his  Scotch  cap,  his  love-songs, 
his  romantic  airs,  and  his  gaiters,  seated  on  the  straw ! 

"  If  only  a  carriage  had  been  given  him  !  But  no ! 
Then  I  hear  a  shout :  *  Hold  on  ! '  *  Well,'  I  say  to  my- 
self, '  they  have  taken  pity  on  him  ; '  not  in  the  least ; 
I  look  and  see  a  fat  German,  —  and  off  they  go !  and 
my  ribbons  were  wasted." 


ANNA    KARENINA  129 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  carried  out  her  plan  of  go- 
ing to  see  Anna.  She  was  sorry  to  offend  her  sister, 
or  to  displease  her  sister's  husband.  She  realized  that 
the  Levins  were  right  in  not  wishing  to  have  anything 
to  do  with  Vronsky ;  but  she  considered  it  her  duty  to 
go  to  see  Anna  and  prove  to  her  that  her  feehngs  could 
not  change,  in  spite  of  the  change  in  her  position. 

In  order  not  to  be  dependent  on  the  Levins,  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  sent  to  the  village  to  hire  horses ;  but 
Levin,  when  he  heard  about  it,  went  to  her  with  his 
complaint :  — 

"Why  do  you  think  this  journey  would  be  disagree- 
able to  me  ?  And  even  if  it  were,  it  would  be  still  more 
unpleasant  for  me  not  to  have  you  take  my  horses," 
said  he.  "  You  never  told  me  that  you  were  really 
going ;  but  to  hire  them  from  the  village  is  disagreeable 
to  me  in  the  first  place,  and  chiefly  because,  though  they 
undertake  to  get  you  there,  they  would  not  succeed.  I 
have  horses.  And  if  you  don't  wish  to  offend  me,  you 
will  take  mine." 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  had  to  yield,  and  on  the  ap- 
pointed day  Levin  had  all  ready  for  his  sister-in-law  a 
team  of  four  horses,  and  a  relay,  made  up  of  working 
and  saddle-horses ;  a  very  far  from  handsome  turnout, 
but  capable  of  taking  Darya  Aleksandrovna  to  her 
destination  in  one  day. 

Now  that  horses  were  needed  to  take  the  old  princess 
out  for  her  daily  drive,  and  for  the  midwife,  it  was  a 
rather  heavy  burden  for  Levin  ;  but,  according  to  the  law 
of  hospitality,  he  could  not  possibly  think  of  allowing 
Darya  Aleksandrovna  to  hire  horses  outside,  and,  more- 
over, he  knew  that  the  twenty  rubles  which  was  asked 
for  the  hire  of  a  team  would  be  a  serious  matter  for  her, 
for  Darya  Aleksandrovna's  pecuniary  affairs  had  got 
into  a  very  wretched  condition,  and  caused  the  Levins 
as  much  anxiety  as  if  they  had  been  their  own. 

Darya  Aleksandrovna,  by  Levin's  advice,  set  out  at 

VOL.  III.  —  9 


13©  ANNA    KARENINA 

early  dawn.  The  weather  was  fine,  the  calash  was 
comfortable,  the  horses  went  merrily,  and  on  the  box, 
next  the  coachman,  in  place  of  a  footman,  sat  the  book- 
keeper, whom  Levin  had  sent  for  the  sake  of  greater 
security. 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  dropped  off  to  sleep,  and  did 
not  wake  up  till  they  reached  the  place  where  they  had 
to  change  horses.  It  was  at  the  same  rich  muzhik's 
house  where  Levin  had  stopped  on  his  way  to  Svia- 
zhsky's.  After  she  had  taken  tea,  and  talked  awhile  with 
the  women  about  their  children  and  with  the  old  man 
about  Count  Vronsky,  for  whom  he  had  great  respect, 
Darya  Aleksandrovna  proceeded  on  her  way  about  ten 
o'clock. 

At  home  on  account  of  her  maternal  cares  she  never 
had  much  time  to  think.  Consequently  now,  during  this 
four  hours'  journey,  all  the  thoughts  that  had  been  so 
long  restrained  suddenly  began  to  throng  through  her 
brain,  and  she  passed  her  whole  life  in  review  as  she 
had  never  before  done  and  from  every  side.  These 
thoughts  were  strange  even  to  herself. 

First  she  thought  of  her  children,  and  began  to  worry 
over  them,  though  her  mother  and  her  sister  —  and 
it  was  the  latter  on  whom  she  chiefly  relied  —  had 
promised  to  look  after  them.  "  If  only  Masha  does  n't 
do  some  stupid  thing,  and  if  Grisha  does  n't  get  kicked 
by  the  horse,  and  if  Lili  does  n't  have  an  attack  of  indi- 
gestion," she  said  to  herself. 

Then  questions  of  the  present  moment  began  to 
mingle  with  questions  of  the  immediate  future.  She 
began  to  consider  how  she  must  make  changes  in  her 
rooms  when  she  returned  to  Moscow,  she  must  refurnish 
her  drawing-room ;  her  eldest  daughter  would  need  a 
shuba  for  winter.  Then  came  questions  of  a  still  more 
distant  future.  How  should  she  best  continue  the  chil- 
dren's education  ? 

"  The  girls  can  be  easily  managed,"  she  said  to  herself, 
**  but  the  boys  .''  It  is  well  that  I  am  able  to  look  after 
Grisha,  but  it  comes  from  the  fact  that  I  am  free  just 
now,  with  no  baby  in  prospect.     Of  course  there  's  no 


ANNA    KARENINA  13I 

dependence  to  be  placed  on  Stiva.  I  shall  be  able  to 
bring  them  up  with  the  assistance  of  excellent  people ; 
but  if  I  have  any  more  babies  ...." 

And  it  occurred  to  her  how  unjust  was  the  saying 
that  the  curse  laid  on  woman  lay  in  the  pangs  of  child-birth. 

"Childbirth  is  nothing,  but  pregnancy  is  such  misery," 
she  said  to  herself,  recalling  the  last  experience  of  the 
sort,  and  the  death  of  the  child.  And  the  thought 
brought  to  mind  her  talk  with  the  young  wife  at  the 
post-house.  When  asked  if  she  had  children,  this 
peasant  woman  had  answered  cheerfully :  — 

"  I  had  one  daughter,  but  God  relieved  me  of  her ;  she 
was  buried  in  Lent. 

"  And  you  are  very  sad  about  her }  " 

"  Why  should  I  be  1  father  has  plenty  of  grandchildren, 
as  it  is,  and  she  would  have  been  only  one  care  more ! 
You  can't  work  or  do  anything  ;  it  hinders  everything." 

This  reply  had  seemed  revolting  to  Darya  Aleksan- 
drovna,  in  spite  of  the  young  peasant-woman's  appear- 
ance of  good  nature,  but  now  she  could  not  help  recalling 
what  she  had  said.  There  was  certainly  a  grain  of  truth 
in  those  cynical  words. 

"  Yes,  and  as  a  general  thing,"  said  Darya  Aleksan- 
drovna,  as  she  looked  back  over  the  fifteen  years  of  her 
married  life,  "  pregnancy,  nausea,  dullness  of  spirits,  in- 
difference to  everything,  and  worst  of  all,  ugliness. 
Kitty,  our  little,  young,  pretty  Kitty,  how  ugly  even 
she  has  grown,  and  I  know  well  what  a  fright  I  become 
when  I  am  in  that  condition.  The  birth-pains,  the  aw- 
ful sufferings,  and  that  last  moment....  then  the  nursing 
of  the  children,  the  sleepless  nights,  the  agonies...." 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  shuddered  at  the  mere  recollec- 
tion of  the  agony  which  with  almost  every  one  of  her 
children  she  had  suffered  from  broken  breast. 

Then  the  illnesses  of  the  children,  that  panic  of  fear , 
then  their  education,  their  evil  disposition  ;  she  recalled 
little  Masha's  disobedience  in  going  to  the  raspberry 
bush  ;  the  lessons,  Latin  —  everything  that  is  so  incom- 
prehensible and  hard.  And,  above  all,  the  death  of  these 
children. 


132  ANNA    KARENINA 

And  once  more  she  went  over  the  undying  pangs  that 
weighed  down  her  maternal  heart  in  the  cruel  remem- 
brance of  the  death  of  her  youngest  child,  the  nursHng 
who  died  of  the  croup,  and  his  funeral,  and  the  indiffer- 
ence of  other  people  as  they  looked  at  the  little  pink 
coffin,  and  her  own  heartrending  grief,  which  none 
could  share,  as  she  looked  for  the  last  time  on  the  pal- 
lid brow  with  the  clinging  curls,  and  the  surprised  half- 
open  mouth  visible  for  one  instant  ere  they  shut  down 
the  cover  with  its  silver-gilt  cross. 

"  And  what  is  all  this  for  ?  What  will  be  the  result  of 
it  all  ?  That  I  never  have  a  moment  of  rest,  spending  my 
days  now  in  bearing  children,  now  in  nursing  them,  for- 
ever irritable,  complaining,  self-tormented,  and  torment- 
ing others,  repulsive  to  my  husband.  I  shall  live  on,  and 
my  children  will  grow  up  wretched,  ill-educated,  and 
poor.  Even  now,  if  I  had  not  been  able  to  spend  the 
summer  with  the  Levins,  I  don't  know  how  we  should 
have  got  along.  Of  course  Kostia  and  Kitty  are  so 
considerate  that  we  can't  feel  under  obligations  to  them  ; 
but  this  cannot  go  on  so.  They  will  be  having  children 
of  their  own,  and  then  they  will  not  be  able  to  help  us 
any  more ;  even  now  their  expenses  are  very  heavy. 
What  then  .''  Papa,  who  has  kept  almost  nothing  for  him- 
self, won't  be  able  to  help  us,  will  he  ?  One  thing  is  per- 
fectly certain,  I  cannot  educate  my  children  unaided ; 
and,  if  I  have  to  have  assistance,  it  will  be  humiliating. 
Well,  let  us  suppose  that  we  have  good  luck,  if  no  more 
of  the  children  die  and  I  can  manage  to  educate  them. 
Under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  they  will  at 
least  turn  out  not  to  be  bad.  That  is  all  that  I  can 
hope  for.     And   to  bring   about  so  much,   how  much 

suffering,  how  much  trouble,  I  must  go  through My 

whole  life  is  spoiled !  " 

Again  she  recalled  what  the  young  peasant  woman 
had  said,  and  again  it  was  odious  to  her  to  remember  it; 
but  she  could  not  help  agreeing  that  there  was  a  grain 
of  coarse  truth  in  her  words. 

"Is  it  much  farther,  Mikhaila  ? "  asked  Darya  Alek-, 
sandrovna  of  the  bookkeeper,  in  order  to  check  tHese 
painful  thoughts. 


ANNA    KARENINA  133 

"They  say  it  is  seven  versts  from  this  village." 

The  calash  was  rolling  through  the  village  street  and 
across  a  little  bridge.  On  the  bridge  was  passing  a 
whole  troop  of  peasant  women  talking,  with  loud  and 
merry  voices,  and  carrying  their  sheaves  on  their  backs. 
The  women  paused  on  the  bridge  and  gazed  inquisi- 
tively at  the  calash.  All  the  faces  turned  toward  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  seemed  to  her  healthy  and  cheerful, 
mocking  her  with  the  very  joy  of  life. 

"All  are  full  of  life,  all  of  them  enjoy  themselves," 
said  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  continuing  to  commune  with 
her  own  thoughts,  as  she  passed  by  the  peasant  women 
and  was  carried  swiftly  up  the  little  hill,  pleasantly 
rocking  on  the  easy  springs  of  the  old  calash,  "while  I, 
like  one  let  loose  from  a  prison,  am  free  for  a  moment 
from  the  life  that  is  crushing  me  with  its  cares.  All 
other  women  know  what  it  is  to  live,  these  peasant 
women  and  my  sister  Natali  and  Varenka  and  Anna 
whom  I  am  going  to  visit  —  every  one  but  me. 

"And  they  blame  Anna.  Why.-*  Am  I  really  any 
better  than  she .''  At  least  I  have  a  husband  whom  I 
love ;  not,  to  be  sure,  as  I  wish  I  loved  him,  but  I  love 
him  in  a  way,  and  Anna  did  not  love  hers.  In  what 
respect  is  she  to  blame  .-*  She  desired  to  live.  And  God 
put  that  desire  into  our  hearts.  Very  possibly  I  might 
have  done  the  same  thing.  And  to  this  day  I  am  not 
certain  whether  I  did  well  in  taking  her  advice  at  that 
horrible  time  when  she  came  to  visit  me  in  Moscow. 
Then  I  ought  to  have  left  my  husband  and  begun  my  life 
all  over  again.  If  I  had  I  might  have  loved  and  been  loved. 
And  now  are  things  any  better  ?  I  cannot  respect  him, 
but  I  need  him,"  she  said  to  herself,  referring  to  her 
husband,  "  and  so  I  endure  him.  Is  that  any  better  ? 
At  that  time  I  still  had  the  power  of  pleasing,  I  had 
some  beauty  then,"  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  still 
pursuing  her  thoughts  ;  and  the  desire  to  look  at  her- 
self in  a  mirror  came  over  her.  She  had  a  small  travel- 
ing mirror  in  her  bag,  and  she  wanted  to  take  it  out ; 
but,  as  she  looked  at  the  backs  of  the  coachman  and 
the  swaying  bookkeeper,   she    felt  that  she  should  be 


IJ4  ANNA    KARENINA 

ashamed  of  herself  if  either  of  them  turned  round  and 
saw  her,  and  so  she  did  not  take  out  the  mirror.  Hut, 
even  though  she  did  not  look  at  the  mirror,  she  felt  that 
even  now  it  was  not  too  late :  for  she  remembered 
Sergyei  Ivanovitch,  who  was  especially  amiable  to  her, 
and  Stiva's  friend,  the  good  Turovtsuin,  who  had  helped 
her  take  care  of  the  children  during  the  time  of  the 
scarlatina,  and  had  been  in  love  with  her.  And  then 
there  was  still  another,  a  very  young  man,  who,  as  her 
husband  used  jestingly  to  remark,  found  her  prettier 
than  all  her  sisters.  And  all  sorts  of  passionate  and  im- 
possible romances  rose  before  her  imagination. 

"  Anna  has  done  perfectly  right,  and  I  shall  never 
think  of  reproaching  her.  She  is  happy,  she  makes 
some  one  else  happy,  and  she  is  not  worn  out  as  I  am,  but 
keeps  all  her  freshness  and  her  mind  open  to  all  sorts  of 
interests,"  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  and  a  roguish 
smile  played  over  her  lips  because,  as  she  passed  Anna's 
romantic  story  in  review,  she  imagined  herself  simul- 
taneously having  almost  the  same  experiences  with  a 
sort  of  collective  representation  of  all  the  men  who  had 
ever  been  in  love  with  her.  She,  just  like  Anna,  con- 
fessed everything  to  her  husband.  And  the  amazement 
and  perplexity  which  she  imagined  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch  displayed  at  this  confession  caused  her  to  smile. 

With  such  day-dreams  she  reached  the  side  road  that 
led  from  the  highway  to  Vozdvizhenskoye. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

The  coachman  reined  in  his  four  horses,  and  looked 
off  to  the  right  toward  a  field  of  rye  where  some  mu- 
zhiks were  sitting  beside  their  cart.  The  bookkeeper  at 
first  started  to  jump  down,  but  afterward  reconsidered, 
and  shouted,  imperatively  summoning  a  muzhik  to  the 
carriage.  The  breeze  which  had  blown  while  they  were 
in  motion  died  down,  when  they  stopped  ;  the  horse-flies 
persisted  in  sticking  to  the  sweaty  horses,  which  kept 
angrily  shaking  them  off.     The  metallic  sound  of  whet- 


ANNA   KARENINA  135 

ting  scythes,  borne  by  the  breeze  across  from  the  telyega, 
ceased.  One  of  the  peasants  got  up  and  came  over  to 
the  calash.  "  Say,  hurry  up,"  cried  the  bookkeeper, 
angrily,  to  the  muzhik,  who,  in  his  bare  feet,  came 
leisurely  along  the  ruts  of  the  dry  and  little-traveled 
road,  "come  here." 

The  old  man,  whose  curly  hair  was  bound  round  with 
a  piece  of  bast,  and  whose  bent  back  was  black  with 
perspiration,  quickened  his  step,  and  came  up  to  the 
calash,  and  took  hold  of  the  rim  with  his  sunburnt  hand. 

"  Vozdvizhenskoye  ?  the  manor-house .''  ^  to  the  count's  ? " 
he  repeated ;  "  why,  all  you  have  to  do  's  to  drive  on  up 
the  hill.  First  turn  to  the  left.  Then  straight  along  the 
preshpekt  and  that  '11  bring  you  there.  Who  do  you 
want  ?     The  count  himself .''  " 

"  Do  you  know  whether  they  are  at  home,  galubchik.? " 
asked  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  not  mentioning  names,  for 
she  did  not  know  how  to  ask  for  Anna  even  of  a 
muzhik. 

"  Must  be  at  home,"  said  the  muzhik,  shuffling  along 
in  his  bare  feet  and  leaving  in  the  dust  the  tracks  of  his 
soles  with  their  five  toes.  "  They  must  be  at  home,"  he 
repeated,  evidently  liking  to  talk.  "  This  afternoon 
some  new  guests  came.  Guests,  such  quantities  of 
them !  ....  What  do  you  want,"  he  cried,  addressing  his 
comrade,  who  shouted  something  from  the  cart, 
"They've  all  been  out  on  horseback.  We  saw  them 
go  by.  They  must  be  back  by  this  time.  But  whose 
folks  are  you  }  " 

"  We  have  come  from  a  long  way,"  said  the  coachman, 
climbing  upon  the  box.     "  So  then,  it  is  not  far." 

"  I  tell  you,  you  are  almost  there.  If  you  drive  on ....  " 
said  he,  shifting  his  hand  on  the  rim  of  the  calash. 

His  young  comrade,  healthy-looking  and  thick-set, 
also  came  up  to  the  carriage. 

"  Do  you  need  any  help  in  getting  in  the  harvest  ? " 
he  asked. 

"  I  don't  know,  galubchik." 

^  Barsky  dvor,  a  dvor,  or  house  and  grounds,  belonging  to  a  barin  ol 
noble. 


136  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Well,  you  understand,  you  turn  to  the  left  and  then 
you  '11  get  there,"  said  the  muzhik,  evidently  reluctant  to 
part  with  the  strangers  and  anxious  to  talk. 

The  coachman  touched  up  his  horses,  but  they  had 
hardly  started  ere  the  muzhik  cried  :  — 

"Wait!  he!  hold  on!"  cried  two  voices  together 
The  coachman  reined  in  again.  "  There  they  come. 
There  they  are,"  cried  the  muzhik.  "  See  what  a  lot 
of  them,"  and  he  pointed  to  four  persons  on  horseback 
and  two  in  a  char  a  bancs  who  were  coming  along  the 
road. 

They  were  Vronsky  and  his  jockey,  Veslovsky  and 
Anna,  on  horseback,  and  the  princess  Varvara  with 
Sviazhsky  in  the  char  a  bancs.  They  had  been  out  to 
ride  and  to  look  at  the  operation  of  some  newly  imported 
reaping-machines. 

When  the  carriage  stopped  the  riders  were  all  walk 
ing  their  horses.  In  front  Anna  rode  with  Veslovsky. 
Anna  rode  at  an  easy  gait  on  a  little  stout  English  cob 
with  a  cropped  mane  and  docked  tail.  Her  pretty  head, 
with  her  dark  ringlets  escaping  from  under  a  tall  hat, 
her  full  shoulders,  her  slender  waist  in  a  tightly  fitting 
amazonka,  and  her  whole  easy,  graceful  horsemanship 
surprised  Dolly.  At  first  it  seemed  to  her  unbecoming 
for  Anna  to  be  riding  horseback.  Darya  Aleksandrovna 
connected  the  idea  of  horseback  riding  for  ladies  with 
the  idea  of  light,  youthful  coquetry,  which  seemed  to 
her  did  not  accord  well  with  Anna's  position  ;  but  as  she 
examined  her  more  closely  she  immediately  became 
reconciled  to  her  going  on  horseback.  Notwithstanding 
all  her  elegance,  everything  about  her  was  so  simple, 
easy,  and  appropriate  in  her  pose  and  in  her  habit  and 
in  her  motions,  that  nothing  could  have  been  more 
natural. 

Next  to  Anna,  on  a  gray,  fiery  cavalry  horse,  rode 
Vasenka  Veslovsky,  thrusting  his  fat  legs  forward,  and 
evidently  very  well  satisfied  with  himself.  He  still 
wore  his  Scotch  cap  with  its  floating  ribbons,  and 
Darya  Aleksandrovna  could  hardly  restrain  a  smile  of 
amusement  when  she  saw  him. 


ANNA    KARENINA  137 

Behind  them  rode  Vronsky  on  a  dark  chestnut  horse 
of  purest  blood,  which  was  evidently  spoiling  for  a  gal- 
lop. He  was  sawing  on  the  reins  to  hold  him  back. 
Behind  them  came  a  little  man  in  a  jockey's  livery. 
Sviazhsky  and  the  princess  in  a  new  char  d  bancs,  drawn 
by  a  plump  raven-black  trotter,  brought  up  the  rear. 

Anna's  face,  as  she  recognized  Dolly  in  the  little  per- 
son curled  up  in  a  corner  of  the  old  carriage,  suddenly 
grew  bright  with  a  happy  smile,  and,  uttering  a  cry  of 
joy,  she  put  her  cob  to  a  gallop.  Riding  up  to  the 
calash,  she  leaped  off  the  horse  without  any  one's  aid, 
and,  gathering  up  her  skirts,  ran  to  meet  her. 

"  I  thought  so,  and  did  not  dare  to  think  so!  What 
pleasure!  you  can't  imagine  my  joy,"  she  said,  pressing 
her  face  to  Dolly's,  kissing  her,  and  then  holding  her  off 
at  arm's  length  and  looking  at  her  with  an  affectionate 
smile.  "  What  a  pleasure,  AlekseY,"  she  said,  glancing 
at  Vronsky,  who  had  also  dismounted,  and  was  com- 
ing  toward  them,  "  what  a  piece  of  good  fortune !  " 

Vronsky  came  up,  raising  his  tall  gray  hat.  "You 
can't  imagine  what  delight  your  visit  gives  us,"  said  he, 
in  a  tone  which  conveyed  a  peculiar  satisfaction,  and  with 
a  smile  which  displayed  his  strong  white  teeth, 

Vasenka,  without  dismounting  from  his  horse,  took 
off  his  beribboned  cap,  and  waved  it  gayly  round  his 
head,  in  honor  of  the  guest. 

"This  is  the  Princess  Varvara,"  began  Anna,  in  reply 
to  a  questioning  look  of  Dolly  as  the  char  a  bancs  came 
up. 

"Ah!"  replied  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  and  her  face 
showed  involuntary  annoyance. 

The  J'rincess  Varvara  was  her  husband's  aunt,  and 
she  knew  her  of  old,  and  did  not  esteem  her.  She 
knew  that  she  had  lived  all  her  life  long  in  a  humiliating 
dependence  on  rich  relatives;  and  the  fact  that  she  was 
living  at  Vronsky's,  at  the  house  of  a  stranger  to  her, 
insulted  her  through  her  husband's  family.  Anna 
noticed  the  expression  of  Dolly's  face,  and  was  con- 
fused ;  she  blushed,  and,  dropping  the  train  of  her 
amazonka,  she  tripped  over  it. 


138  ANNA   KARENINA 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  went  over  to  the  char  d  band 
when  it  had  stopped  and  coolly  greeted  the  Princess  Var- 
vara.  Sviazhsky  was  also  an  acquaintance.  He  asked 
after  his  friend  Levin  and  his  young  wife;  then,  casting 
a  fleeting  glance  at  the  oddly  matched  horses  and  the 
patched  side  of  the  old  carriage,  he  proposed  that  the 
ladies  should  get  into  the  char  a  bancs. 

"  I  will  take  this  vehicle  to  go  home  in ;  the  horse  is 
quiet  and  the  princess  is  an  excellent  driver." 

"Oh,  no,"  interrupted  Anna,  coming  up;  "remain  as 
you  are.     I  will  go  home  with  Dolly  in  the  calash." 

Darya  Aleksandrovna's  eyes  were  dazzled  by  the  un- 
exampled elegance  of  the  carriage,  and  the  beauty  of 
the  horses,  and  the  refined  brilliancy  of  the  company 
around  her,  but  more  than  all  was  she  struck  by  the 
change  that  had  taken  place  in  her  old  friend,  her 
dearly  beloved  Anna. 

Any  other  woman,  less  observant,  and  unacquainted 
with  Anna  in  days  gone  by,  and  especially  any  one  who 
had  not  been  under  the  sway  of  such  thoughts  as  had 
occupied  Darya  Aleksandrovna  on  the  way,  would  not 
have  noticed  anything  peculiar  about  Anna.  But  now 
Darya  Aleksandrovna  was  struck  by  the  transient  beauty 
characteristic  of  women  when  they  are  under  the  in- 
fluence of  love,  and  which  she  detected  now  in  Anna's 
face.  Everything  about  her  face  was  extraordinarily 
fascinating:  the  well-defined  dimples  in  her  cheeks  and 
chin,  the  curve  of  her  lips,  the  smile,  which,  as  it  were, 
flitted  over  her  features,  the  gleam  in  her  eyes,  the  grace- 
fulness and  quickness  of  her  movements,  the  richness 
in  the  tones  of  her  voice,  even  the  manner  with  which 
she,  with  a  sort  of  sternly  affectionate  manner,  replied 
to  Veslovsky,  who  had  asked  permission  to  ride  her  cob 
so  as  to  teach  it  to  gallop  by  a  pressure  of  the  leg.  It 
seemed  as  if  she  herself  was  aware  of  this,  and  rejoiced 
in  it. 

When  the  two  ladies  were  seated  together  in  the 
calash,  they  both  suddenly  felt  a  sense  of  constraint. 
Anna  was  confused  at  the  scrutinizingly  questioning  look 
which  Dolly  fixed  on  her,  and  Dolly  because  she  could 


ANN4   KARENINA  IJ9 

not  help  feeling  ashamed  of  the  dirty  old  calash  in  which 
Anna  had  taken  her  seat  with  her. 

The  coachman,  Filipp,  and  the  bookkeeper  experienced 
the  same  feeling.  The  bookkeeper,  in  order  to  hide  his 
confusion,  fidgeted  about  in  helping  the  ladies  to  be  com- 
fortably seated  ;  but  Filipp,  the  coachman,  frowned  and 
was  loath  to  acknowledge  any  such  superficial  superiority. 
He  put  on  an  ironical  smile  as  he  scrutinized  the  raven- 
black  trotter  harnessed  to  the  char  a  bancs,  and  decided 
in  his  own  mind  that  the  black  trotter  might  do  very  well 
for  a  prominazhe,  but  that  he  could  not  show  forty  versts 
at  a  heat. 

The  muzhiks  had  left  their  telyega,  and  gayly  and 
curiously  were  watching  the  meeting  of  the  friends,  and 
making  their  observations. 

"  They  seem  tolerably  glad ;  hain't  seen  each  other 
for  some  time,"  remarked  the  curly-haired  old  man. 

"  There,  Uncle  Gerasim,  that  black  gelding  would  haul 
in  the  sheaves  lively !  " 

"  Glian'-ka,  look  !  Is  that  a  woman  in  trousers  .-*  " 
asked  another,  pointing  at  Veslovsky,  sitting  on  the  side- 
saddle. 

"  Nye,  muzhik!  see  how  easy  he  rides." 

"  Say,  then,  my  children,  we  shan't  get  another  nap, 
shall  we  .-*  " 

"  No  more  sleep  now,"  said  the  old  man,  squinting 
his  eyes  and  glancing  at  the  sun  ;  "  past  noon !  Look  ! 
Now  get  your  hooks  and  to  work." 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

Anna  looked  at  Dolly's  tired,  worn  face,  with  the 
wrinkles  powdered  with  dust,  and  was  on  the  point  of 
saying  that  she  looked  thin ;  but,  realizing  that  she  her- 
self had  grown  more  beautiful  than  ever,  and  that  Dolly's 
eyes  told  her  so,  she  sighed,  and  began  to  talk  about 
herself. 

"You  are  studying  me,"  she  said.  "You  are  won- 
dering if  I  can  be  happy  in  my  position  I     Well,  what 


HO  ANNA    KARE;^INA 

can  I  say?  It  is  shameful  to  confess  it !  but  I ....  I  am 
unpardonably  happy.  What  has  happened  is  Uke  a 
piece  of  enchantment ;  Hke  a  dream  where  everything 
was  terrible,  agonizing,  and  suddenly  you  wake  up  and 
realize  that  it  was  only  a  nightmare.  I  had  been  asleep, 
I  had  suffered  awful  agonies,  and  now  that  is  all  long, 
long  past.  And  how  especially  happy  I  am  now  that  we 
are  together !  "  and  she  looked  at  Dolly  with  a  timid, 
questioning  smile. 

"  How  glad  I  am  !  "  Darya  Aleksandrovna  answered, 
more  coldly  than  she  wished.  "  I  am  glad  for  you ; .... 
but  why  have  you  not  written  me .''  " 

"  Why  ? ....  Because  I  did  not  dare  to You  knew  my 

position." 

"  Not  dare  .-•  to  me  !     If  you  knew  how  I ...." 

Dolly  was  about  to  tell  her  about  the  reflections  she 
had  had  on  the  journey,  but  somehow  it  did  not  seem  to 
her  to  be  the  fitting  place.  "  We  will  have  our  talk  by 
and  by,"  she  added.  "  What  is  that  group  of  buildings, 
or  little  village  rather } "  she  asked,  wishing  to  change 
the  conversation,  and  pointing  to  some  green  and  red 
roofs  which  appeared  through  the  acacias  and  lilac  trees. 

But  Anna  did  not  reply  to  her  question. 
,(|f"  No,  no  !  how  do  you  feel  about  my  position  .•*     What 
do  you  think  of  it  .-*  tell  me  !  "  Anna  went  on. 

"I  think...."  began  Darya  Aleksandrovna;  but  at 
this  instant  Vasenka  Veslovsky,  in  his  short  jacket, 
spurring  the  cob  into  a  trot  with  his  right  leg  and  creak- 
ing terribly  on  the  leather  side-saddle,  went  dashing  by 
them. 

"  It  goes,  Anna  Arkadyevna,"  he  shouted. 

Anna  did  not  even  look  at  him,  but  again  it  seemed 
to  Darya  Aleksandrovna  that  it  was  impossible  to  begin 
on  this  long  conversation  in  the  carriage,  and  so  she  said 
less  than  she  thought. 

"  I  do  not  think  about  it  at  all,"  said  she.  **  I  love 
you  and  always  have  loved  you.  And  when  we  love 
people  so,  we  love  them  for  what  they  are,  not  for  what 
we  wish  they  were." 

Anna  turned  her  eyes  away  from  her  friend's  face,  half 


ANNA    KARENINA  141 

closing  them  in  order  better  to  take  in  the  meaning  of 
the  words.  This  was  a  new  habit,  which  Dolly  had 
never  seen  in  her  before.  Apparently  she  interpreted 
her  friend's  answer  as  she  wanted,  and  she  looked  at 
Dolly. 

"  If  you  have  any  sins,  they  will  all  be  blotted  out  by 
this  visit  and  by  your  kind  words,"  she  said,  and  Dolly 
saw  that  her  eyes  were  dimmed  with  tears.  She  silently 
took  her  hand. 

"  What  are  those  buildings  ?  What  a  lot  of  them  !  " 
said  Dolly  again,  after  a  moment  of  silence. 

"  Those  are  the  roofs  of  our  buildings,  —  our  barns  and 
stables,"  replied  Anna.  "  Here  our  park  begins.  It 
was  all  neglected,  but  AlekseT  has  made  it  new  again. 
He  is  very  fond  of  this  kind  of  occupation,  and  to  my 
great  surprise  he  has  developed  a  passion  for  farming.^ 
Ah,  his  is  a  rich  nature !  Whatever  he  undertakes  he 
excels  in.  He  not  only  does  not  get  bored,  but  he  is 
passionately  interested  in  it.  I  do  not  know  how,  but 
he  is  making  a  capital  farmer,  so  economical,  almost 
stingy  —  but  only  in  farm  ways.  For  things  of  other 
sorts  he  will  spend  ten  thousand  rubles  and  never  give 
it  a  thought."  , 

She  said  this  with  that  joyously  crafty  characteristic 
smile  of  women  when  they  speak  of  the  men  they  love, 
and  the  secret  peculiarities  which  they  alone  know  about. 

"  Do  you  see  that  large  building .''  That  is  a  new 
hospital.  I  think  it  will  cost  him  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand.  It  is  his  hobby  just  now.  Do  you  know 
what  made  him  build  it  ?  The  peasants  asked  him  to 
reduce  the  rent  of  some  meadows,  but  he  declined  to  do 
so,  and  I  told  him  he  was  stingy.  Of  course,  it  was  n't 
altogether  that,  but  everything  taken  together,  so  he 
began  to  build  the  hospital  to  prove  my  charge  unjust; 
c'est  tme petitesse,  perhaps,  but  I  love  him  the  better  for 
it.  Now  in  a  moment  you  '11  see  the  house.  It  was 
built  by  his  grandfather,  and  the  outside  hasn't  been 
changed  at  all." 

"  How  beautiful !  "  cried  Dolly,  with  involuntary  sur- 

^  Khozydistvo. 


14a  ANNA    KARENINA 

prise  at  the  sight  of  a  stately  house  ornamented  with 
columns,  and  surrounded  by  a  park  filled  with  ancient 
trees  of  various  shades  of  green. 

"Isn't  it  beautiful  ?  And  the  view  from  the  second 
story  is  magnificent." 

They  came  into  the  dvor,  or  court,  paved  with  small 
stones  and  ornamented  with  flower-beds;  two  workmen 
were  at  this  moment  surrounding  a  bed  filled  with  loam 
with  roughly  trimmed  stones.  They  stopped  under  a 
covered  entrance. 

"  Oh,  they  have  already  arrived,"  said  Anna,  as  she 
^w  the  saddle-horses  being  led  away.  "  Is  n't  that 
horse  a  pretty  creature  .-*  that  cob ;  he 's  my  favorite. 
Bring  him  here  and  give  him  some  sugar  !  Where  is 
the  count .'' "  she  asked  of  the  two  servants  in  Uvery 
who  came  hurrying  out  to  receive  them.  "  Ah,  here  he 
is ! "  added  she,  perceiving  Vronsky  with  Veslovsky 
coming  to  meet  them. 

"  Where  shall  we  put  the  princess  ?  "  asked  Vronsky 
of  Anna,  in  French,  and,  without  waiting  for  an  answer, 
once  more  greeted  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  and  this  time 
he  kissed  her  hand,  —  "  in  the  large  balcony  chamber,  I 
suppose .'' " 

*'  Oh,  no,  that  is  too  far  off.  Better  put  her  in  the 
corner  chamber.  We  shall  see  more  of  each  other. 
Come,  come,"  said  she,  giving  her  favorite  horse  some 
sugar  which  the  lackey  had  brought. 

"  Et  vous  oubliez  voire  devoir,''  she  added,  turning  to 
Veslovsky,  who  was  already  in  the  porch. 

"  Pardon,  j'en  at  tout  plein  les  poches,"  he  replied, 
smiling,  and  thrusting  his  fingers  into  his  waistcoat 
pocket. 

"  Mais  vous  venez  trap  tard,''  she  repHed,  wiping 
her  hand,  which  the  horse  had  mouthed  in  taking  the 
sugar. 

Anna  turned  to  Dolly, — 

"You'll  stay  with  us  a  long  time,"  said  she.  "  Only 
one  day  .-'     That  is  impossible." 

"That  is  what  I  promised,  —  and  the  children,"  an- 
swered the  latter,  ashamed  at  the  wretched  appearance 


ANNA    KARENINA  143 

of  her  poor  little  traveling-bag  and  at  the  dust  with 
which  she  felt  herself  covered. 

"  No,  Dolly,  dushenka However,  we  '11  talk  of  that 

by  and  by.  Come  up  to  your  room."  And  Anna  con- 
ducted Dolly  up-stairs. 

The  room  was  not  the  chamber  of  honor  which 
Vronsky  offered  her,  but  one  where  she  could  be  nearer 
Anna  ;  but  even  this  room,  though  they  felt  it  needful 
to  apologize  for  it,  was  furnished  with  a  luxury  such  as 
she  was  not  accustomed  to,  and  which  recalled  the  most 
sumptuous  hotels  that  she  had  seen  abroad. 

"  Well,  dushenka!  how  glad  I  am  !  "  said  Anna,  seat- 
ing herself  for  a  moment  in  her  riding-habit.  Tell  me 
about  your  family.  I  saw  Stiva  just  an  instant,  but  he 
could  not  tell  me  anything  about  the  children.  How  is 
my  darling  Tania  ?     She  must  be  a  great  girl !  " 

"Yes,  very  large,"  answered  Dolly,  laconically,  as- 
tonished that  she  answered  so  coolly  about  her  children. 
"  We  are  all  living  charmingly  with  the  Levins,"  she 
added. 

"  There  !  If  I  had  known,"  said  Anna,  "  that  you 
wouldn't  look  down  on  me,  ....  you  all  would  have  come 
here.  Stiva  is  an  old  and  good  friend  of  Alekselt's," 
said  Anna,  blushing. 

"  Yes  !  but  we  are  so  well ....  "  began  Dolly  in  con- 
fusion. 

"  Well !  I  am  so  happy,  I  talk  nonsense ;  only, 
dushenka,  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you,"  said  Anna,  kissing 
her  again.  "  But  you  would  not  tell  me  what  you  think 
about  me;  I  want  to  know  all.  But  I  am  so  glad  that 
you  see  me  just  as  I  am.  My  only  idea,  you  see,  is  to 
avoid  making  people  think  that  I  am  making  any  dis- 
play. I  don't  want  to  make  any  display  ;  I  want  simply 
to  live  and  not  do  any  harm  to  any  one  but  myself. 
Am  I  not  right  about  it.-*  However,  we'll  talk  of  all 
this  at  our  leisure.  Now  I  'm  going  to  change  my  dress; 
I  will  send  you  a  waiting-maid." 


g4*  ANNA   KARENINA 


CHAPTER   XIX 

Darya  Aleksandrovna,  when  left  alone,  examined 
her  chamber  with  the  eyes  of  a  genuine  housekeeper. 
All  that  she  saw  as  she  went  through  the  house,  and  all 
that  she  saw  in  the  room,  impressed  her  by  its  richness 
and  elegance  ;  and  this  new  European  luxury,  which  she 
had  read  about  in  English  novels,  she  had  never  seen 
before  in  Russia,  —  certainly  not  in  the  country.  All 
was  new,  from  the  French  tapestries  to  the  carpet  which 
covered  the  whole  room,  the  bed  with  its  hair  mattress, 
the  marble  toilet-table,  the  bronzes  on  the  mantel,  the 
rugs,  the  curtains,  —  all  was  costly  and  new. 

The  smart  waiting-maid  who  came  to  offer  her  ser- 
vices was  dressed  with  much  more  style  than  Dolly,  and 
was  as  costly  and  new  as  the  whole  room.  Darya  Alek- 
sandrovna liked  her  good  breeding,  her  dexterity,  and 
her  helpfulness ;  but  she  felt  confused  at  taking  out  be- 
fore her  her  poor  toilet  articles  from  her  bag,  especially 
a  mended  night-dress,  which  she  had  happened  to  put  in 
by  mistake  from  among  her  oldest  ones.  She  was  ashamed 
of  the  very  patches  and  mended  places  which  gave  her 
a  sense  of  pride  at  home.  It  was  clear  that  for  six 
nightgowns,  it  would  take  twenty-four  arshins  of  nain- 
sook at  sixty-five  kopeks,  amounting  to  more  than  fifteen 
rubles,  besides  the  cost  of  the  trimmings ;  and  these  fif- 
teen rubles  were  saved ;  but  in  the  presence  of  this  brill- 
iant attendant  she  felt  not  so  much  ashamed  as  awkward. 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  felt  great  relief  when  her  old- 
time  acquaintance,  Annushka,  came  into  her  room  to  take 
the  place  of  the  dashing  chambermaid,  who  was  needed 
by  her  mistress. 

Annushka  was  evidently  very  glad  at  the  arrival  of 
her  mistress's  friend,  and  talked  incessantly.  Dolly 
noticed  that  she  was  eager  to  express  her  opinion  about 
her  mistress's  position,  and  about  the  love  and  devotion 
which  the  count  showed  to  Anna  Arkadyevna ;  but  she 
peremptorily  stopped  her  as  soon  as  she  began  to  talk 
on  this  topic. 


ANNA    KARENINA  145 

"  I  grew  up  with  Anna  Arkadyevna,  and  love  her 
more  than  the  whole  world.  It 's  not  for  us  to  judge 
her,  and  she  seems  to  love ...." 

"  Please  have  these  washed,  if  it  is  possible,"  said 
Darya  Aleksandrovna,   interrupting   her. 

"  I  will  do  so.  We  have  two  women  especially  for  the 
laundry,  but  the  washing  is  done  all  by  machinery.  The 
count  looks  out  for  everything.  He  is  such  a  hus- 
band ...." 

Dolly  was  glad  when  Anna  came  in  and  put  an  end 
to  the  babbling  Annushka's  confidences. 

Anna  had  put  on  a  very  simple  batiste  gown.  Dolly 
noticed  particularly  this  simple  gown.  She  knew  what 
this  simplicity  meant,  and  how  much  money  it  repre- 
sented. 

"An  old  acquaintance,"  said  Anna  to  Annushka. 

Anna  now  was  no  longer  confused.  She  was  per- 
fectly calm  and  self-possessed.  Dolly  saw  that  now  she 
was  entirely  free  from  the  impression  which  her  coming 
had  at  first  produced,  and  had  assumed  that  superficial 
tone  of  indifference  which,  as  it  were,  closed  the  door  to 
the  expression  of  real  thought  and  feelings. 

"  Well,  and  how  is  your  little  daughter  ? "  asked 
Dolly. 

"Ani?"  —  for  so  she  called  her  daughter  Anna  — 
"  very  well.  Her  health  is  much  better.  Should  you 
like  to  see  her  ?  Come,  and  I'll  show  her  to  you.  We 
have  had  great  trouble  with  her,"  she  went  on  to  relate. 
"  We  had  an  Itahan  for  her  nurse;  good,  but  so  stupid ; 
we  wanted  to  send  her  back,  but  the  little  thing  is  so 
much  attached  to  her,  we  still  keep  her." 

"But  how  have  you  done  about...."  began  Dolly, 
wishing  to  ask  about  the  child's  name;  but,  as  she  saw 
Anna's  countenance  grow  suddenly  dark,  she  changed 
the  ending  of  the  question.     "  Have  you  weaned  her.''  " 

Anna  understood. 

"  That  is  not  what  you  were  going  to  ask.  You  were 
thinking  of  the  child's  name,  weren't  you.?  This  tor- 
ments Aleksef ;  she  has  no  name;  that  is,  she  is  a 
Karenin,"  and  she  closed  her  eyes  so  that  only  the  lashes 

VOL.  HI.  — 10 


146  ANNA    KARENINA 

were  visible "  However,"  she  added,  her  face  sud- 
denly lighting  up  again,  "  we  will  talk  again  about  all 
that ;  come,  and  I'll  show  her  to  you.  Elle  est  irh 
gentille ;  she  is  already  beginning  to  creep." 

In  the  nursery  there  was  the  same  sumptuousness  as 
had  struck  Darya  Aleksandrovna  throughout  the  rest  of 
the  house,  only  to  an  even  higher  degree.  There  were 
baby-coaches  imported  from  England,  and  instruments 
for  teaching  children  to  walk,  and  a  peculiarly  arranged 
divan  like  a  biUiard  table  for  creeping,  bath-tubs,  swings. 
All  were  new,  beautiful,  solid,  of  English  make,  and 
evidently  very  costly.  The  room  was  large,  very  high- 
studded,  and  light. 

When  they  entered  the  little  girl  with  only  her  shirt 
on  was  seated  in  an  arm-chair  by  the  table,  and  was  eat- 
ing her  broth  and  spilling  it  all  over  her  bosom.  A 
Russian  maid-servant  who  assisted  in  the  nursery  was 
helping  her,  and  at  the  same  time  was  apparently  her- 
self eating.  Neither  the  Italian  nurse  nor  the  nurse- 
maid was  present ;  they  were  in  the  next  room,  and  could 
be  heard  talking  together  in  a  strange  French  jargon 
which  was  the  only  means  they  had  of  communicating 
their  ideas  to  each  other. 

The  English  maid,  a  tall,  sprucely  dressed  woman  with 
a  disagreeable  face  and  an  untrustworthy  expression, 
came  into  the  doorway  shaking  her  Hght  brown  curls 
as  soon  as  she  heard  Anna's  voice,  and  immediately 
began  to  offer  her  excuses,  although  Anna  had  not 
chidden  her.  At  every  word  Anna  spoke  the  English 
maid  would  several  times  repeat  the  phrase,  "  Yes,  my 
lady." 

The  dark-browed,  dark-haired,  rosy  little  girl,  with 
her  strong,  pretty  little  form,  very  much  pleased  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  in  spite  of  the  unfriendly  look  with  which 
she  gazed  at  the  stranger ;  her  healthy  appearance  also 
pleased  her,  and  her  way  of  creeping.  Not  one  of  her 
own  children  had  learned  so  early  to  creep.  This  little 
girl,  when  she  was  put  down  on  the  carpet  and  her  dress 
was  tucked  up  behind,  was  wonderfully  beautiful.  With 
her  brilliant  black  eyes  she  gazed  up  at  her  elders  Hke 


ANNA    KARENINA  147 

a  pretty  little  animal,  evidently  delighting  in  the  fact  that 
they  admired  her,  and  she  smiled  ;  and,  putting  out  her 
legs  sidewise,  she  energetically  crept  about*  now  going 
swiftly  backward,  and  again  darting  forward,  and  clutch- 
ing things  with  her  little  fingers. 

But  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  nursery,  and  especially 
the  English  maid,  struck  Darya  Aleksandrovna  very  un- 
pleasantly. Only  by  the  supposition  that  no  respectable 
person  would  consent  to  serve  in  a  household  as  irregular 
as  Anna's,  could  she  understand  how  Anna,  with  her 
knowledge  of  people,  could  be  willing  to  put  up  with 
such  an  unsympathetic,  vulgar  maid.     . 

Darya  Aleksandrovna,  after  a  few  words,  observed 
that  Anna,  the  nurse,  the  maid,  and  the  child  were  not 
much  wonted  to  each  other,  and  that  the  mother  was 
almost  a  stranger  in  this  part  of  the  house.  She  wanted 
to  find  a  plaything  for  the  little  girl  and  did  not  know 
where  it  was  kept.  Strangest  of  all,  in  answering  the 
question  how  many  teeth  the  child  had,  she  made  a  mis- 
take, and  did  not  know  anything  about  the  last  two. 

"It  is  always  a  grief  to  me  that  I  am  so  useless  here," 
said  Anna,  as  they  went  out,  holding  up  the  train  of  her 
dress  so  that  it  should  not  catch  on  any  of  the  toys  by 
the  door.     "  It  was  not  so  with  my  oldest." 

**  I  thought,  on  the  contrary  ...."  began  Dolly,  timidly. 

"  Oh,  no  !  You  know  that  I  have  seen  Serozha  again," 
said  she,  half  shutting  her  eyes  and  looking  fixedly 
before  her,  as  if  she  sought  for  something  far  away. 
"  However,  we  '11  talk  about  that  by  and  by.  You  can't 
believe  —  but  I  am  like  a  person  dying  of  starvation, 
who  finds  a  banquet  before  her,  and  does  not  know 
what  to  begin  with.  You  and  the  talk  I  am  going  to 
have  with  you  are  this  banquet  for  me.  With  whom 
could  I  speak  openly  if  not  with  you  ?  I  don't  know 
what  topic  to  take  up  first.  Mais  je  ne  voiis  ferai  grace 
de  rien}     I  must  tell  you  all. 

"  Well,  I  want  to  give  you  a  sketch  now  of  the  people 
you  will  meet  here,"  she  began.  "  First,  the  Princess 
Varvara.     You  know  her,  and  I  know  your  opinion  and 

1  I  shall  not  spare  you  anything. 


148  ANNA    KARENINA 

Stiva's  in  regard  to  her.  Stiva  says  her  whole  aim  ot 
Hfe  consists  in  proving  her  preeminence  over  Aunt 
Katerina  Pavlovna.  That  is  all  true  of  her ;  but  she 
is  good,  I  assure  you,  and  I  am  so  grateful  to  her.  At 
Petersburg  there  was  a  time  when  7m  chaperon  was 
indispensable.  Then  she  came  along  just  in  time.  It 
is  really  true  ;  she  is  good.  She  made  my  position  much 
easier.  I  see  you  don't  know  how  difficult  my  position 
was  ....  there  in  Petersburg  !  "  she  added.  "  Here  I  am 
very  comfortable  and  happy.  But  about  this  afterward. 
But  I  must  tell  you  about  our  guests.  Then  there 's 
Sviazhsky  ;  he  is  the  marshal  of  the  district,^  and  a  very 
clever  man,  and  he  needed  Aleksef  for  something.  You 
see,  with  his  fortune,  now,  as  we  live  in  the  country, 
Aleksef  can  wield  a  wide  influence.  Then  Tushkievitch  ; 
you  have  met  him ;  he  was  at  Betsy's ;  but  they  sent 
him  off,  and  he  came  to  visit  us.  As  Aleksei'  says,  he 
is  one  of  those  very  agreeable  men,  if  one  takes  him 
just  as  he  wishes  to  appear,  et puis  il  est  comme  il  faiit, 
as  the  Princess  Varvara  says.  And  then  Veslovsky .... 
you  know  him.  A  very  good  young  fellow,"  she  said, 
and  a  mischievous  smile  curled  her  lips.  "  How  about 
that  absurd  story  he  told  of  Levin }  Veslovsky  told 
Aleksei,  and  we  don't  believe  it.  //  est  trh  ge7itil 
et  naif,''  she  added,  with  the  same  smile.  "  I  have 
to  entertain  all  these  people,  because  men  need  amuse- 
ment, and  Aleksef  needs  society ;  and  we  have  to  make 
it  lively  and  gay,  so  that  AlekseY  won't  want  some- 
thing new.  We  also  have  with  us  the  superintendent. 
He  is  a  German,  a  very  good  man,  who  understands  his 
business ;  Aleksei"  has  great  esteem  for  him.  Then 
there  's  the  doctor,  a  young  man  who  is  not  exactly  a 
Nihilist,  but,  you  know,  he  eats  with  his  knife,  but  a 
very  good  doctor.     Then  the  architect,  —  utie  petite  cour'' 

*  Predvodityel,  marshal  of  the  nobility. 


ANNA   KARENINA  149 


CHAPTER  XX 

"Well,  princess,  here  we  have  Dolly,  whom  you 
wished  so  much  to  see,"  said  Anna,  as  she  and  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  came  out  on  the  great  stone  terrace 
where  the  Princess  Varvara  was  sitting  in  the  shade, 
with  her  embroidery  frame  in  front  of  her,  making  a 
chair  cover  for  Count  AlekseY  Kirillovitch.  "  She  says 
that  she  does  not  want  anything  before  dinner,  but 
supposing  you  order  luncheon  brought  in,  while  I  go 
and  find  the  gentlemen." 

The  Princess  Varvara  gave  Dolly  a  gracious  and 
somewhat  condescending  reception,  and  immediately 
began  to  explain  that  she  had  come  to  live  with  Anna 
because  she  loved  her  more  than  her  sister,  Katerina 
Pavlovna,  —  that  was  the  aunt  that  had  superintended 
Anna's  education,  —  and  because,  now  when  all  were 
abandoning  Anna,  she  considered  it  her  duty  to  help 
her  at  this  trying  period  of  transition. 

"  Her  husband  is  going  to  grant  her  a  divorce,  and 
then  I  shall  go  back  to  my  solitude  ;  but,  however  pain- 
ful it  may  be,  I  shall  stay  here  for  the  present,  and  not 
imitate  the  example  of  others.  And  how  kind  you  are  ; 
how  good  of  you  to  make  this  visit !  They  live  exactly 
like  the  very  best  married  people.  Let  God  judge  them  ; 
it  is  not  for  us.  It  was  just  so  with  Biriuzovsky  and 
Madame  Avenyef,  and  then  Vasiliyef  and  Madame 
Mamonov,  and  Liza  Neptunova.  You  see  no  one  says 
anything  about  them,  and  in  the  end  they  will  be  re- 
ceived. And  then  c'est  un  int^riejir  si  j'oli,  si  covime  it 
faiit.  ToHt-d-fait  a  Vanglaise.  On  se  rhmit  le  matin 
au  breakfeast  et puis  on  se  s^pare}  Every  one  does  just 
as  he  pleases  till  dinner-time.  They  dine  at  seven. 
Stiva  did  very  wisely  to  send  you  ;  he  would  better  keep 
on  good  terms  with  them.  You  know  the  count  has 
great  influence  through  his   mother   and    his    brother. 

1  They  have  a  perfect  estabUshment,  and  the  inside  of  their  house  is  so 
charming,  so  styHsh.  It  is  altogether  English.  The  family  meets  at  break- 
fast and  then  separates. 


11©  ANNA    KARENINA 

And  then  they  do  so  much  good.  Has  he  told  you 
about  his  hospital?  ^a  sera  admirable!  Everything 
from  Paris." 

This  conversation  was  interrupted  by  Anna,  who  re- 
turned to  the  terrace,  followed  by  the  gentlemen,  whom 
she  had  found  in  the  billiard-room. 

Considerable  time  still  remained  before  dinner,  the 
weather  was  beautiful,  and  so  various  propositions  were 
made  for  their  amusement  during  the  two  hours  before 
them. 

There  was  every  facility  for  diversion  there  at  Voz- 
dvizhenskoye  and  many  of  them  were  very  different 
from  what  they  had  at  Pokrovskoye. 

"  Une  partie  de  lawn  tennis,"  proposed  Veslovsky, 
with  his  gay,  contagious  smile.  "  I  '11  take  one  side 
with  you  again,  Anna  Arkadyevna." 

"  No,  it  is  hot ;  suppose  we  go  into  the  park,  and  take 
Darya  Aleksandrovna  out  in  the  boat  to  show  her  the 
landscape,"  said  Vronsky. 

"  I  am  agreeable  to  anything,"  said  Sviazhsky. 

"  I  think  Dolly  would  like  to  do  that  better  than  any- 
thing else,"  said  Anna.     "  So  then  the  boat-ride  it  is." 

That  having  been  decided,  Veslovsky  and  Tushkie- 
vitch  went  to  the  landing,  agreeing  to  get  the  boat 
ready,  and  the  two  couples  took  the  path  to  the  park ; 
Anna  walked  with  Sviazhsky,  and  Dolly  with  Vronsky. 

Dolly  was  somewhat  confused  and  embarrassed  by 
this  absolutely  novel  environment  in  which  she  found 
herself.  Abstractly,  theoretically,  she  not  only  justified, 
but  even  approved,  of  Anna's  conduct.  Like  the  major- 
ity of  irreproachably  virtuous  women,  wearying  often  of 
the  monotony  of  a  virtuous  Hfe,  Dolly  from  a  distance 
excused  illicit  love,  and  even  envied  it  a  little.  More- 
over, she  loved  Anna  with  all  her  heart. 

But  in  reality,  finding  her  among  these  strangers,  with 
their  fashionable  ways,  which  were  quite  novel  to  her, 
she  was  thoroughly  ill  at  ease.  Especially  odious  to  her 
was  it  to  see  the  Princess  Varvara  forgiving  everything, 
because  she  could  thereby  share  in  her  niece's  luxury. 

Abstractly  and  on  general  principles  Dolly  excused 


ANNA   KARENINA  151 

Anna's  conduct,  but  the  sight  of  the  man  for  whom  she 
had  taken  this  step  was  unpleasant  to  her.  Moreover, 
Vronsky  was  not  congenial  to  her  at  any  time ;  she 
thought  him  very  haughty,  and  could  see  no  reason 
except  his  wealth  to  justify  his  haughtiness.  But  in 
spite  of  all  her  will-power,  there  in  his  own  establish- 
ment he  more  than  ever  impressed  her  with  a  sense  of 
his  importance  and  she  could  not  feel  at  ease  with  him  ; 
she  felt  just  as  she  had  felt  when  the  maid  took  the 
nightgown  from  her  valise.  Just  as  before  the  maid  she 
had  felt,  not  exactly  ashamed,  but  awkward,  on  account 
of  the  patches,  so  now  with  Vronsky  she  felt  all  the 
time,  not  exactly  ashamed,  but  uncomfortable. 

Dolly  felt  confused  and  cast  about  in  her  mind  for 
something  to  talk  about. 

Although  she  felt  sure  that  he  with  his  pride  might 
be  displeased  if  she  praised  his  house  and  park,  never- 
theless, finding  no  other  topic  of  conversation,  she  re- 
marked that  she  liked  his  house  very  much. 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  very  handsome  building,  and  in  good  old 
style,"  replied  the  count. 

"  I  liked  the  court  in  front  of  the  steps ;  was  it 
always  so."*" 

"  Oh,  no !  "  said  he,  and  his  face  shone  with  satisfac- 
tion.    "  If  you  had  only  seen  it  in  the  spring !  " 

And  at  first  coldly,  but  warming  as  he  went  on,  he 
pointed  out  to  Dolly  the  many  improvements  he  had 
made  in  the  house  and  park.  It  was  evident  that  Vron- 
sky, having  consecrated  much  labor  to  the  improvement 
and  beautification  of  his  establishment,  really  felt  the 
need  of  appreciation  from  some  new  person,  and  that  he 
was  not  a  little  gratified  at  Darya  Aleksandrovna's  praise. 

"  If  you  would  like  to  look  into  the  hospital  and  are 
not  tired,  we  might  go  that  way.  It  is  not  far.  Come, 
let  us  go !     Shall  we,  Anna  ? " 

"Yes-— shall  we  not?"  she  said,  turning  to  Svi- 
azhsky ;  "  mats  il  ne  faut  pas  laisser  le  fiauvre  Veslovsky 
et  Tiishkievitch  se  morfondre  Id  dans  le  bateau  !  ^     We 

^  Btit  we  rimst  not  leave  these  gehtlemeti  to  wait  ift  vain  {ft  tos  in  the 
boat. 


1^2  ANNA   KARENINA 

must  send  word  to  them.  Yes,  This  is  a  monument 
which  he  will  leave  here,"  said  she  to  Dolly,  with  the 
same  shrewd  knowing  smile  on  her  face  as  when  she 
first  spoke  of  the  hospital. 

"  Oh,  capital  work  !  "  said  Sviazhsky ;  and  then,  not  to 
seem  assenting  from  mere  politeness,  he  added :  — 

"  I  am  surprised,  count,  that  you,  who  are  doing  so 
much  for  the  peasants'  sanitary  advantage,  are  so  indif- 
ferent to  schools." 

"  C'est  devenu  tellentent  commun,  les  icoles"  replied 
Vronsky.  "  You  must  know  I  do  this  to  amuse  myself. 
This  is  the  way  to  the  hospital,"  said  he,  addressing 
Darya  Aleksandrovna,  pointing  to  a  side-path  which 
led  from  the  avenue.  The  ladies  put  up  their  sun- 
shades and  walked  along  the  side-path. 

After  making  a  few  turns  and  passing  through  a 
wicket-gate,  Darya  Aleksandrovna  saw  before  her  on 
rising  ground  a  large  red  building  of  complicated  archi- 
tecture not  completely  finished.  The  iron  roof,  not  as 
yet  painted,  ghttered  in  the  sun.  Near  the  hospital 
itself  there  was  another  building  going  up,  in  the  midst 
of  the  woods,  and  workmen  in  aprons  stood  on  scaffold- 
ings laying  the  bricks,  taking  mortar  from  buckets  and 
smoothing  it  with  trowels. 

"  How  rapidly  the  work  is  going  on,"  remarked 
Sviazhsky.  "The  last  time  I  was  here  the  roof  was 
not  in  position." 

"  It  will  be  ready  by  autumn,  for  the  inside  is 
already  nearly  finished,"  said  Anna. 

"  And  what  is  this  other  new  building }  " 

"A  house  for  the  doctor,  and  a  pharmacy,"  replied 
Vronsky ;  and,  seeing  the  architect,  in  a  short  overcoat, 
approaching,  he  excused  himself  to  the  ladies,  and  went 
to  meet  him. 

Going  round  the  mortar-pit,  from  which  the  workmen 
were  getting  Hme,  he  joined  the  architect  and  began  to 
talk  angrily  with  him. 

"  The  pediment  will  be  much  too  low,"  he  replied 
to  Anna,  who  asked  him  what  the  discussion  was 
about. 


ANNA    KARENINA  153 

"  I  said  that  the  foundation  ought  to  be  raised,"  said 

Anna. 

"  Yes  !  Of  course,  it  would  have  been  better,  Anna 
Arkadyevna,"  said  the  architect;  "yes,  it  was  amis- 
take." 

"  Yes,  indeed !  I  am  very  much  interested  in  this," 
said  Anna,  in  reply  to  Sviazhsky,  who  expressed  his 
surprise  that  the  architect  spoke  to  her  as  he  did. 
"The  new  building  must  correspond  with  the  hospital. 
But  this  was  thought  of  afterward,  and  begun  without 
any  plan." 

Having  concluded  his  talk  with  the  architect,  Vronsky 
joined  the  ladies  and  conducted  them  into  the  hospital. 
Though  on  the  outside  they  were  already  placing  the 
cornices  and  were  painting  the  lower  part  of  the  build- 
ing, on  the  upper  floors  almost  everything  was  done. 
They  went  up  by  a  broad  cast-iron  staircase  to  the 
second  story,  and  entered  the  first  great  room.  The 
walls  were  stuccoed  for  marble,  the  great  glass  win- 
dows were  already  in  place  ;  only  the  parquetry  floor 
was  as  yet  to  be  finished,  and  the  carpenters,  engaged 
in  planing  the  squares,  left  off  their  work,  and,  removing 
the  tapes  which  bound  their  hair,  greeted  the  visitors. 

"  This  is  the  reception-room,"  said  Vronsky.  "  In 
this  there  will  be  not  much  besides  the  desk,  a  table, 
and  a  cupboard." 

"  Here,  come  this  way.  Don't  go  near  the  window," 
said  Anna,  touching  the  paint  to  see  if  it  was  dry. 
"  Aleksef,  the  paint  is  beginning  to  dry." 

From  the  reception-room  they  went  into  the  corridor. 
Here  Vronsky  explained  the  new  system  of  ventilation  ; 
then  he  showed  them  the  marble  bath-rooms  and  the 
beds  with  extra  spring  mattresses.  Then  he  showed 
them  one  after  the  other  the  wards,  the  laundry,  then 
the  heating  apparatus,  then  the  noiseless  barrows  for 
wheeling  articles  along  the  corridors,  and  many  other 
contrivances,  Dolly  was  simply  amazed  at  the  sight  of 
so  many  novelties,  and,  wishing  to  understand  it  thor- 
oughly, she  asked  a  great  many  questions,  which 
Vronsky  answered  with  the  greatest  alacrity. 


154  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Yes,  I  think  this  hospital  will  be  the  only  one  of  the 
kind  in  Russia,"  remarked  Sviazhsky. 

"  Shall  you  not  have  a  lying-in  department  ?  "  asked 
Dolly.  "  That  is  so  necessary  in  this  country.  I  have 
often  thought ...." 

In  spite  of  his  politeness,  Vronsky  interrupted  her. 

"  This  is  not  an  obstetrical  institution,  but  a  hospital, 
and  is  meant  for  all  except  infectious  diseases,"  said  he. 
"And  now  look  at  this,"  and  he  showed  Darya  Alek- 
sandrovna  a  newly  imported  chair  designed  for  con- 
valescents. "Will  you  look  at  it,  please  .-^ "  He  sat 
down  in  the  chair  and  began  to  move  it  along.  "  He 
can't  walk....  or  he  is  still  weak,  or  he  has  a  lame  leg, 
but  still  he  must  have  the  air,  and  so  he  goes  out  and 
enjoys  himself  I  " 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  was  interested  in  everything; 
everything  pleased  her  very  much,  but,  more  than  all, 
Vronsky  himself  pleased  her  with  his  natural  nai've 
enthusiasm. 

"Yes,  he  is  certainly  a  good,  lovable  man,"  she 
thought,  not  Ustening  to  what  he  said,  but  looking  at 
him  and  trying  to  penetrate  his  expression,  and  then 
momentarily  looking  at  Anna.  He  pleased  her  so  much 
with  his  animation  that  she  understood  how  it  was  that 
Anna  came  to  love  him. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

"  No ;  the  princess  must  be  tired,  and  the  horses  will 
not  interest  her,"  said  Vronsky  to  Anna,  who  had  pro- 
posed to  show  Dolly  the  stable,  where  there  was  a  new 
stallion  that  Sviazhsky  wished  to  see.  "  You  go  there, 
and  I  will  escort  the  princess  back  to  the  house.  And, 
if  you  please,"  added  he  to  Dolly,  "  we  will  talk  a  little 
on  the  way,  if  that  will  be  agreeable." 

"  I  know  nothing  about  horses,  so  I  shall  very  will- 
ingly go  with  you,"  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna. 

She  saw  by  Vronsky's  face  that  he  wanted  something 
of  her,  nor  was  she  mistaken.     As  soon  as  they  had 


ANNA    KARENINA  ^^,5 

passed  through  the  wicket-gate  again  into  the  park,  he 
looked  in  the  direction  where  Anna  was  gone,  and,  hav- 
ing convinced  himself  that  they  were  out  of  her  sight 
and  hearing,  he  began  :  — 

"  You  have  guessed  that  I  wanted  to  have  a  talk  with 
you,"  said  he,  looking  at  her  with  his  smiling  eyes,  "  I 
am  not  mistaken  in  believing  that  you  are  Anna's  friend, 
am  I  ?  " 

He  took  off  his  hat,  and,  taking  out  his  handkerchief 
wiped  his  head,  which  was  growing  bald. 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  made  no  reply,  and  only  gazed 
at  him  in  alarm.  Now  that  she  was  entirely  alone  with 
him,  she  suddenly  felt  terror-stricken ;  his  smiling  eyes 
and  the  stern  expression  of  his  face  frightened  her. 

The  most  diverse  suppositions  as  to  what  he  might  be 
wanting  to  talk  with  her  about  chased  one  another 
through  her  mind. 

"  Can  it  be  that  he  is  going  to  ask  me  to  come  with 
my  children  and  make  them  a  visit,  and  I  shall  be 
obliged  to  decline  ?  or  is  it  that  he  wants  me  to  find 
society  for  Anna  when  she  comes  to  Moscow  ? ....  Or  is 
he  going  to  speak  of  Vasenka  Veslovsky  and  his  rela- 
tions to  Anna .''  Or  can  it  be  about  Kitty,  and  that  he 
wants  to  confess  that  he  was  to  blame  toward  her.?  " 

She  thought  over  everything  that  might  be  disagree- 
able, but  never  suspected  what  he  really  wanted  to  talk 
with  her  about. 

"  You  have  such  an  influence  over  Anna,  she  is  so 
fond  of  you,"  said  he,  "  help  me." 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  looked  timidly  and  question- 
ingly  into  Vronsky's  energetic  face,  which,  as  they 
passed  under  the  linden  trees,  was  now  lighted  up  by 
the  flecking  sunbeams  and  then  again  darkened  by  the 
shadows,  and  she  waited  for  him  to  proceed ;  but  he, 
catching  his  cane  in  the  paving-stones,  walked  in  silence 
by  her  side. 

"  Of  all  Anna's  friends,  you  are  the  only  one  who  has 
come  to  see  her  —  I  do  not  count  the  Princess  Varvara 
—  I  know  very  well  it  is  not  because  you  approve  of  our 
position ;    it  is  because  you  love  Anna,  and,  knowing 


156  ANNA   KARENINA 

the  cruelty  of  her  position,  want  to  help  her.  Am  1 
right?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  shutting  up  her 
sunshade,  "  but ....  " 

"  No,"  he  interrupted,  and  he  involuntarily  stopped 
and  obliged  her  to  stop  also,  though  he  had  no  intention 
of  putting  his  companion  into  an  awkward  situation. 
"  No  one  feels  more  strongly  and  completely  the  cruelty 
of  Anna's  position  than  I  do.  And  you  will  realize  this 
if  you  will  do  me  the  honor  to  believe  that  I  am  not 
heartless.  I  am  the  cause  of  her  being  in  this  position, 
and  therefore  I  feel  it." 

"I  understand,"  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  invol- 
untarily admiring  him  for  the  honest  and  straight- 
forward way  in  which  he  said  this.  "  But  for  the  very 
reason  that  you  feel  yourself  the  cause  I  fear  you  are 
inclined  tp  exaggerate,"  said  she.  "  Her  position  in 
society  is  difficult,  I  admit." 

"In  society  it  is  hell!"  said  he,  frowning  gloomily; 
"  you  can't  conceive  moral  tortures  worse  than  those 
which  Anna  endured  at  Petersburg  during  the  fortnight 
we  were  there;  and  I  beg  you  to  believe...." 

"Yes,  but  here.-*....  And  so  far  neither  she  nor  you 
feel  the  need  of  a  society  life." .... 

"  Society!  why  should  I  need  it } "  exclaimed  Vronsky, 
scornfully. 

"  Up  to  the  present  time,  and  perhaps  it  will  be  so 
always,  you  are  calm  and  happy.  I  see  in  Anna  that 
she  is  happy,  perfectly  happy,  and  she  has  already  told 
me  that  she  is,"  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  smiling. 

And  while  she  spoke  the  doubt  arose  in  her  mind :  "  Is 
Anna  really  happy  ?  " 

But  Vronsky,  it  seemed,  had  no  doubt  on  that  score :  — 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  know  that  she  has  revived  after  all  her 
sufferings.  She  is  happy ....  she  is  happy  now.  But 
I  .-* "  said  Vronskv.  "  I  am  afraid  of  what  the  future 
has  in  store  for  us  ....  excuse  me,  do  you  want  to  go  .'* " 

"  No,  it  is  immaterial." 

"  Well,  then,  let  us  sit  down  here." 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  sat  down  on  a  garden  bench 


ANNA    KARENINA  157 

in  a  nook  of  the  walk.  He  was  standing  in  front  of 
her. 

"  I  see  that  she  seems  happy,"  he  repeated  ;  and  the 
doubt  whether  Anna  was  happy  again  rose  in  Darya 
Aleksandrovna's  mind  more  strongly  than  ever.  "  But 
will  it  last  ?  Whether  we  did  right  or  wrong  is  a  hard 
question ;  but  the  die  is  cast,"  he  said,  changing  from 
Russian  to  French,  "  and  we  are  joined  for  life  ;  we  are 
joined  by  the  ties  of  love.  We  have  one  child,  and  we 
may  have  others.  But  the  law  and  all  the  conditions  of 
our  state  are  such  that  there  are  a  thousand  complica- 
tions, which  Anna,  now  that  she  is  resting  after  her 
afflictions  and  sufferings,  does  not  see  and  will  not  see. 
It  is  natural ;  but  I  cannot  help  seeing.  My  daughter, 
according  to  the  law,  is  not  my  daughter,  but  Karenin's, 
and  I  do  not  like  this  falsehood,"  said  he,  with  an  ener- 
getic gesture  of  repulsion,  and  looking  at  Darya  Aleksan- 
drovna  with  a  gloomy,  questioning  face. 

She  did  not  reply,  but  simply  looked  at  him.  He 
continued  :  — 

"  To-morrow  a  son  may  be  born  —  my  son  —  and  by 
law  he  would  be  a  Karenin,  and  could,  inherit  neither 
my  name  nor  my  property,  and,  however  happy  we  were 
here  at  home,  and  however  many  children  we  had,  there 
would  be  no  legal  connection  between  me  and  them. 
They  would  be  Karenins.  You  understand  the  cruelty, 
the  horror,  of  this  state  of  things  .-*  I  try  to  explain  this 
to  Anna.  It  irritates  her  —  she  will  not  understand  me, 
and  I  cannot  tell  ker  all.  Now  look  at  the  other  side. 
I  am  happy  in  her  love,  but  I  must  have  occupation.  I 
have  taken  up  my  present  enterprise,  and  I  am  proud 
of  it,  and  consider  it  far  more  beneficial  than  the  occupa- 
tions of  my  former  comrades  at  the  court  and  in  the 
service.  And  certainly  I  would  not  change  my  occupa- 
tion for  theirs.  I  work  here,  on  my  own  place,  and  I  am 
happy  and  contented,  and  we  need  nothing  more  for  our 
happiness.  I  love  my  activity,  ce/a  n  est  pas  un  pis  alter; 
far  from  it." 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  noticed  that  at  this  point  of  his 
explanation  he  became  entangled,  and  she  did  not  under 


158  ANNA    KARENINA 

stand  very  well  his  sudden  pause,  but  she  felt  that,  having 
fairly  begun  to  speak  of  his  intimate  affairs  concerning 
which  he  could  not  talk  with  Anna,  he  would  now  make 
a  full  breast  of  it,  and  that  the  question  of  his  activities 
in  the  country  belonged  to  the  same  category  as  his 
relations  to  Anna. 

"And  so  I  keep  on,"  said  he,  growing  more  cheerful 
again,  "  The  chief  thing  is  that  when  one  works  one 
must  have  the  persuasion  that  what  one  has  done  will 
not  die  with  him,  that  he  will  have  heirs  ....  but  I  have 

none Conceive  the  feelings  of  a  man  who  knows  that 

his  children  and  those  of  the  wife  he  worships  do  not 
belong  to  him  ;  that  they  belong  to  a  man  who  hates 
them,  and  would  never  recognize  them.  Is  n't  it  hor- 
rible ?  " 

He  was  silent  and  deeply  moved. 

"Yes,  of  course,"  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna ;  "I 
understand  this.     But  what  can  Anna  do  .''  " 

"  Well,  that  brings  me  to  the  purpose  of  this  talk," 
said  the  count,  controlling  himself  with  effort.     "  Anna 

can  get  a  divorce.     It  depends  on  her If  we  are  to 

petition  the  emperor  to  legitimize  the  children,  a  divorce 
is  essential.  But  that  depends  on  Anna.  Her  husband 
consented  to  that,  and  your  husband  had  it  all  arranged 
some  time  ago,  and  I  know  that  he  now  would  not 
refuse  ;  all  it  requires  is  for  Anna  to  write  to  him.  He 
said  up  and  down  that  he  would  consent,  if  Anna  would 
apply  for  it.  Of  course,"  he  added,  frowning,  "  this 
condition  is  one  of  those  Pharisaic  cruelties  of  which 
only  heartless  people  are  capable.  He  knows  what 
torture  all  remembrance  of  him  has  for  her,  and  so  he 
exacts  this  letter  from  her.  I  understand  that  it  is  pain- 
ful to  her.  But  the  reasons  are  so  imperative  that  she 
must  passer  pardessus  toutes  ces  finesses  de  sentiment.  II 
va  dn  bonhenr  et  de  V existence  d' Antia  et  de  ces  enfants.^ 
I  don't  speak  about  myself,  though  it  is  painful,  very 
painful,  to  me,"  said  he,  with  a  wrathful  expression 
against  whoever  was  responsible  for  this  state  of  things. 

1  She  ought  to  be  above  these  excessive  sensibilities;  her  happiness  is 
involved,  as  well  as  her  children's. 


ANNA    KARENINA  r^ 

"And  this  is  why  I  make  bold  to  apply  to  you,  princess, 
as  to  a  very  anchor  of  salvation.  Help  me  to  persuade 
Anna  of  the  need  of  getting  a  divorce." 

*'  Why,  of  course  I  will,"  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna, 
gravely,  for  she  vividly  recalled  her  last  meeting  with 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch.  "  Of  course  I  will,"  she  re- 
peated resolutely,  as  she  thought  of  Anna. 

"  Exert  your  influence  on  her  and  induce  her  to  write 
the  letter.  I  do  not  wish,  and  indeed  I  find  it  almost 
impossible,  to  talk  with  her  about  this." 

"Very  well,  I  will  speak  to  her.  But  why  does  she 
not  think  of  it  herself.-*"  asked  Darya  Aleksandrovna, 
suddenly  remembering  Anna's  strange  new  trick  of 
half-closing  her  eyes.  And  then  it  occurred  to  her  that 
Anna  did  this  especially  when  any  reference  was  made 
to  the  more  intimate  side  of  her  life. 

"  She  seems  to  try  to  shut  her  eyes  to  her  whole  life, 
as  if  to  put  it  out  of  her  mind,"  said  Darya  Aleksan- 
drovna to  herself "  Yes,  I  will  speak  to  her,  cer- 
tainly ;  both  for  your  sake  and  for  hers,"  repeated 
Dolly,  in  response  to  Vronsky's  grateful  look. 

And  they  got  up  and  went  to  the  house. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

Finding  Dolly  already  returned,  Anna  looked  scruti- 
nizingly  into  her  eyes,  as  if  she  would  read  there  a  reply 
to  her  wonder  what  she  and  Vronsky  had  been  talking 
about,  but  she  asked  no  questions. 

"  Dinner  is  nearly  ready,  and  we  have  hardly  seen 
each  other.  I  count  on  this  evening;  but  now  I  must 
go  and  change  my  gown.  I  suppose  you  'd  like  to  do 
the  same.     One  gets  so  soiled  after  such  a  walk." 

Dolly  went  to  her  room,  and  felt  ridiculous.  She  had 
no  change  to  make,  since  she  had  worn  her  best  gown  ; 
but,  in  order  to  make  some  change  in  her  toilette,  in 
honor  of  dinner,  she  asked  the  maid  to  brush  the  dust 
off,  she  changed  her  cuffs  and  put  on  a  fresh  ribbon, 
and  put  some  lace  in  her  hair. 


i6o  ANNA    KARENINA 

"It  is  all  I  could  do,"  she  said  laughingly,  to  Anna, 
who  came  to  her,  dressed  in  a  third  but  very  simple  cos- 
tume. 

"  Well !  we  are  very  formal  here,"  said  Anna,  in  apol- 
ogy for  her  elegant  attire.  "  AlekseY  is  so  glad  that  you 
came.  I  believe  he  has  fallen  in  love  with  you,"  she 
added.     "  I  hope  you  are  not  tired." 

Before  dinner  there  was  no  time  for  any  talk.  When 
they  entered  the  drawing-room,  they  found  the  Princess 
Varvara  and  the  gentlemen  all  in  evening  dress.  The 
architect  was  the  only  one  that  wore  a  frock-coat. 
Vronsky  presented  the  doctor  and  the  superintendent 
to  his  guest.  She  had  already  met  the  architect  at 
the  hospital. 

A  portly  butler,  wearing  a  stiffly  starched  white 
cravat,  and  with  his  smooth  round  face  shining,  came 
and  announced  that  dinner  was  served,  and  the  ladies 
stood  up.  Vronsky  asked  Sviazhsky  to  escort  Anna 
Arkadyevna  into  the  dining-room,  and  he  himself  offered 
his  arm  to  Darya  Aleksandrovna.  Veslovsky  was 
quicker  than  Tushkievitch  in  handing  in  the  Princess 
Varvara,  so  that  Tushkievitch  went  with  the  doctor  and 
the  superintendent. 

The  dinner,  the  service,  the  plate,  the  wine,  and  the 
dishes  served,  not  only  corresponded  to  the  general  tone 
of  new  luxury  appertaining  to  the  household,  but  seemed 
even  more  luxurious  and  elegant.  Darya  Aleksandrovna 
took  note  of  this  splendor,  which  was  quite  new  to  her, 
and,  as  the  mistress  of  an  establishment  of  her  own,  she 
could  not  help  making  a  mental  inventory  of  the  details, 
and  wondering  how  and  by  whom  it  was  all  done ;  and 
yet  she  had  no  dream  of  introducing  anything  like  it 
into  her  own  home,  which  was  conducted  on  a  scale  of 
far  greater  simplicity. 

Vasenka  Veslovsky,  her  own  husband,  and  even 
Sviazhsky  and  many  more  men  whom  she  knew,  had 
never  carried  out  anything  like  this,  and  every  one  of 
them  believed  in  the  dictum  that  the  master  of  a  well- 
regulated  household  always  desires  to  make  his  guests 
imagine   that  the  elegance   and   comfort    surrounding 


ANNA   KARENINA  i6t 

them  are  not  any  trouble  to  him,  but  come  about  spon 
taneously. 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  knew  that  even  such  a  simple 
matter  as  providing  kasha  for  her  children's  breakfast 
does  not  go  of  itself,  and  that  all  the  more  in  such 
an  elegant  and  complicated  establishment  there  had  to 
be  some  one  in  full  and  complete  charge.  And  by  the 
glances  with  which  Aleksef  Kirillovitch  took  in  the  de- 
tails of  the  table,  and  by  the  nods  which  he  gave  toward 
the  butler  and  by  the  way  in  which  he  offered  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  the  choice  between  botvinya  and  soup, 
she  understood  that  everything  was  done  under  the  direct 
superintendence  of  the  master  of  the  house.  Anna  had 
nothing  more  to  do  with  it  than  Veslovsky  had.  She 
and  Sviazhsky,  the  princess  and  Veslovsky,  were  only 
guests,  gayly  and  thoughtlessly  taking  advantage  of 
what  was  done  for  them. 

Anna  was  khozya'ika,  or  mistress  of  the  household, 
only  in  the  management  of  the  conversation ;  and  this 
conversation  was  very  difficult  at  a  small  table  among 
guests  belonging  to  such  different  spheres  of  life  as  the 
superintendent  and  the  architect,  who  were  trying  not  to 
be  dazzled  by  such  unwonted  splendor,  and  who  were 
unused  to  taking  part  in  a  general  conversation ;  but 
Anna  went  through  with  her  task  with  her  usual  tact 
and  simplicity,  and  even  with  pleasure,  as  Darya  Alek- 
sandrovna noticed. 

The  conversation  turned  first  on  the  way  in  which 
Tushkievitch  and  Veslovsky  had  gone  down  alone  to  the 
boat,  and  Tushkievitch  began  to  speak  of  the  recent 
yacht-race  under  the  auspices  of  the  Petersburg  yacht- 
club.  But  Anna,  taking  advantage  of  the  first  pause, 
quickly  turned  to  the  architect,  in  order  to  bring  him 
out  of  his  silence. 

"  Nikolai'  Ivanuitch  was  surprised,"  said  she,  referring 
to  Sviazhsky,  "  to  see  how  the  new  building  had  grown 
since  he  was  here  last.  But  I  myself  am  here  every 
day,  and  every  day  I  am  surprised  myself  to  see  how 
fast  it  progresses. 

"  It  is  good  to  work  with    his  excellency,"  said  the 

VOL.  III.  —  II 


iJ^a  ANNA   KARENINA 

architect,  smiling He  had  a  sense  of  the  dignity  of  his 

calling,  and  was  a  very  worthy  and  self-possessed  gentle- 
man  "  You  don't  do  such  work  under   government 

patronage.  When  they  would  write  reams  of  paper,  I 
simply  lay  the  plan  before  the  count,  we  talk  it  over,  and 
three  words  decide  it."  -u 

"  American  ways,"  suggested  Sviazhsky,  smiling.      .rf 

"  Yes  !  buildings  there  are  raised  rationally."  .... 

The  conversation  then  went  off  on  the  abuse  of  power 
in  the  United  States ;  but  Anna  immediately  started  him 
on  a  third  theme,  in  order  to  bring  out  the  superinten- 
dent from  his  silence. 

"  Have  you  ever  seen  the  steam  reaping-machines .'' " 
she  asked  of  Darya  Aleksandrovna.  "  We  had  just 
been  to  see  ours  when  we  met  you.  I  never  saw  one 
before." 

"  How  do  they  work .''  "  asked  Dolly.  ,7/ 

"  Just  like  scissors.  A  plank  and  a  quantity  of  little 
knives.     Like  this  !  " 

Anna  took  a  knife  and  fork  into  her  beautiful  white 
hands  covered  with  rings,  and  tried  to  show  her.  She 
apparently  saw  that  she  did  not  make  herself  very  clear, 
but,  knowing  that  she  spoke  pleasantly  and  that  her, 
hands  were  beautiful,  she  continued  her  explanations,   u 

"  Better  say  pen-knives  ! "  said  Veslovsky,  with  an 
attempt  at  a  pun,^  and  not  taking  his  eyes  from  her. 

Anna  smiled  almost  imperceptibly,  but  made  no  reply 
to  his  remark. 

"Am  I  not  right,  Karl,  that  they  are  like  scissors .-"" 
she  said,  appealing  to  the  director. 

"  0/i,ja,"  replied  the  German.  "  £s  ist  ein  gans  ein- 
f aches  Ding  ;  "  ^  and  he  began  to  explain  the  construction 
of  the  machine. 

"  It  is  too  bad  that  it  does  not  bind  the  sheaves.  I 
saw  one  at  the  Vienna  Exposition ;  it  bound  them  with 
wire,"  said  Sviazhsky.  "That  kind  would  be  much 
more  convenient." 

"  £s  kommt  draiif  an Der  Preis  von  Draht  muss 

1  Nozhnitsui,  scissors  ;   nozhitchki,  little  knives. 
*  It  is  a  very  simple  thing. 


ANNA    KARENINA  163 

ausgerechnet  werdcji."  And  the  German,  aroused  from 
his  silence,  turned  for  confirmation  to  Vronsky  —  "  Das 
Idsst  sick  ausrechnen,  Erlaiichty 

The  German  put  his  hand  into  his  pocket,  where  he 
kept  a  pencil  and  notebook,  in  which  he  had  an  exact 
statement,  but,  suddenly  remembering  that  he  was  at  the 
dinner-table,  and  noticing  Vronsky's  cold  eyes  fastened 
on  him,  he  controlled  himself. 

"  Zii  complicirt^  inacht  zu  viel  Klopofs,"  ^  he  said  in 
conclusion. 

"  WiiJischt  mail  Dochots,  so  hat  man  audi  Klopots,''  ^ 
said  Vasenka  Veslovsky,  making  sport  of  the  German. 
"  J\idore  r allemand,''  he  said,  with  a  peculiar  smile, 
turning  to  Anna. 

"  Cesses  !  "  said  she,  with  affected  sternness. 

"  We  expected  to  find  you  on  the  field,"  said  she  to 
the  doctor,  who  was  somewhat  infirm.  "  Were  you 
there .? " 

"I  was  there,  but  I  evaporated,"  replied  the  doctor, 
with  a  melancholy  attempt  at  a  jest. 

"  It  must  have  been  a  beautiful  motion." 

"  Magnificent." 

"  Well,  and  how  did  you  find  your  old  woman  .-*  I 
hope  it  is  n't  the  typhus." 

"  Whether  it  is  typhus  or  not  I  can't  tell  yet,  but ...." 

"  How  sorry  I  am,"  said  Anna ;  and,  having  thus 
shown  her  politeness  to  the  dependents,  she  turned 
again  to  her  friends. 

"  At  any  rate,  it  would  be  pretty  hard  to  reconstruct 
a  machine  by  following  your  description,  Anna  Arka- 
dy evna,"  said  Sviazhsky, 

"  No,  why  so.''  "  said  Anna,  with  a  smile  which  inti- 
mated that  she  knew  there  was  something  charming  in 
her  description  of  the  construction  of  the  reaping-ma- 
chines, and  that  even  Sviazhsky  had  noticed  it.  This 
new  trait  of  youthful  coquetry  struck  Dolly  unpleasantly. 

"  Still,  in  architecture  Anna  Arkadyevna's  knowledge 
is  very  remarkable,"  said  Tushkievitch. 

^  Too  complicated,  makes  too  much  bother. 
*  If  one  wants  money,  he  must  have  bother. 


i64  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Well,  yesterday  evening  I  heard  Anna  Arkadyevna 
making  some  wise  remark  about  plinths,"  said  Veslovsky. 
''  Would  you  find  me  doing  that  ?  " 

"  There  is  nothing  remarkable  in  that,  when  one 
keeps  one's  eyes  and  ears  open,"  said  Anna.  "  But  don't 
you  know  what  houses  are  built  of  ?  " 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  perceived  that  Anna  was  not 
pleased  with  this  tone  of  badinage  which  she  and  Veslov- 
sky kept  up,  but  that  she  fell  into  it  involuntarily. 

In  this  respect  Vronsky  behaved  exactly  the  opposite 
to  Levin.  He  evidently  attributed  not  the  least  impor- 
tance to  Veslovsky's  nonsense,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
encouraged  this  jesting. 

"  Well,  tell  us,  Veslovsky,  what  they  use  to  fasten 
stones  together." 

"  Cement,  of  course." 

"  Bravo  !     And  what  is  cement  made  of  ? " 

"  Well,  it  is   something   like  gruel No,  a  sort   of 

mastic,"  said  Veslovsky,  amid  general  laughter. 

The  conversation  among  the  guests,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  doctor,  the  superintendent,  and  the  architect, 
who  generally  kept  silence,  went  on  without  cessation, 
now  growing  light,  now  dragging  a  little,  and  now 
touching  to  the  quick.  ,ti 

Once  Darya  Aleksandrovna  was  touched  to  the  quick, 
and  felt  so  provoked  that  she  grew  red  in  the  face,  and 
afterward  she  wondered  if  she  made  any  improper  or 
unpleasant  remark.  Sviazhsky  spoke  of  Levin  and  told 
of  some  of  his  strange  opinions  in  regard  to  machines 
being  injurious  to  Russian  agriculture. 

"  I  have  not  the  pleasure  of  knowing  this  Mr.  Levin  ; 
probably  he  has  never  seen  the  machines  he  criticizes. 
But  if  he  has  seen  and  tried,  they  must  have  been 
Russian  ones,  and  not  the  foreign  make.  What  can  be 
his  views .''" 

"  Turkish  views,"  said  Veslovsky,  smiling  at  Anna. 

"  I  cannot  defend  his  opinions,"  said  Dolly,  reddening  ; 
"but  Levin  is  a  thoroughly  intelligent  man,  and  if  he 
were  here  he  would  know  what  answer  to  make  you, 
but  I  can't." 


ANNA    KARENINA  165 

"  Oh,  I  am  very  fond  of  him,  and  we  are  excellent 
friends,"  said  Sviazhsky,  smiling  good-naturedly ;  "  mais 
pardon,  il  est  tm  petit  peu  toqti^.  For  example,  he  con- 
siders tht  zemstvo  and  the  justices  of  the  peace  — every- 
thing —  entirely  useless  —  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
them." 

"  It 's  our  Russian  indifference !  "  exclaimed  Vronsky, 
filling  his  goblet  with  ice-water  from  a  carafe.  "  Not  to 
feel  the  obligations  which  our  privileges  impose  on  us 
and  so  ignore  them." 

"  I  don't  know  any  one  who  is  more  strict  in  the  ful- 
filment of  his  duties,"  said  Dolly,  irritated  by  Vronsky's 
superior  tone. 

"  I,  on  the  contrary,"  continued  Vronsky,  evidently 
somewhat  piqued  by  this  conversation,  —  "  I,  on  the  con- 
trary, am  very  grateful,  as  you  see,  for  the  honor  which 
has  been  done  me,  thanks  to  Nikolaf  Ivanovitch  "  —  he 
referred  to  Sviazhsky  —  "in  my  appointment  as  honorary 
justice  of  the  peace.  I  consider  that  for  me  the  duty 
of  going  to  the  sessions  of  the  court,  of  judging  the 
affairs  of  a  muzhik,  are  as  important  as  anything  that  I 
could  do.  And  I  shall  consider  it  an  honor  if  you  elect 
me  a  member  of  the  town-council.^  This  is  the  only 
way  that  I  can  repay  society  for  the  privileges  I  enjoy 
as  a  landed  proprietor.  Unfortunately  the  influence 
which  the  large  landed  proprietors  ought  to  wield  is  not 
fully  appreciated." 

Vronsky's  calm  assurance  that  he  was  in  the  right 
seemed  very  strange  to  Darya  Aleksandrovna.  She 
knew  that  Levin,  whose  opinions  were  diametrically 
opposite,  was  equally  firm  on  his  side ;  but  she  loved 
Levin,  and  so  she  was  on  his  side. 

"  So  we  can  depend  on  you  at  the  next  election,  can 
we  }  "  said  Sviazhsky.  "  But  we  ought  to  leave  earlier, 
so  as  to  get  there  by  the  8th.  Will  you  do  me  the  honor 
to  go  with  me,  count }  " 

"  I  pretty  much  agree  with  your  deau  frhr,"  said 
Anna,  "though  for  different  reasons,"  she  added,  with 
a  smile.     "  I  am  afraid  that  nowadays  we  are  getting 

^  The  Russian  name  for  this  official  is  glasnui. 


i6^  ANNA    KARENINA 

to  have  too  many  of  these  public  duties,  just  as  in  old 
times  there  were  so  many  chinovniks  that  there  was  a 
chinovnik  for  everything ;  so  now  every  one  is  becoming 
a  public  functionary.  Aleksel  has  been  here  six  months, 
and  is  already  a  member  of  five  or  six  different  public 
commissions  —  wardenship,^  judge,  town  councilman, 
juryman  ^ — I  don't  know  what  else.  Dii  train  que  cela 
va  all  his  time  will  be  spent  on  it.  And  I  am  afraid  if 
these  things  are  multiplied  so,  that  it  will  be  only  a 
matter  of  form.  You  have  ever  so  many  offices,  NikolaT 
Ivanuitch,  have  you  not.-*  at  least  twenty,  haven't  you?" 
she  asked,  turning  toward  Sviazhsky. 

Anna  spoke  jestingly,  but  in  her  tone  there  was  a 
shade  of  irritation.  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  who  was 
watching  Anna  and  Vronsky  attentively,  immediately 
noticed  it.  She  saw  also  that  the  count's  face  assumed 
a  resolute  and  obstinate  expression,  and  that  the  Princess 
Varvara  made  haste  to  talk  about  some  Petersburg  ac- 
quaintances, so  as  to  change  the  subject;  and,  remember- 
ing what  Vronsky  had  told  her  in  the  garden  about  his 
pleasure  in  activity,  she  felt  certain  that  this  conversa- 
tion about  public  activities  had  something  to  do  with  a 
secret  quarrel  between  Vronsky  and  Anna. 

The  dinner,  the  wines,  the  service,  were  luxurious,  but 
everything  seemed  to  Darya  Aleksandrovna  formal  and 
impersonal,  like  the  state  dinners  and  balls  that  she  had 
seen,  and  on  an  ordinary  day  and  in  a  small  circle  it 
made  a  disagreeable  impression  on  her. 

After  dinner  they  sat  down  on  the  terrace.  Then 
they  began  to  play  lawn-tennis.  The  players,  dividing 
into  two  sides,  took  their  places  on  the  carefully  rolled 
and  smoothly  shaven  croquet-ground,  on  which  the  net 
was  stretched  between  gilded  posts.  Darya  Aleksan- 
drovna was  invited  to  play,  but  it  took  a  long  time 
before  she  learned  how,  and  when  she  got  an  idea  of 
the  game  she  felt  so  tired  that  she  went  and  sat  down 
by  the  Princess  Varvara  and  only  watched  the  players. 
Her  partner,  Tushkievitch,  also  ceased  playing,  but  the 
others  continued  the  game  a  long  time.     Sviazhsky  and 

1  Popechitelstvo. 


ANNA   KARENINA  167 

Vronsky  both  played  very  well  and  earnestly.  They 
followed  the  tennis-ball  with  quick  eyes  as  it  was  sent 
from  one  side  to  the  other,  not  wasting  their  energies, 
and  not  getting  confused,  skilfully  running  to  meet  it, 
waiting  till  it  should  bound,  and  with  good  aim  and 
perfect  accuracy  catching  it  on  the  racket  and  sending 
it  over  the  net. 

Veslovsky  played  worse  than  the  others.  He  got  too 
much  excited,  but  nevertheless  by  his  gayety  he  kept  up 
the  spirits  of  the  other  players.  His  jests  and  shouts 
never  ceased.  Like  the  other  men,  by  the  advice  of  the 
ladies  he  took  off  his  coat  and  played,  and  his  tall, 
well-shaped  figure  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  and  his  ruddy, 
warm  face,  and  his  violent  motions  made  a  pleasant 
picture  to  remember. 

When  Darya  Aleksandrovna  that  night  lay  down  in 
her  bed,  as  soon  as  she  closed  her  eyes  she  saw  Vasenka 
Veslovsky  dancing  about  on  the  croquet-ground. 

But  while  they  were  playing,  Darya  Aleksandrovna 
did  not  feel  happy.  She  was  displeased  with  the  frivolity 
which  Vasenka  Veslovsky  and  Anna  still  kept  up  while 
they  were  playing ;  nor  did  such  a  childish  game  played 
by  grown  men  and  women  by  themselves,  without  chil- 
dren, seem  natural  or  sensible.  But  lest  she  should  de- 
stroy the  pleasure  of  the  others  and  so  as  to  pass  away 
the  time,  she  rested  a  Httle  while  and  then  took  part  in 
another  game  and  made  believe  that  she  was  gay.  All 
that  day  it  seemed  to  her  as  if  she  were  acting  in  a 
comedy  with  better  actors  than  herself,  and  that  her 
bad  acting  spoiled  the  whole  piece.  She  had  come 
intending  to  stay  for  two  days  if  they  urged  her.  But 
in  the  evening,  during  the  game  of  tennis,  she  made  up 
her  mind  to  go  home  the  next  day.  Those  very  same 
maternal  cares  which  she  had  so  hated  as  she  thought 
them  over  during  her  journey,  now,  after  two  days' 
absence,  presented  themselves  in  another  light  and 
began  to  attract  her.  When,  after  tea  and  after  a 
moonlight  row  in  the  boat,  she  went  alone  to  her  room, 
took  off  her  gown,  and  began  to  put  up  her  thin  hair  foi 
the  night,  she  felt  a  great  sense  of  relief. 


iS8  ANNA   KARENINA 

It  was  even  unpleasant  to  think  that  Anna  would 
soon  be  in  to  see  her.  She  would  have  preferred  to  be 
alone  with  her  thoughts. 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

Dolly  was  just  feeling  ready  to  go  to  bed  when 
Anna  came  in,  in  her  night  costume. 

All  that  day  Anna  had  more  than  once  been  on  the 
point  of  speaking  intimately,  but  each  time,  after  saying 
a  few  words,  she  had  put  it  off,  saying,  "  By  and  by ; 
when  we  are  alone,  we  will  talk.  I  must  tell  you 
everything." 

Now  they  were  alone  and  Anna  did  not  know  what 
to  talk  about.  She  sat  by  the  window  looking  at  Dolly, 
and  casting  over  in  her  mind  that  inexhaustible  store  of 
topics  which  she  wished  to  talk  about,  and  yet  she 
could  not  find  one  to  begin  with.  It  seemed  to  her 
as  if  she  had  already  told  all  that  was  in  her  heart  to 
tell. 

"  Well,  what  about  Kitty  ? "  asked  Anna,  sighing 
deeply,  and  looking  guiltily  at  Dolly.  "Tell  me  the 
truth,  Dolly  ;  is  she  angry  with  me  ?  " 

"Angry  ?     No,"  answered  Dolly,  smiling. 

"  Does  n't  she  hate  ....  does  n't  she  despise  me  ? " 

"  Oh,  no ;  but  you  know  this  is  one  of  the  things 
people  don't  forgive." 

*'  Yes,  yes,"  said  Anna,  turning  away  and  looking  out 
of  the  open  window.  "  But  I  was  not  to  blame  !  And 
who  is  to  blame .''  and  what  is  there  blameworthy  about 
it  ?  Could  it  have  been  otherwise  ?  Now  tell  me  .-' 
How  do  you  think  .-*  Could  you  have  helped  being 
Stiva's  wife  .-* " 

"Truly,  I  don't  know  ;  but  you  must  tell  me  ....  " 

"  Yes,  yes  !  But  finish  telling  me  about  Kitty.  Is 
she  happy  ?  They  say  her  husband  is  an  excellent 
man." 

"  That  *s  too  little  to  say,  that  he  's  excellent ;  I  don't 
know  a  better  man." 


ANNA   KARENINA  169 

"  Oh,  how  glad  I  am  !  I  am  very  glad.  *  Little  to 
say,  that  he  's  an  excellent  man,'  "  she. repeated. 

Dolly  smiled. 

"  But  now  tell  me  about  yourself,"  said  Dolly.  "  I 
want  a  long  talk  with  you.     I  have  talked  with ...." 

She  did  not  know  what  to  call  Vronsky  —  it  was  awk- 
ward to  call  him  either  count  or  Alekself  Kirillovitch. 

"With  AlekseT,"  said  Anna.  "Yes;  I  know  that 
you  talked  with  him.  But  I  wanted  to  ask  you  frankly 
what  you  think  of  me....  of  my  life." 

"  How  can  I  tell  you  at  such  short  notice.?  I  don't 
know  what  to  say." 

"No;   you  must  tell   me You  see  my  life.     But 

you  must  not  forget  that  you  see  us  in  summer  with 
people,  and  we  are  not  alone  ....but  we  came  in  the 
early  spring,  we  lived  entirely  alone,  and  we  shall  live 
alone  again.  I  ask  for  nothing  better  than  living  alone 
with  him.  But  when  I  imagine  that  I  may  live  alone 
without  him,  absolutely  alone,  and  this  would  be ....  I 
don't  see  why  this  may  not  be  frequently  repeated,  that 
he  may  spend  half  of  his  time  away  from  home,"  she 
said,  and,  getting  up,  she  sat  down  close  by  Dolly. 
"  Oh,  of  course,"  she  said  quickly,  interrupting  Dolly, 
who  was  about  to  speak,  "  of  course,  I  cannot  keep 
him  by  force....  I  don't  keep  him.  To-day  there's  a 
race  ;  his  horses  race  ;  he  goes.  I  am  very  glad  !  But 
you  think  of  me ;  imagine  my  situation  ....  what  is  to  be 
said  about  it  ?  "  She  smiled.  "  But  what  did  he  talk 
v/ith  you  about .-'  " 

"  He  spoke  about  a  matter  which  I  myself  wanted  to 
talk  over  with  you ;  and  it  is  easy  for  me  to  be  an  advo- 
cate of  it,  —  about  this :  whether  it  is  not  possible  or 
essential  to" — Darya  Aleksandrovna  hesitated — "to 
improve,  make  your  position  legal ....  you  know  how  I 
look  at ....  but  anyhow,  if  possible,  a  marriage  must  take 
place." 

"  You  mean  divorce  .■'  "  said  Anna.  "  Do  you  know, 
the  only  woman  who  came  to  see  me  in  Petersburg  was 
Betsy  Tverskaya !  Perhaps  you  know  her.  A u  fond 
cest  la  femme  la  plus  depravh  qui  existe.     She  had  a 


xyo  ANNA    KARENINA 

liaison  with  this  Tushkievitch,  deceiving  her  husband 
in  the  most  outrageous  way ....  but  she  told  me  that  she 
did  not  wish  to  know  me,  because  my  position  was 
illegal !  Don't  think  that  I  compare ....  I  know  you. 
dear  heart.^  But  I  could  not  help  remembering  it. 
Well,  what  did  he  say  to  you .-'  " 

"  He  said  that  he  suffered  both  for  you  and  for  him- 
self ;  maybe  you  will  say  that  it  is  egoism,  but  what  an 
honorable  and  noble  egoism !  He  wishes  to  make  his 
daughter  legitimate,  and  to  be  your  husband  and  with  a 
husband's  rights." 

"What  wife,  what  slave,  could  be  more  of  a  slave 
than  I,  in  my  position }  "  she  interrupted  angrily. 

"  The  main  reason  that  he  wishes  it  is  that  you  may 
not  suffer." 

"  This  is  impossible.     Well  ?  " 

"  Well,  to  make  your  children  legitimate,  to  give  them 
a  name." 

"What  children.''"  said  Anna,  not  looking  at  Dolly, 
but  half-closing  her  eyes. 

"  Ani,  and  those  that  may  come  to  you." 

"Oh,  he  can  be  easy ;  I  shall  not  have  any  more.".... 

"  How  can  you  say  that  you  won't  have  any  more.-^".... 

"  Because  I  will  not  have  any  more ;  "  and,  in  spite  of 
her  emotion,  Anna  smiled  at  the  naive  expression  of 
astonishment,  of  curiosity,  and  horror  depicted  on  Dolly's 
face.     "  After  my  illness  the  doctor  told  me...." 


"  It  is  impossible,"  exclaimed  Dolly,  looking  at  Anna 
with  wide-opened  eyes.  For  her  this  was  one  of  those 
discoveries,  the  consequences  and  deductions  of  which 
are  so  monstrous  that  at  the  first  instant  it  touches  only 
the  feeling,  that  it  is  impossible  to  grasp  it,  but  that  it 
rouses  momentous  trains  of  thought. 

This  discovery,  which  explained  for  her  how  hap- 
pened all  these  hitherto  inexplicable  families  of  one 
or  at  most  two  children,  stirred  up  so  many  thoughts, 
considerations,  and  contradictory  feelings  that  she  could 

1  Pushenka  nioya. 


ANNA   KARENINA  IJ:\ 

not  say  a  word,  and  only  gazed  with  wide-open  eyea 
of  amazement  at  Anna.  It  was  the  very  thing  of 
which  she  had  dreamed,  but  now  that  she  knew  it 
was  possible  she  was  horror-struck.  She  felt  that  it 
was  a  quite  too  simple  solution  of  a  too  complicated 
question. 

"■N'est  ce  pas  immorali"  she  asked,  after  a  mo- 
ment's silence. 

"  Why .?  Remember  that  I  must  choose  between  two 
things :  either  being  pregnant,  that  is  to  say,  sick,  or 
being  the  friend,  the  companion,  of  my  husband  ;  for  so  I 
consider  him.  If  that  is  a  doubtful  fact  to  you,  it  is  not 
so  to  me,"  said  Anna,  in  an  intentionally  superficial  and 
frivolous  tone. 

"Yes,  yes,  but...."  exclaimed  Darya  Aleksandrovna, 
hearing  the  very  same  arguments  which  she  had  brought 
up  to  herself,  and  no  longer  finding  in  them  their  former 
weight. 

"  For  you,  for  other  women,"  proceeded  Anna,  apparr 
ently  divining  her  thoughts,  "  there  may  be  some  doubt 

about  this;    but  for  me Just  think!     I   am   not   his 

wife ;  he  will  love  me  just  as  long  as  he  loves  me ;  and 
how,  by  what  means,  am  I  to  keep  his  love?     It  ji^  by 

this."  _  rl^    ,  ,-.7Ji 

And  she  put  out  her  white  arms  in  front  of  her  beau- 
tiful body. 

With  extraordinary  rapidity,  as  always  happens  in 
moments  of  emotion,  all  sorts  of  thoughts  and  ideas  went 
rushing  through  Darya  Aleksandrovna's  mind. 

"  I  have  not  tried,"  she  reasoned,  "  to  attract  Stiva  to 
myself ;  he  deserted  me  for  some  one  else,  and  the  first 
woman  for  whom  he  sacrificed  me  did  not  retain  him  by 
being  always  pretty  and  gay.  He  threw  her  over  and 
took  another.  And  will  Anna  be  able  to  fascinate  and 
retain  Count  Vronsky.-'  If  that  is  what  attracts  him, 
then  he  will  be  able  to  find  women  who  dress  even  bet- 
ter and  are  more  fascinating  and  merry-hearted.  And 
however  white,  however  beautiful,  her  bare  arms,  how- 
ever beautiful  her  rounded  form,  and  her  animated  face 
framed  in  her  black  hair,  he  will  be  able  to  find  still 


172  ANNA   KARENINA 

better,  more  attractive  women,  just  as  my  abominable, 
wretched,  and  beloved  husband  has  done." 

Dolly  made  no  reply,  and  only  sighed.  Anna  re- 
marked this  sigh,  which  signified  dissent,  and  she  pro- 
ceeded. She  had  in  reserve  still  more  arguments,  still 
stronger,  and  impossible  to  answer. 

"  You  say  that  this  is  immoral.  But  this  requires  to 
be  reasoned  out,"  she  went  on  saying.  "  You  forget  my 
position.  How  can  I  desire  children  .■*  I  don't  say  any- 
thing about  the  suffering,  I  am  not  afraid  of  that.  But 
think  what  my  children  will  be !  Unfortunate  beings, 
who  will  have  to  bear  a  name  which  is  not  theirs, —  by 
their  very  birth  compelled  to  blush  for  their  father  and 
mother." 

"  Well,  this  is  the  very  reason  why  a  divorce  is  neces- 
sary." 

But  Anna  did  not  hear  her.  She  wanted  to  produce 
the  same  arguments  by  which  she  had  so  many  times 
persuaded  herself. 

"  Why  was  the  gift  of  reason  bestowed  on  me,  if  I 
cannot  employ  it  in  preventing  the  birth  of  more  un- 
happy beings  ? " 

She  looked  at  Dolly,  but  without  waiting  for  any  an- 
swer she  went  on  :  — 

"  I  should  always  feel  my  guilt  toward  these  unhappy 
children.  If  they  do  not  exist,  they  will  not  know  mis- 
ery;  but  if  they  exist  and  suffer,  then  I  am  to  blame." 

These  were  the  same  arguments  as  Darya  Aleksan- 
drovna  had  used  to  herself,  but  now  she  listened  and 
did  not  understand  them.     She  said  to  herself :  — 

"  How  can  one  be  culpable  with  regard  to  non-ex- 
istent existences .''  "  And  suddenly  the  thought  came, 
"  Could  it  have  been  possibly  any  better  if  my  darling 
Grisha  had  never  existed  .-'  "  and  it  struck  so  unpleasantly, 
so  strangely,  that  she  shook  her  head  to  chase  away  the 
cloud  of  maddening  thoughts  that  came  into  her  mind. 

"No,  I  do  not  know;  I  believe  it  wrong,"  she  said, 
with  an  expression  of  disgust. 

"  But  you  must  not  forget  that  you  and  I ....  and  more- 
over," added  Anna,  notwithstanding  the  wealth  of  hei 


ANNA    KARENINA  173 

own  arguments  and  the  poverty  of  poor  Dolly's,  seem- 
ing somehow  to  recognize  that  this  thing  was  immoral 
after  all,  —  "you  must  not  forget  the  main  thing,  that  I 
am  not  now  in  the  same  position  as  you  are.  For  you 
the  question  is,  Do  you  wish  to  have  more  children  ?  but 
for  me,  Do  I  desire  them  ?  This  is  the  principal  differ- 
ence. You  must  know  that  I  cannot  desire  them  in  my 
position." 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  was  silent.  She  suddenly  be- 
came aware  that  such  an  abyss  separated  her  from  Anna 
that  between  them  certain  questions  existed  on  which 
they  could  never  agree,  and  which  had  best  not  be 
discussed. 

CHAPTER   XXIV 

"That  shows  all  the  more  necessity  for  legalizing 
your  position,  if  possible." 

"Yes,  if  possible,''  answered  Anna,  in  an  entirely  dif- 
ferent tone,  calm  and  sweet. 

"  Is  a  divorce  entirely  impossible .-'  They  tell  me 
your  husband  has  consented." 

"  Dolly,  1  do  not  wish  to  talk  about  this." 

"Well,  we  will  not,"  Darya  Aleksandrovna  hastened 
to  say,  noticing  the  expression  of  suffering  on  Anna's 
face.  "  Only  it  seems  to  me  that  you  look  too  much  on 
the  dark  side." 

"  I .''  Not  at  all ;  I  am  very  happy  and  contented. 
You  ?,?iw,Je  fais  des  passions  with  Veslovsky  ....  " 

"  Yes !  To  tell  the  truth,  Veslovsky's  manner  dis- 
pleases me  very  much,"  said  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  will- 
ing enough  to  change  the  conversation. 

"  Oh  !  there  's  nothing !  It  tickles  Aleksef,  and  that 's 
all  there  is  of  it.  But  he  is  a  mere  boy  and  entirely  in 
my  hands.  You  understand,  I  do  as  I  please  with  him ; 
just  as  you  do  with  your  Grisha Dolly  !  " — she  sud- 
denly changed  the  subject  —  "you  say  that  I  look  on 
the  dark  side.  You  can't  understand.  This  is  too  terri- 
ble ;   I  try  not  to  look  at  all !  " 

"  You  are  wrong ;  you  ought  to  do  what  is  necessary.' 


174  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  But  what  is  necessary  ?  You  say  I  must  marry 
Aleksef,  and  that  I  don't  think  about  that.  /  not  think 
about  that !  "  she  exclaimed,  and  the  color  flew  over  her 
face.  She  got  up,  straightened  herself,  and  began  walk- 
ing up  and  down  the  room  with  her  graceful  gait,  stop- 
ping now  and  then.  "  Not  think  about  that !  There  is 
not  a  day  or  an  hour  when  I  do  not  think  of  it,  and 
blame  myself  for  thinking  of  it;  —  because  the  thought 
of  it  will  make  me  mad  —  will  make  me  mad,"  she 
repeated.  "When  I  think  of  it,  I  cannot  go  to  sleep 
without  morphine.  But  very  good  !  let  us  speak  calmly. 
You  talk  about  divorce,  but  in  the  first  place  Jie  would  not 
consent ;  he  is  now  under  the  Countess  Lidya's  influence." 

Darya  Aleksandrovna,  reclining  in  her  easy-chair  with 
a  sympathetic  and  sorrowful  face,  watched  Anna  as  she 
walked  up  and  down.     She  shook  her  head. 

"  We  must  try,"  said  she. 

"Suppose  I  should  try.  What  does  it  mean.^"  she 
asked,  evidently  expressing  a  thought  which  she  had 
gone  over  in  her  own  mind  a  thousand  times  and  had 
learned  by  heart.  "  It  means  that  I,  who  hate  him,  and 
who  have  nevertheless  confessed  my  guilt  to  him  —  I 
believe  in  his  magnanimity  —  that  I  humiliate  myself  to 
write  him Well!  suppose  I  make  the  effort;  sup- 
pose I  do  it.  I  shall  receive  either  an  insulting  answer 
or  his  consent.  Good,  I  get  his  consent ....  "  Anna  at 
this  time  was  in  the  farthest  end  of  the  room  and  stopped 
there  to  arrange  a  window-curtain.  "  I  get  his  con- 
sent ....  but  my  s-son  }  You  see  he  will  not  give  him 
to  me  I  No,  he  will  grow  up  despising  me,  living  with 
his  father,  whom  I  have  left.  Just  think,  I  love  these 
two  almost  equally,  both  more  than  myself ;  these  two, 
Serozha  and  Aleksei." 

She  advanced  to  the  middle  of  the  room  and  stood  in 
front  of  Dolly,  pressing  her  hands  to  her  breast.  In  her 
white  peignoir  she  seemed  wonderfully  tall  and  large. 
She  bent  her  head,  and,  looking  out  of  her  moist,  shining 
eyes  on  the  little,  homely,  lean  Dolly,  sitting  there  in 
her  darned  nightgown  and  nightcap,  all  a-tremble  with 
emotion,  went  o.n :  ^^ 


ANNA   KARENINA  475 

"  These  two  only  I  love,  and  the  one  excludes  the 
other.  I  cannot  bring  them  together,  and  yet  this  is 
the  one  thing  I  want.  If  this  were  not  so,  it  would  be  all 
the  same,  —  all,  all  the  same.  It  will  end  in  .some  way  ; 
but  I  cannot,  I  will  not,  talk  about  this.  So  do  not 
despise  me,  do  not  judge  me.  You  in  your  purity 
could  never  imagine  what  I  suffer !  " 

She  sat  down  beside  Dolly  and,  with  a  guilty  expres- 
sion in  her  eyes,  took  her  hand. 

"  What  do  you  think  ?  What  do  you  think  of  me  ? 
Do  not  despise  me  !  I  do  not  deserve  that ;  I  am  mis- 
erably unhappy.  If  there  is  any  one  unhappy,  it  is  I ....  " 
said  she,  and,  turning  away,  she  began  to  weep. 

After  Anna  left  her,  Dolly  said  her  prayers  and  went 
to  bed.  She  pitied  Anna  with  all  her  soul  while  she 
was  talking  with  her ;  but  now  she  could  not  bring  her- 
self to  think  of  her.  Memories  of  home  and  her  children 
arose  in  her  imagination  with  new  and  wonderful  joy. 
So  dear  and  precious  seemed  this  little  world  to  her  that 
she  decided  that  nothing  would  tempt  her  to  stay  longer 
away  from  them,  and  that  she  would  leave  the  next  day. 

Anna,  meantime,  returning  to  her  dressing-room,  took 
a  glass,  and  poured  into  it  several  drops  of  a  mixture 
containing  chiefly  morphine,  and,  having  swallowed  it, 
she  sat  a  little  while  motionless,  then  went  with  a  calm 
and  joyous  heart  to  her  bedroom. 

When  she  went  into  her  sleeping-room,  Vronsky 
looked  scrutinizingly  into  her  face.  He  was  trying  to 
discover  some  trace  of  the  talk  which  he  knew  by  the 
length  of  her  stay  in  Dolly's  room  she  must  have  had 
with  her.  But  in  her  expression,  which  betrayed  a  cer- 
tain repressed  excitement,  as  if  she  were  trying  to  con- 
ceal something,  he  found  nothing  except  the  beauty  to 
which  he  was  so  accustomed,  and  which  always  intoxi- 
cated him,  and  the  consciousness  of  it  and  the  desire 
that  it  might  still  have  its  usual  effect  on  him. 

He  did  not  like  to  ask  her  what  they  had  been  talk- 
ing about,  but  hoped  that  she  herself  would  tell  him. 
But  she  only  said  :  — 

"  I  am  glad  you  like  Dolly ;  you  do,  don't  you  ? " 


176  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Yes  !  I  've  known  her  for  a  long  time.  She 's  a 
very  good  woman,  mais  cxcessivcment  terre  a  ten'e.  But 
still  I  am  well  pleased  at  her  visit." 

He  gave  Anna  another  questioning  look,  and  took 
her  hand ;  but  she  understood  his  look  in  another  way, 
and  smiled. 

The  next  morning,  in  spite  of  repeated  urging  from 
her  hosts,  Darya  Aleksandrovna  prepared  to  go  away. 
Levin's  coachman,  in  his  old  kaftan  and  a  sort  of  postil- 
ion's cap,  put  the  unmatched  horses  into  the  old  carr 
riage  with  its  shabby  harness,  and,  looking  stern  and 
resolute,  drove  up  the  sanded  driveway  to  the  covered 
portico. 

Darya  Aleksandrovna  took  a  cold  farewell  of  the 
Princess  Varvara  and  the  gentlemen.  The  day  that 
they  had  passed  together  made  them  all  see  clearly  that 
they  had  no  interests  in  common,  and  that  they  were 
better  apart.  Anna  only  was  sad.  She  knew  that  no 
one  would  waken  again  in  her  the  feelings  which  Dolly 
had  aroused  in  her  soul.  To  have  these  feelings 
aroused  was  painful  to  her,  but  still  she  knew  that  they 
represented  all  the  better  side  of  her  nature,  and  that 
soon  all  vestige  of  such  feelings  would  be  stifled  by  the 
life  that  she  was  leading. 

As  soon  as  she  got  fairly  away  from  the  house,  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  experienced  a  pleasant  feeling  of  relief, 
and  she  was  about  to  ask  her  men  how  they  liked  the 
Vronskys,  when  suddenly  the  coachman,  Filipp  himself, 
spoke  out :  — 

"  They  're  rich,  rich  enough,  but  they  give  only  three 
measures  of  oats.  The  horses  cleaned  it  all  up  before 
cockcrow.  What  are  three  measures  ?  Only  a  bite. 
Nowadays  oats  cost  only  forty-five  kopeks.  With  us, 
we  give  our  visitors'  horses  as  much  as  they  will  eat." 

"  A  stingy  barin,"  said  the  bookkeeper. 

"  Well,  but  you  liked  their  horses,  did  n't  you.?  "  asked 
Dolly. 

"  The  horses,  yes,  they  were  all  right.  And  the  food 
was  good.     But  still  somehow  I  felt  kind  of  homesick, 


fl 


ANNA   KARENINA  177 

Darya  Aleksandrovna ;  I  don't  know  how  it  was  with 
you,"  said  he,  turning  to  her  his  good,  handsome  face. 

"  Yes,  and  so  did  I.  But  do  you  think  we  shall  get 
home  this  evening  ?  " 

"  We  must  get  home." 

On  reaching  home  and  finding  every  one  perfectly 
happy  and  glad  to  see  her,  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  with 
great  liveliness,  told  the  story  of  her  trip  and  how  warmly 
she  had  been  received,  about  the  luxury  and  good  taste 
of  the  Vronskys'  estabhshment  and  about  their  amuse- 
ments ;  and  she  would  not  allow  any  one  to  say  a  word 
against  them. 

"  You  must  know  Anna  and  Vronsky,  —  and  I  know 
him  better  than  I  did,  —  to  appreciate  how  kind  and 
affectionate  they  are,"  said  she,  with  perfect  sincerity, 
forgetting  the  vague  feeling  of  discomfort  that  she  had 
felt  when  she  was  there. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

Vronsky  and  Anna  passed  the  rest  of  the  summer 
and  part  of  the  autumn  in  the  country  under  the  same 
conditions,  and  took  no  steps  toward  getting  a  divorce. 
It  was  agreed  between  them  that  they  should  not  make 
any  visits ;  but  they  both  felt  that  the  longer  they  lived 
alone,  particularly  in  the  autumn,  and  without  guests, 
the  more  unendurable  became  their  Ufe,  and  that  they 
must  have  some  change.  c^rnhi  - 

Nothing  which  constitutes  happiness  was  apparently 
wanting  to  them.  They  were  rich,  young,  well ;  they 
had  one  child,  and  they  had  pleasant  occupations. 
Though  they  had  no  guests,  Anna  continued  to  take 
the  greatest  care  of  her  person  and  her  dress.  She 
read  much,  both  in  the  way  of  novels  and  of  serious 
literature,  and  sent  abroad  for  valuable  books  which 
she  saw  praised  in  the  foreign  magazines  and  journals. 
And  she  read  carefully,  as  one  can  do  only  when  in  the 
solitude  of  the  country.  Moreover,  all  subjects  which 
interested  Vronsky,  she  studied  up  in  books  and  scien- 
voL.  in. — 12 


fjrg  ANNA   KARENINA 

tific  journals,  so  that  often  he  went  directly  to  her  with 
questions  relating  to  agronomics  and  to  architecture, 
even  with  those  on  the  breeding  of  horses,  and  the  best 
methods  of  hunting.  He  was  amazed  at  her  knowledge 
and  her  memory ;  and  when  he  felt  any  doubt  about  the 
beginning  of  an  enterprise  and  wanted  moral  support, 
he  would  consult  her,  and  she  would  find  in  books  what- 
ever he  asked  about  and  then  show  it  to  him. 

The  arrangement  of  the  hospital  also  occupied  her. 
She  not  only  assisted  in  it,  but,  moreover,  invented 
many  original  ideas  and  carried  them  out.  But,  after 
all,  her  chief  preoccupation  was  herself ....  herself  and 
how  she  might  retain  Vronsky's  affections,  how  she 
might  supply  for  him  all  that  he  needed. 

Vronsky  appreciated  this,  and  saw  that  the  only  aim 
of  her  life  was  to  please  him  and  to  obey  his  wishes  in 
every  particular ;  but  at  the  same  time  he  was  op- 
pressed by  the  chains  of  -tenderness  which  she  tried 
to  forge  around  him.  As  time  went  on,  he  found 
himself  more  and  more  embarrassed  by  these  chains, 
and  more  desirous  of,  if  not  exactly  escaping  from  them, 
at  least  of  keeping  them  from  interfering  with  his  inde- 
pendence. If  it  had  not  been  for  his  ever  increasing 
desire  for  freedom,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  fact  that 
every  time  he  had  to  go  to  the  city,  to  the  races,  there 
was  a  scene  with  Anna,  Vronsky  would  have  been 
perfectly  contented  with  his  existence. 

The  role  of  rich  landed  proprietor,  which  he  had 
chosen  for  himself  as  constituting  the  true  work  of  the 
Russian  aristocracy,  and  which  he  had  been  engaged 
in  now  for  half  a  year,  gave  him  ever  increasing  pleasure. 
His  work,  which  absorbed  him  more  and  more,  was 
prospering  admirably.  Notwithstanding  his  enormous 
expenses  for  the  building  of  the  hospital,  for  machinery, 
and  cattle  imported  from  Switzerland,  and  many  other 
things,  he  felt  sure  that  he  was  not  wasting,  but  increas- 
ing, his  property.  As  far  as  it  concerned  the  matter  of 
income,  the  sale  of  wood,  of  wheat,  of  wool,  the  leasing 
of  land,  Vronsky  was  as  firm  as  a  rock,  and  succeeded 
in  holding  to  his  price.     In  matters  concerning  his  whole 


ANNA   KARENINA  ff9 

management,  both  on  this  and  on  his  other  estates,  he 
kept  to  the  simplest  and  least  risky  processes,  and  was 
to  the  highest  degree  economical  and  prudent  in  all 
details.  Notwithstanding  all  the  cleverness  and  shrewd- 
ness of  his  German  superintendent,  who  tried  to  involve 
him  in  purchases  and  who  so  managed  every  calculation 
that  a  large  outlay  was  needed  at  first,  but  where,  by 
waiting  a  little,  the  same  thing  could  be  done  much 
cheaper  and  with  greater  profit,  Vronsky  used  his  own 
judgment.  He  would  listen  to  his  superintendent,  would 
ask  him  all  sorts  of  questions,  and  consent  to  his  pro- 
posed plans  only  when  the  thing  to  be  imported  or  con- 
structed was  something  perfectly  new,  unheard  of  as 
yet  in  Russia,  and  calculated  to  cause  surprise.  More- 
over, he  would  decide  to  embark  in  large  enterprises 
only  when  he  had  plenty  of  money  on  hand,  and  in 
entering  on  any  such  outlay  he  attended  to  all  the  details, 
and  insisted  that  he  should  have  the  very  best  results. 
Thus  it  was  evident  that  in  carrying  out  his  undertakings 
he  was  not  dissipating,  but  was  increasing,  his  estate. 

In  the  month  of  October  the  government  of  Kashin, 
in  which  were  situated  the  estates  of  Vronsky,  Sviazhsky, 
Koznuishef,  and  a  part  of  Levin's,  was  to  hold  its  nobiliary 
elections. 1  These  elections,  for  many  reasons,  and  because 
of  the  persons  who  took  part  in  them,  attracted  general 
attention.  Much  was  said  about  them  and  great  prepa- 
rations were  made  for  them.  People  from  Moscow, 
Petersburg,  and  even  'from  abroad,  who  had  never  wit- 
nessed an  election,  came  to  look  on. 

Vronsky  had  some  time  before  promised  Sviazhsky  to 
go  with  him. 

Just  before  the  elections,  Sviazhsky,  who  had  often 
visited  Vozdvizhenskoye,  came  after  Vronsky.  On 
the  evening  before  this  event  Vronsky  and  Anna  almost 
had  a  quarrel  about  his  proposed  trip.  It  was  getting 
autumnal  in  the  country,  a  melancholy,  gloomy  time, 
and  therefore  Vronsky,  already  ready  for  a  contest, 
announced  with  a  cold,  stem  expression,  such  as  he  rarely 
allowed  himself  toward  Anna,  that  he  was  going  away  on 
^  Dvorianskiye  vuiborui. 


i>8o  ANNA   KARENINA 

this  expedition.  But  to  his  surprise  Anna  received  the 
news  with  entire  calmness,  and  only  asked  him  when  he 
should  be  back.  He  looked  at  her  scrutinizingly,  not 
understanding  her  calmness.  She  smiled  as  he  looked 
at  her.  He  knew  her  power  of  retiring  into  herself,  and 
he  knew  that  it  was  manifested  only  when  she  was  plan- 
ning something  about  herself  and  did  not  wish  him  to 
know  her  plans.  He  was  afraid  of  this  now,  but  he  was 
so  desirous  of  avoiding  a  scene  that  he  almost  forced 
himself  into  believing  that  her  manner  was  sincere. 

"  I  hope  you  will  not  be  lonely." 

"I  hope  so  too,"  said  Anna.  "I  received  a  box  of 
books  from  Gautier  yesterday  ;  no,  I  shall  not  be  lonely." 

"  She  is  adopting  a  new  tone,  and  so  much  the  better," 
thought  he ;  "  but  it  is  all  the  same  thing." 

And  so,  without  entering  into  any  frank  explana- 
tion with  her,  he  started  off  for  the  elections.  This  was 
the  first  time  since  the  beginning  of  their  liaison  that  he 
had  left  her  without  full  and  complete  explanation.  In 
one  way  this  disquieted  him ;  in  another,  he  felt  that  it 
was  better  so. 

"  At  first  there  will  be  something  as  there  is  now,  not 
altogether  clear  and  above  board,  but  after  a  while  she 
will  get  used  to  it.  At  all  events,"  he  thought,  *'  I  can 
give  up  to  her  everything  except  my  independence  as  a 
man." 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

In  September  Levin  returned  to  Moscow  for  Kitty's 
confinement. 

He  had  already  been  there  a  whole  month  without 
anything  to  do,  when  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  who  had  an 
estate  in  the  government  of  Kashin,  and  who  took  a 
great  interest  in  the  approaching  elections,  was  getting 
ready  to  make  the  journey.  He  took  with  him  his 
brother,  who  had  a  parcel  of  land  in  the  Seleznevsky 
district,  and  who,  moreover,  had  some  very  important 
business  to  transact  in  regard  to  a  trusteeship  and  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  i8i 

receipt  of  certain  money  in  Kashin  in  behalf  of  his  sister, 
who  lived  abroad. 

Levin  was  even  at  the  last  moment  in  a  state  of  un- 
certainty, but  Kitty,  seeing  that  he  was  bored  in  Moscow, 
not  only  urged  him  to  go,  but  without  his  knowledge 
bought  him  a  noble's  uniform  at  an  expense  of  eighty 
rubles.  And  these  eighty  rubles  paid  out  for  the  uni- 
form constituted  the  chief  reason  which  induced  Levin 
to  go.     He  therefore  went  to  Kashin. 

He  had  been  at  Kashin  six  days,  present  at  every 
session  of  the  electors,  and  employing  himself  in  his  sis- 
ter's affairs,  which  did  not  progress  at  all  satisfactorily. 
All  the  marshals  of  nobility  were  absorbed  in  the  elec- 
tions, and  it  was  impossible  to  accomplish  the  very  simple 
business  which  depended  on  his  guardianship.  The 
other  matter  —  the  receipt  of  some  money  —  in  the 
same  way  caused  him  great  delay.  After  long  parley- 
ings  concerning  the  removal  of  an  interdict,  the  money 
was  ready  to  be  paid  over  ;  but  the  notary,  a  most 
obliging  man,  could  not  deliver  the  paper,  because  the 
signature  of  the  president  was  necessary,  and  the  presi- 
dent, neglecting  his  duties,  was  at  the  sessions  of  the 
nobles.  All  these  annoyances,  this  wandering  from 
place  to  place,  these  talks  with  very  pleasant  good  men, 
who  thoroughly  appreciated  the  disagreeable  position  of 
the  petitioner  but  could  not  help  him,  all  this  endeavor 
which  brought  no  result,  produced  on  Levin's  mind  a 
most  painful  impression,  analogous  to  that  tormenting 
impotence  which  one  sometimes  experiences  in  a  night- 
mare when  one  wants  to  employ  physical  force  and  is 
unable  to  do  so.  He  frequently  experienced  this  when 
talking  with  that  most  obliging  of  men,  the  solicitor. 
This  solicitor,  it  seemed,  was  doing  everything  in  his 
power  and  was  exerting  all  his  mental  energies  to  get 
Levin  out  of  his  difficulties. 

"Try  this  way  or  that  way,"  he  would  say,  *'  or  go  to 
this  place  or  to  that  place  ;  "  and  the  solicitor  would  lay 
out  a  whole  plan  for  avoiding  the  fatal  obstacle  that 
stood  in  the  way.  But  immediately  he  would  add, 
"Still  there's  a  delay;  however,  try  it."     And  Levin 


i^^  ANNA   KARENINA 

would  go  flying  off  in  this  direction  or  that,  and  doing 
whatever  he  was  told  to  do.  All  were  good  and  kind, 
but  it  seemed  as  if  the  obstacles,  even  after  he  had 
passed  them,  kept  growing  up  again  and  cutting  off  his 
path. 

Especially  annoying  was  it  to  him  that  he  could 
never  know  with  whom  he  was  really  contending,  for 
whose  profit  it  was  that  he  could  never  bring  his  busi- 
ness to  a  conclusion.  And  no  one  seemed  to  know  this 
either.  Not  even  the  solicitor  knew  this.  If  Levin 
could  have  understood,  as  he  understood  why  it  was  im- 
possible to  get  at  the  office  of  a  railway  otherwise  than 
by  standing  in  line,  it  would  not  have  been  humiliating 
and  vexatious,  but,  as  regarded  the  obstacles  that  stood 
in  his  way,  not  one  could  tell  him  why  they  existed 

But  Levin  had  greatly  changed  since  his  marriage. 
He  had  learned  patience,  and  if  he  could  not  compre- 
hend why  all  this  was  arranged  as  it  was,  then  he  told  him- 
self, since  he  did  not  know  all  about  it,  he  was  not  in  a 
position  to  judge,  that  apparently  it  was  unavoidable; 
and  he  strove  not  to  lose  his  temper. 

Now  that  he  was  present  at  the  elections,  he  endeav- 
ored not  to  be  severe  in  his  criticisms,  nor  to  enter  into 
controversies,  but  as  far  as  he  could  to  understand  the 
matters  which  excellent  and  honorable  men  whom  he 
thoroughly  respected  found  so  serious  and  so  absorbing. 
Since  his  marriage  Levin  had  opened  his  eyes  to  so 
many  new  and  serious  sides  of  life  which  had  hitherto 
seemed  to  him,  in  his  superficial  view  of  them,  of  no 
great  importance,  that  now  in  the  matter  of  the  elections 
he  looked  for  a  serious  significance  and  found  one. 

Sergyef  Ivanovitch  explained  to  him  the  idea  and  sig- 
nificance of  the  change  which  was  proposed  to  the  elec- 
tors. The  governmental  predvodityel,  or  marshal  of 
nobility,  had  charge  of  very  many  matters  of  public  im* 
portance,  —  as,  for  example,  guardianships,  such  as  the 
one  which  Levin  himself  was  now  trying  to  bring  into  a 
satisfactory  shape,  —  and  large  sums  of  money  and  the 
direction  of  the  gymnasia,  or  schools  for  women,  and  for 
the  peasantry  and  the  military  and  the  training  of  the 


ANNA   KARENINA  1S3 

people  for  their  new  duties,  and  finally  of  the  zemstvo,  or 
popular  assembly.  Now  the  present  marshal,  Snetkof, 
was  a  man  of  the  old  aristocratic  stamp,  who  had  squan- 
dered an  enormous  property,  was  a  very  worthy  and 
honorable  man  in  his  way,  but  wholly  incapable  of  com- 
prehending the  new  needs  of  the  present  time.  He 
always  on  every  occasion  took  the  side  of  the  nobles; 
he  always  cast  the  whole  weight  of  his  influence  against 
the  extension  of  popular  education  and  he  gave  the 
zemstvo,  which  was  coming  to  have  such  an  enormous 
significance,  a  partisan  character. 

It  was  considered  necessary  to  put  in  his  place  a  new 
and  active  man,  imbued  with  the  most  enlightened 
modern  ideas,  and  to  manage  the  business  so  as  to  ex- 
tract from  all  the  rights  given  to  the  noblesse,^  not  as  Xhp 
noblesse,  but  simply  as  a  constituent  part  of  the  zemstvo, 
such  advantages  of  self-government  as  were  possible. 

In  the  rich  government  of  Kashin,  which  always  took 
the  lead  in  every  advance,  such  forces  were  now  con- 
centrated that  the  business  now  before  the  assembled 
nobles  would  be  likely  to  set  an  example  for  all  the 
other  departments,  indeed  for  all  Russia,  And  there^ 
fore  the  business  had  a  great  importance. 

It  was  proposed  to  elect  as  marshal  instead  of  Snet- 
kof, either  Sviazhsky,  or,  still  better,  Nevyedovsky,  a 
man  of  eminent  understanding,  formerly  a  professor, 
who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Sergyei  Ivanovitch's. 

The  sobranie,  or  provincial  assembly,  was  opened  by  a 
speech  from  the  governor,  who  urged  the  nobihty  to  elect 
the  necessary  functionaries,  not  from  partisan  reasons,  but 
for  merit  and  for  the  public  weal ;  and  he  hoped  that 
the  nobility  of  the  department  of  Kashin  would  do  their 
duty,  as  they  had  always  done,  and  thus  deserve  their 
monarch's  confidence. 

Having  finished  his  speech,  the  governor  left  the  hall, 
and  the  noblemen,  tumultuously  and  eagerly,  and  some 
of  them  even  enthusiastically,  followed  him,  and  sur- 
rounded him  while  he  was  putting  on  his  shuba,  and  talk- 
ing in  a  friendly  way  with  the  government  marshal. 

^  Dvorianstvo, 


iSV  ANNA   KARENINA 

Levin,  anxious  to  see  everybody  and  miss  nothing, 
was  in  the  midst  of  the  throng,  and  he  heard  the  gov- 
ernor say,  "  Please  tell  Marya  Ivanovna  that  my  wife  is 
very  sorry,  but  she  had  to  go  to  the  asylum." 

Then  all  the  nobles  gayly  took  their  shubas,  and  went 
in  a  body  to  the  cathedral. 

In  the  cathedral  Levin,  together  with  the  rest,  raised 
his  hand  and  repeated,  after  the  protopope,  the  solemn 
oaths  by  which  they  swore  to  fulfil  their  duties.  The 
church  service  always  impressed  Levin,  and  when  he 
joined  with  this  throng  of  men,  old  and  young,  in  re- 
peating the  words,  "  I  kiss  the  cross,"  he  felt  stirred. 

On  the  second  and  third  day  the  assembly  was  occu- 
pied with  the  moneys  meant  for  the  educational  estab- 
lishments for  the  nobility  and  for  women,  which  Sergyet 
Ivanovitch  declared  had  no  especial  importance,  and 
Levin,  who  had  his  own  business  to  attend  to,  was  not 
present. 

On  the  fourth  day  the  verifying  of  the  government 
accounts  came  up,  and  here,  for  the  first  time,  the  new 
party  came  into  direct  collision  with  the  old.  The  com- 
mission, whose  duty  it  was  to  verify  these  accounts, 
announced  to  the  assembly  that  the  money  was  all 
accounted  for.  The  government  marshal  arose,  and 
with  tears  in  his  eyes  thanked  the  nobility  for  their  con- 
fidence in  him.  The  nobles  loudly  congratulated  him, 
and  shook  hands  with  him. 

But  at  this  time  one  noble  belonging  to  Sergyel 
Ivanovitch's  party  declared  that  he  had  heard  that  the 
commission,  for  fear  of  affronting  the  government  mar- 
shal,  had  not  properly  performed  the  verification  of  the 
accounts.  One  of  the  members  of  the  commission  un- 
guardedly admitted  this.  Then  a  very  small  and  very 
young-looking,  but  very  sarcastic,  gentleman  began  to 
say  that  it  would  probably  be  agreeable  for  the  govern- 
ment marshal  to  give  an  account  of  his  expenditures, 
and  that  the  excessive  delicacy  of  the  members  of  the 
commission  had  deprived  him  of  that  moral  satisfaction. 
Thereupon  the  members  of  the  commission  v/ithdrew 
their  report,  and  Sergyei'  Ivanovitch  began  logically  to 


ANNA   KARENINA  185 

prove  that  it  was  necessary  to  acknowledge  that  the 
expenditures  had  been  verified  or  that  they  had  not  been 
verified,  and  he  went  into  a  long  exposition  of  the 
dilemma. 

A  chatterer  from  the  opposite  party  replied  to 
Sergyef  Ivanovitch.  Then  Sviazhsky  spoke,  and  was 
followed  by  the  sarcastic  gentleman.  The  proceedings 
were  tedious,  and  no  end  was  reached.  Levin  was  sur- 
prised that  they  discussed  this  so  long,  and  all  the  more 
because,  when  he  asked  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  whether 
Snetkof  were  suspected  of  peculation,  he  replied :  — 

"Oh,  he's  an  honest  man.  But  we  must  shake  this 
old-fashioned  patriarchal  way  of  managing  business." 

On  the  fifth  day  occurred  the  election  of  the  district 
marshals.  The  session  was  a  stormy  one  for  many  of 
the  districts.  In  the  ^lyezd  or  district  of  Seleznevskoye, 
Sviazhsky  was  unanimously  elected  by  acclamation,  and 
he  gave  a  grand  dinner  the  same  evening. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

The  principal  election,  that  of  marshal  of  the  govern- 
ment, did  not  take  place  until  the  sixth  day. 

The  great  halls  and  the  little  halls  were  crowded  with 
nobles  in  their  various  uniforms.  Many  came  for  this 
day  only.  Acquaintances  who  had  not  met  for  years 
were  there,  some  from  the  Krimea,  some  from  Peters- 
burg, some  from  abroad.  The  debates  were  carried  on 
at  the  governor's  table,  under  the  emperor's  portrait. 

The  nobles  both  in  the  larger  and  in  the  smaller  hall 
were  grouped  in  opposing  camps,  and,  judging  by  the 
hostile  and  mistrustful  looks  exchanged,  by  the  conversa- 
tions which  ceased  at  the  approach  of  strangers,  by  the 
fact  that  some  walked  up  and  down  the  distant  corridor 
whispering  together,  it  was  evident  that  each  side  had 
secrets  from  the  other.  Even  by  a  superficial  glance  it 
could  be  seen  that  the  nobles  were  divided  into  two 
sharply  contrasting  types  :  the  old  and  the  new.  The 
old  school  wore  for  the  most  part  either  old  court  uni- 


i86  ANNA    KARENINA 

forms,  tightly  buttoned  up,  with  swords,  and  ancient 
hats,  or  else  their  ordinary  marine,  cavalry,  or  infantry 
uniforms  of  very  ancient  date.  The  uniforms  of  the 
old  nobles  were  made  in  the  ancient  style,  with  epau- 
lets on  the  shoulders,  and  with  short  waists  and  tight 
armholes,  as  if  their  possessors  had  grown  out  of  them ; 
but  the  younger  men  wore  court  uniforms  with  broad 
shoulders,  long  waists,  and  white  waistcoats  unbuttoned, 
or  else  uniforms  with  black  collars  and  embroidered 
laurel  leaves  —  the  distinguishing  badge  of  the  ministry 
of  justice.  Court  uniforms  were  to  be  seen  here  and 
there,  also  among  the  young  men,  adding  to  the  brilliancy 
of  the  throng. 

But  the  division  into  "old"  and  "young"  did  not 
coincide  with  the  party  lines.  Some  of  the  younger 
men,  to  Levin's  surprise,  belonged  to  the  old  party,  and, 
on  the  contrary,  some  of  the  very  oldest  nobles  were  on 
confidential  terms  with  Sviazhsky  and  were  evidently 
warm  partizans  of  the  new  school. 

In  the  smaller  hall,  where  men  were  smoking  and 
lunching,  Levin  was  standing  near  a  group  of  his  friends 
and  listening  to  what  was  said,  and  vainly  exerting  all 
his  intellectual  powers  to  comprehend  what  was  said. 
Sergye'f  Ivanovitch  was  the  center  around  whom  many 
men  had  gathered.  He  was  now  listening  to  Sviazhsky 
and  Khliustof,  the  marshal  of  another  district,  who  be- 
longed to  their  party.  Khliustof  would  not  agree  to  go 
with  his  district  and  beg  Snetkof  to  stand  as  candidate ; 
but  Sviazhsky  advised  him  to  do  this,  and  Sergyei  Ivano- 
vitch approved  of  this  plan.  Levin  could  not  under- 
stand why  a  party  opposed  to  this  marshal  and  wanting  to 
defeat  him  should  nevertheless  put  him  up  as  a  candidate. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who  had  just  been  lunching 
and  drinking,  joined  them  in  his  chamberlain's  uniform, 
wiping  his  mouth  with  a  perfumed  and  embroidered 
cambric  handkerchief. 

"  We  hold  the  situation,"  said  he,  arranging  both  his 
side-whiskers,  "Sergyei  Ivanovitch;"  and  after  he  heard 
Sviazhsky's  plan  he  agreed  with  him. 

•'  One  district  is  enough,  but  let  Sviazhsky  pretend  to 


ANNA   KARENINA  t8^ 

be  in  opposition  ;  "  and  all  except  Levin  understood  the 
meaning  of  his  words. 

"  Well,  how  is  Kostia  ?  "  he  said,  turning  to  Levin  and 
taking  him  by  the  arm.    "  So  you  came,  it  seems,  in  style." 

Levin  would  not  have  been  sorry  to  be  in  style,  but 
he  could  not  comprehend  what  was  taking  place,  and, 
going  a  few  steps  from  the  rest,  he  expressed  to  him  his 
astonishment  at  seeing  the  hostile  districts  asking  the  old 
marshal  to  stand  as  candidate. 

"  O  saiicta  siniplicitas  !  "  replied  Oblonsky  ;  and  in  a 
few  clear  words  he  explained  to  Levin  what  the  state  of 
the  case  was. 

"  If,  as  at  the  last  elections,  all  the  districts  should 
unite  on  the  government  marshal,  he  would  be  elected. 
This  is  not  what  is  wanted.  Now  eight  of  the  districts 
have  agreed  to  ask  him  to  stand.  But  if  two  should 
refuse  to  accept  him  for  their  candidate,  then  Snetkof 
might  decline  to  stand.  And  then  the  old  party  might 
take  for  their  candidate  some  one  else  in  their  party,  so 
that  the  whole  scheme  would  be  defeated.  But  if  Sviazh- 
sky's  district  is  the  only  one  refusing  to  adopt  him  as 
their  candidate,  Snetkof  will  accept  the  nomination.  So 
he  is  selected  and  proposed  as  a  candidate  so  as  to 
throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  opposite  party,  and  when 
we  set  up  our  candidate  they  will  go  over  to  him." 

Levin  began  to  get  some  idea  of  the  plan,  but  it  was 
not  entirely  clear  to  him,  and  he  was  about  to  ask  a  few 
more  questions,  when  suddenly  there  was  heard  in  the 
next  room  a  great  shouting  and  uproar  and  confusion  :  — 

"  What  is  it .-'    What }    Who  .'' ....  Confidence  in  whom } 

What .'' ....  It  is  disproved Lack  of  confidence They 

won't  admit  Flerof  ....  prosecution They  refuse  to  ad- 
mit a  man }  Shame  ! ....  The  law."  Such  were  the  words 
that  Levin  heard  shouted  from  all  sides,  and  he,  together 
with  all  the  rest,  hurrying  from  all  directions  and  shout- 
ing at  the  tops  of  their  voices,  rushed  into  the  great 
hall,  and,  pressing  along  with  all  the  nobles,  he  made 
his  way  up  to  the  governor's  table,  about  which  the 
government  marshal,  Sviazhsky,  and  other  leaders  were 
hotly  discussing. 


1 88  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

Levin  stood  at  quite  a  distance.  A  noble  breathing 
stertorously  near  him  and  another  with  thick  squeaking 
soles  prevented  him  from  hearing  distinctly.  All  he 
could  distinguish  was  the  marshal's  gentle  voice,  then 
the  sharp  voice  of  the  sarcastic  gentleman,  and  then  the 
voice  of  Sviazhsky.  He  could  only  distinguish  that  they 
were  disputing  about  the  meaning  of  a  clause  of  the  law, 
and  the  meaning  of  the  words,  "  nakhodivshayosa  pod 
slyedstvieniy 

The  crowd  parted  to  let  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  get  to  the 
table.  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  after  waiting  till  the  sar- 
castic gentleman  was  done  speaking,  said  that  it  seemed 
to  him  it  would  be  a  better  way  to  consult  the  law 
itself,  and  he  asked  the  secretary  to  find  for  him  the 
text  of  the  law.  The  law  said  that  in  case  of  divergence 
of  opinion  a  vote  must  be  taken. 

Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  read  the  clause,  and  was  just 
beginning  to  explain  its  meaning  when  he  was  inter- 
rupted by  a  tall,  stout,  round-shouldered  proprietor,  with 
dyed  whiskers,  and  wearing  a  tight  uniform  with  a  high 
collar  which  seemed  to  prop  up  the  back  of  his  head. 
This  man  came  up  to  the  table,  and,  striking  it  with  his 
fist,,  shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice  :  — 

"  Put  it  to  the  ballot.  Vote  on  it !  No  discussing ! 
The  ballot !  " 

Then  suddenly  a  number  of  voices  broke  out  at  once, 
and  the  tall  noble,  still  pounding  with  his  fist,  grew 
angrier  and  angrier,  and  shouted  louder  and  louder. 
But  it  was  impossible  to  make  out  what  he  was  talking 
about. 

He  said  the  same  thing  as  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  had 
proposed ;  but  evidently  he  hated  Koznuishef  and  his 
whole  party,  and  this  feeling  of  hatred  communicated 
itself  to  the  whole  party,  and  called  forth  the  opposition 
of  similar,  though  more  decorous,  hatred  from  the  other 
side. 

Voices  were  raised  and  for  a  moment  everything  was 


ANNA    KARENINA  1^9 

in  confusion,  so  that  the  government  marshal  was  obliged 
to  call  for  order  :  — 

"  Put  it  to  vote,  put  it  to  vote.      That  man  knows 

what  he  is  talking  about !     There  '11  be  bloodshed 

The  emperor's  confidence Don't  count  the  marshal, 

he  's  not  our  prikashchik That 's    not  the  point ! .... 

Please,  put  it  to  vote It 's  odious !  "  were  the  ex- 
clamations heard  on  every  side  in  angry,  violent  tones. 
Eyes  and  faces  became  still  angrier  and  more  violent, 
with  words  of  irreconcilable  hatred.  Levin  did  not 
understand  at  all  what  the  trouble  was,  and  was  amazed 
at  the  passion  with  which  they  discussed  the  question 
whether  they  should  vote  or  not  vote  on  the  opinion 
concerning  Flerof.  He  forgot,  as  SergyeY  Ivanovitch 
afterward  explained  to  him,  the  syllogism  that  for  the 
common  weal  it  was  necessary  to  elect  a  new  govern- 
ment marshal ;  to  defeat  the  present  marshal  a  majority 
of  the  votes  was  needed ;  to  get  a  majority  of  the  votes 
it  was  necessary  to  give  Flerof  the  right  of  voting ;  to 
pronounce  Flerof  qualified  it  was  necessary  to  have  it 
decided  how  the  clause  of  the  law  was  to  be  understood. 

"  One  voice  may  decide  the  whole  matter,  and  we 
must  be  serious  and  logical  if  we  wish  to  act  for  the 
public  good,"  said  Sergye'i  Ivanovitch,  in  conclusion. 

But  Levin  forgot  this,  and  it  was  trying  for  him  to 
see  these  excellent  men,  for  whom  he  had  such  respect,  in 
such  a  disagreeable  and  angry  frame  of  mind.  In  order 
to  avoid  this  feeling  he,  without  waiting  for  the  end  of 
the  election,  went  into  the  smaller  hall,  where  there  was 
no  one  except  the  servants  connected  with  the  buffet. 

Seeing  the  servants  busily  engaged  in  polishing  the 
service  and  putting  away  the  plates  and  glasses,  seeing 
their  contented  lively  faces.  Levin  felt  an  unexpected 
feeling  of  relief,  just  as  if  he  had  come  out  from  an  ill- 
smelling  room  into  pure  air.  He  began  to  walk  back 
and  forth,  watching  the  servants.  It  pleased  him  greatly 
to  watch  one  of  the  servants,  an  old  man  with  gray  side- 
whiskers,  expressing  his  scorn  for  the  younger  ones,  who 
stood  in  awe  of  him,  teaching  them  the  best  way  of  folding 
napkins.     Levin  was  just  about  to  engage  the  old  ser- 


ipo  ANNA    KARENINA 

vant  in  conversation,  when  the  Secretary  of  the  Assembly, 
a  little  old  man,  who  made  a  specialty  of  knowing  all  the 
nobles  of  the  province  by  their  full  names,  came  to  call 
him. 

"  Excuse  me,  Konstantin  Dmitritch,"  said  he  ;  "  your 
brother  is  asking  for  you.    The  opinion  is  to  be  voted  on." 

Levin  went  into  the  hall,  took  a  little  white  ball,  and, 
following  close  behind  Sergyei'  Ivanovitch,  he  went  to 
the  table  where  Sviazhsky  was  standing  with  an  impor- 
tant and  ironical  air,  running  his  beard  through  his  hand 
and  occasionally  putting  it  to  his  nose.  Sergyei  Ivano- 
vitch put  his  ball  into  the  ballot-box,  and  made  room  for 
Levin  ;  but  Levin,  having  entirely  forgotten  what  the  vot- 
ing was  for,  was  disconcerted,  and  asked  his  brother :  — 

"Where  shall  I  put  it.?  " 

He  spoke  in  a  low  tone,  and  as  there  was  talking  near 
him,  he  hoped  that  his  question  would  not  be  overheard ; 
but  the  speakers  stopped,  and  his  unfortunate  question 
was  heard.  Sergyei'  Ivanovitch  frowned,  and  repUed 
sternly :  — 

"This  is  a  matter  entirely  of  conviction." 

A  number  of  the  bystanders  smiled.  Much  embar- 
rassed. Levin  quickly  cast  his  vote,  and  as  he  happened 
to  hold  it  in  his  right  hand,  he  threw  it  into  the  right- 
hand  receptacle.  Only  after  he  had  deposited  it  did  he 
remember  that  he  ought  to  have  put  it  in  his  left  hand, 
and  he  did  so,  but  it  was  already  too  late ;  and  growing 
still  more  confused,  he  hastily  made  his  way  to  the  very 
rear  rank. 

"  One  hundred  and  twenty-six  in  the  affirmative ;  ninety- 
eight  in  the  negative,"  announced  the  secretary,  who 
could  not  pronounce  the  letter  r.  Then  a  laugh  went 
round ;  a  button  and  two  nuts  were  found  in  the  ballot- 
box.  The  questionable  noble  was  admitted  and  the  new 
party  was  victorious. 

But  the  old  party  did  not  even  yet  acknowledge  itself 
defeated.  Levin  heard  them  request  Snetkof  to  stand 
as  their  candidate,  and  he  saw  a  throng  of  nobles  sur- 
rounding the  government  marshal,  who  was  making  an 
address.     Levin  went  nearer.     In  reply  to  the  nobles, 


ANNA    KARENINA  191 

Snetkof  was  speaking  of  the  confidence  which  the 
nobility  had  reposed  in  him,  of  their  love  for  him  which 
he  did  not  deserve,  because  all  his  service  had  consisted 
in  his  devotion  to  the  nobility,  whom  he  had  served  for 
twenty  years.  Several  times  he  repeated  the  words,  "  I 
have  served  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  I  appreciate  your 
confidence  and  thank  you  for  it,"  and  then,  suddenly 
pausing  because  of  the  tears  which  choked  him,  he 
hurried  from  the  room.  His  tears  arose  either  from 
the  injustice  that  had  been  done  him,  or  from  his  love 
for  the  nobles,  or  possibly  from  the  unpleasant  position 
in  which  he  was  placed,  finding  himself  surrounded  by 
enemies ;  but  his  grief  was  contagious ;  the  majority  of 
the  nobles  were  touched,  and  Levin  felt  sorry  for  him. 

At  the  door  the  government  marshal  stumbled  against 
Levin. 

"  Excuse  me,  —  I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  said,  as  to  a 
stranger  ;  then,  recognizing  him,  he  smiled  a  melancholy 
smile.  It  seemed  to  Levin  that  he  wanted  to  say  some- 
thing but  was  prevented  by  his  emotion.  The  expression 
of  his  face  and  his  whole  figure  in  his  uniform,  with  his 
crosses,  and  white  pantaloons  ornamented  with  galloon, 
as  he  hastened  out,  reminded  Levin  of  some  hunted  ani- 
mal which  sees  that  it  has  little  chance  to  escape.  This 
expression  in  the  government  marshal's  face  went  to 
Levin's  heart,  for  only  the  day  before  he  had  been  to  see 
him  about  the  guardianship  affair,  and  had  seen  in  the 
whole  establishment  the  dignity  of  a  good-hearted  domes- 
tic gentleman :  the  house  large,  with  ancestral  furniture  ; 
unstylish,  dirty,  but  dignified,  old  serv^ants  who  had  evi- 
dently been  former  serfs  and  had  not  changed  their  mas- 
ter ;  the  wife,  a  tall,  benevolent  lady  in  her  lace  cap  and 
Turkish  shawl,  caressing  her  lovely  granddaughter ;  the 
youngest  son,  a  boy  in  the  sixth  class  of  the  gymnasium, 
who  had  come  in  to  wish  his  father  good  morning  and 
to  kiss  his  big  hand  ;  the  imposing  but  affectionate  greet- 
ings and  gestures  of  the  master  of  the  house :  all  this 
had  awakened  in  Levin  involuntary  respect  and  sympa- 
thy even  then,  and  now  he  felt  touched  and  sorry  for  the 
old  man,  and  wanted  to  say  something  pleasant  to  him. 


192  ANNA    KARENINA 

"Perhaps  you  will  be  our  marshal  again." 

*'  I  doubt  it,"  said  Snetkof,  with  his  scared  look.  "  1 
am  tired,  getting  old.  There  are  younger  and  better 
men  than  I.  Must  let  them  take  my  place."  And  he 
disappeared  by  a  side  door. 

Now  the  most  solemn  moment  had  arrived.  It  was 
necessary  to  proceed  immediately  to  the  election  itself. 
The  leaders  of  both  parties  were  counting  on  their  fin- 
gers the  white  and  black  balls.  The  controversy  re- 
garding Flerof  gave  the  new  party  not  only  one  more 
vote,  but  also  gained  time,  so  that  they  could  send  for 
three  nobles,  whom  the  trickery  of  the  old  party  was 
going  to  deprive  of  the  possibility  of  taking  part  in  the 
election.  Two  nobles  who  had  a  weakness  for  wine  had 
been  made  drunk  by  Snetkof's  henchmen,  and  a  third 
had  been  seduced  by  the  promise  of  a  uniform. 

Having  learned  about  this,  the  new  party  had  made 
haste  during  the  contest  concerning  Flerof  to  send  an 
izvoshchik  for  the  noble  and  to  provide  him  with  a  uni- 
form, and  to  bring  one  of  the  two  drunken  nobles  to  the 
hall. 

"  I  brought  one  of  them,  I  had  to  douse  him  with 
water,"  said  the  proprietor  who  had  gone  in  search  of 
him,  addressing  Sviazhsky.     "  He  '11  do." 

"  He  's  not  very  drunk,  is  he ;  can't  he  stand  ?  "  asked 
Sviazhsky,  shaking  his  head.     "  Yes,  he  's  a  young  man. 

•Only  don't  let  them  get  him  to  drinking  here I  told 

the  caterer  not  to  give  him  any  wine  under  any  consid- 
eration." 

CHAPTER   XXIX 

The  narrow  hall  where  men  smoked  and  had  lun- 
cheon was  crowded  with  nobles.  The  excitement  kept 
increasing,  and  all  faces  showed  signs  of  anxiety.  Es- 
pecially agitated  were  the  leaders,  who  knew  all  the 
details  and  had  followed  the  voting  very  closely.  These 
men  had  charge  of  the  approaching  engagement.  The 
others,  Hke  the  soldiers  in  the  ranks  before  the  battle, 
although  ready  for  the  conflict,  in  the  meantime  sought 


ANNA    KARENINA  19J 

diversion.  Some  ate  luncheon,  standing  or  sitting  at 
the  buffet ;  others  walked  up  and  down  the  long  room 
smoking  cigarettes,  and  talked  with  friends  whom  they 
had  not  seen  for  long. 

Levin  did  not  feel  hungry,  he  did  not  smoke,  and  he 
did  not  care  to  join  his  friends,  that  is,  Sergyei  Ivano- 
vitch,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  Sviazhsky,  and  the  others, 
for  the  reason  that  Vronsky  in  his  equerry's  uniform 
stood  in  lively  conversation  with  them.  The  evening 
before  he  had  seen  Vronsky  at  the  election,  and  had 
carefully  avoided  him,  not  wishing  to  come  into  contact 
with  him.  He  went  to  a  window  and  sat  down,  watch- 
ing the  groups  and  listening  to  what  was  said  around 
him.  He  felt  depressed,  especially  because  all  the  others, 
as  he  could  see,  were  animated,  active,  and  occupied,  and 
he  alone  was  inert  and  indifferent ;  the  only  other  excep- 
tion was  an  old  man  in  a  naval  uniform,  who  had  no  teeth 
and  who  spoke  in  a  mumbling  voice. 

"What  a  rogue.  I  told  him  it  was  not  so  !  He  can't 
make  it  up  in  three  years,"  a  round-shouldered,  short 
proprietor  was  saying  energetically;  this  man,  whose 
long  unpomaded  hair  was  spread  out  over  the  embroi- 
dered collar  of  his  uniform  coat,  walked  along,  noisily 
putting  down  the  heels  of  his  new  boots  which  evidently 
had  been  made  for  the  elections ;  but  as  he  caught  sight 
of  Levin  he  cast  a  hostile  glance  at  him,  and  turned 
about  abruptly. 

"Yes,  it  is  a  nasty  thing  to  say  so,"  repeated  the 
little  proprietor,  in  a  piping  voice. 

Immediately  behind  these  two  came  a  whole  throng 
of  proprietors,  crowding  around  a  tall  general,  and 
quickly  approaching  where  Levin  was.  They  were  evi- 
dently trying  to  find  some  place  where  they  would  not 
be  overheard.  "  How  does  he  dare  to  say  that  I  ordered 
his  trousers  to  be  stolen.  He  drank  them  up,  I  reckon. 
I  don't  care  a  straw  if  he  is  a  prince.  Don't  let  him 
dare  to  say  such  a  thing ;  it 's  swinish!  " 

"  Hold  on,  excuse  me.     They  insist  on  the  letter  of 
the  law,"    they  were  saying   in  another  group;    "his 
wife  must  be  inscribed  among  the  nobility." 
VOL.  III.  — 13 


194  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  The  devil  take  the  letter  of  the  law  !  I  insist  on  its 
spirit.  According  to  that  they  are  genuine  nobles,  be- 
lieve me." 

"  Your  excellency,  let  us  come,  fine  champagne  !  " 

Another  group  immediately  pressed  behind  a  noble 
who  was  shouting  something  at  the  top  of  his  voice ; 
this  was  one  of  the  three  drunken  nobles. 

"  I  always  advised  Marya  Semyonovna  to  let  it  on  a 
lease  because  she  gets  no  profit  out  of  it,"  a  proprietor 
was  saying  in  a  pleasant  voice.  This  man  had  gray 
whiskers  and  wore  the  uniform  of  a  colonel  on  the  old 
general's  staff.  It  was  the  same  proprietor  whom  he  had 
once  met  at  Sviazhsky's  house.  Levin  immediately 
recognized  him.  The  proprietor  also  glanced  at  Levin, 
and  they  greeted  each  other. 

"  This  is  very  pleasant.  How  are  you  ?  I  remember 
you  very  well.  We  met  last  year  at  Nikolaif  Ivanovitch's, 
at  the  marshal's." 

"  Well,  how  goes  your  farming  ? "  ^  asked  Levin. 

"  Everything  is  going  to  rack  and  ruin,"  said  the  pro- 
prietor, halting  near  Levin,  and  looking  at  him  with  a 
submissive  smile,  but  with  an  expression  of  calmness 
and  confidence  that  this  was  the  natural  order  of  things. 

"  But  how  does  it  happen  that  you  are  in  our  part  of 
the  world  .-*  "  he  asked.  "  Did  you  come  to  take  part  in 
owx  coup  d'etat  f  he  went  on,  pronouncing  the  French 
words  with  confidence,  but  with  a  bad  accent. 

"  All  Russia  is  assembled  here,  —  chamberlains,  if  not 
ministers." 

He  pointed  to  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's  imposing  figure, 
as  in  white  trousers  and  chamberlain's  uniform  he  strode 
along  next  the  general. 

"  I  must  confess  to  you,"  said  Levin,  "  I  don't  under- 
stand the  significance  of  these  noblemen's  elections." 

The  old  gentleman  looked  at  him. 

"  Well !  what  is  there  to  understand  .'*  what  signifi- 
cance can  they  have  ?  It 's  a  decaying  institution  which 
prolongs  itself  by  the  force  of  inertia.  Look  at  all  these 
uniforms;  they  tell  you  this  is  an  assemblage  of  justices 

^  Khozyaistvo,  everything  connected  with  his  estate. 


ANNA    KARENINA  195 

of  the  peace,  perpetual  councilors,  and  so  on,  but  no 
noblemen." 

"  Why,  then,  do  you  come  ?  " 

"  From  habit,  to  keep  up  relations ;  from  a  sort  of 
moral  obligation.  And  then,  if  I  must  tell  the  truth,  I 
came  on  a  question  of  personal  interest.  My  son-in-law 
wants  to  be  elected  as  a  perpetual  councilor ;  he  's  not 
rich  ;  I  must  try  to  help  him.  But  why  do  such  people 
as  that  come  ? "  and  he  pointed  out  the  orator  whose 
sharp  voice  had  struck  Levin  during  the  debates  at  the 
governor's  table. 

"  It  is  a  new  generation  of  nobles."  ^ 

"  Certainly  new,  but  not  nobles.  They  are  landhold- 
ers, but  we  are  the  proprietors.  But  they  are  trying  to 
get  the  power  as  if  they  were  nobles." 

"  Yes,  but  you  say  it  is  a  decaying  institution  .-'" 

*'  Decaying  or  not  decaying,  it  must  be  treated  more 
respectfully.  Even  though  Snetkof ....  We  may  not  be. 
worth  much,  but,  nevertheless,  we  have  lasted  a  thousand 
years.  Suppose  you  lay  out  a  new  garden  before  your 
house  and  there  happens  to  be  a  century-old  tree  which 

has  grown  up  on  your  land Though  the  tree  is  old 

and  gnarled,  you  don't  have  it  cut  down,  but  you  lay  out 
your  walks  and  your  flower-beds  in  such  a  way  as  to 
preserve  intact  the  old  oak.  You  can't  grow  such  a 
tree  in  one  year,"  said  he,  cautiously,  and  immediately 
changed  the  conversation.  "  Well,  how  do  matters  go 
with  you  .'* " 

"  Not  very  brilliantly ;  five  per  cent !  " 

"  Yes,  but  you  don't  reckon  your  own  time  and  labor. 
Now,  I  will  tell  you  about  myself.  Up  to  the  time 
when  I  began  to  take  care  of  my  own  estate,  and  while 
I  was  still  in  the  service,  I  used  to  receive  three  thou- 
sand a  year.  Now  I  work  harder  than  when  I  was 
in  the  service,  and  I  also  get  about  five  per  cent,  and 
am  lucky  if  I  get  that.  And  all  my  time  and  trouble 
are  thrown  in." 

"  But  why  do  you  do  so  if  the  results  are  so  unprofit- 
able?" 

*  Dvorianstvo,  noblesse. 


196  ANNA   KARENINA 

"Yes,  why  do  I?  What  shall  I  say?  Habit,  and 
because  I  know  it  has  got  to  be  done.  I  will  tell  you 
something  besides,"  continued  the  proprietor,  leaning 
his  elbow  on  the  window-seat  and  falling  into  a  tone  of 
monologue,  "  my  son  has  no  taste  for  farming.^  He  is 
evidently  going  to  be  a  scholar.  So  there  '11  be  no  one 
to  carry  it  on  after  me.  And  yet  one  goes  ahead.  Here 
I  've  just  planted  a  garden." 

"Yes,  yes,"  said  Levin.  "You  are  quite  right.  1 
always  am  conscious  that  there  's  no  real  economy  in 

my  farming,  but  still  I  go  on  with  it But  one  feels 

that  one  owes  a  certain  duty  to  the  land." 

"  Now  I  will  tell  you  another  thing,"  continued  the 
proprietor.  "  A  neighbor,  a  merchant,  came  to  see  me. 
We  went  over  the  farm,  and  then  the  garden.  '  Well, 
Stepan  Vasilyevitch,  your  place  is  in  order,'  said  he, 
'but  your  garden  has  too  much  shade.'  But  he  found 
it  in  order,  mind  you.  '  My  advice  would  be,  cut  down 
those  lindens.  Just  for  the  bark.  Here  are  a  thousand 
lindens.  Each  one  will  make  two  excellent  basts,  and 
basts  sell  well.  If  I  were  you,  I  should  cut  some  of 
that  linden  trash  down  and  sell  it.'  " 

"  Yes,  and  with  the  money  he  would  buy  cattle,  or 
perhaps  a  bit  of  ground  cheap,  and  he  would  lease  it  to 
the  peasants,"  said  Levin,  with  a  smile,  for  evidently  he 
had  more  than  once  come  in  contact  with  similar  cases. 
"  And  so  he  makes  a  fortune.  But  you  and  I  thank 
God  if  we  keep  our  land,  and  are  able  to  leave  it  to  our 
children." 

"  You  are  married,  I  have  heard .''  " 

"Yes,"  replied  Levin,  with  proud  satisfaction.  "It 
is  wonderful !  We  live  without  making  any  profit, 
obliged,  like  ancient  vestals,  to  watch  some  holy  fire." 

The  old  gentleman  smiled  under  his  white  mustache. 

"  Some  people,  like  our  friend  Sviazhsky  and  Count 
Vronsky,  pretend  to  make  something  by  agriculture ; 
but  so  far  they  have  only  succeeded  in  eating  into  their 
capital." 

"  Why  should  n't  we  imitate  the  merchants,  and  cut 

^  Khozyautvo. 


ANNA    KARENINA  1-97 

down  the  trees  in  our  parks  and  make  money?  "  asked 
Levin,  reverting  to  the  idea  which  had  struck  him. 

"  Just  this !  because  we  guard  the  sacred  fire,  as  you 
say.  Besides,  that  is  not  the  business  of  the  nobles. 
And  our  work  as  nobles  does  not  lie  here,  at  these  elec- 
tions, but  at  home,  each  in  his  own  place.  It  is  a  caste 
instinct  that  tells  us  what  is  necessary  or  not  necessary. 
The  muzhiks  have  theirs ;  a  good  muzhik  will  persist 
in  hiring  as  much  land  as  he  can.  No  matter  how  bad 
it  is,  he  will  work  it  just  the  same,  —  even  without 
profit." 

"  We  are  all  alike,"  said  Levin.  "  I  am  very  glad  to 
have  met  you !  "  he  added,  seeing  Sviazhsky  approach- 
ing. 

"  Here  we  have  met  for  the  first  time  since  we  were 
together  at  your  house,"  said  the  proprietor  to  Svi- 
azhsky.    "  Yes,  and  we  have  been  having  a  talk." 

"  And  doubtless  have  been  slandering  the  new  order 
of  things .''  "  said  Sviazhsky,  smiling. 

"  Something  of  the  sort." 

**  One  must  free  one's  mind." 


CHAPTER  XXX 

Sviazhsky  took  Levin's  arm,  and  together  they  a.p- 
proached  their  friends. 

It  was  now  impossible  to  avoid  Vronsky.  He  was 
standing  with  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  and  Sergyei  Ivano- 
vitch,  and  was  looking  straight  at  Levin  as  he  came 
along. 

"  I  am  delighted ! "  said  he,  offering  his  hand  to 
Levin.  "  I  think  we  met  at  the  Princess  Shcher- 
batsky's." 

"  Yes,  I  remember  our  meeting  perfectly,"  answered 
Levin,  growing  purple ;  and  he  immediately  turned 
away  and  entered  into  conversation  with  his  brother. 

Vronsky,  smiling  slightly,  began  conversing  with  Svi- 
azhsky, apparently  having  no  desire  to  continue  his 
talk  with  Levin.     But  Levin,  while  he  was  speaking 


198  ANNA    KARENINA 

with  his  brother,  kept  looking  at  Vronsky,  trying  to 
think  of  something  that  he  might  say  to  him  so  as  to 
atone  for  his  rudeness. 

"  On  whom  does  the  business  depend  now  ? "  he 
asked,  turning  to  Sviazhsky  and  Vronsky. 

"  On  Snetkof.  He  must  either  dedine  or  consent," 
repHed  Sviazhsky. 

"  What  will  he  do,  consent  or  not  ?  " 

"  That  is  where  the  trouble  lies  —  neither  one  thing 
nor  the  other,"  said  Vronsky, 

"  But  who  will  be  nominated  if  he  declines  ? "  asked 
Levin,  looking  at  Vronsky. 

"  Any  one  may,"  answered  Sviazhsky. 

"You,  perhaps,"  suggested  Levin. 

"  Certainly  not,"  replied  Sviazhsky,  scowling,  and 
directing  an  agitated  look  at  the  sarcastic  gentleman 
who  was  standing  near  SergyeY  Ivanovitch. 

"  Who  then  .-'  Nevyedovsky  .-"  "  continued  Levin,  feel- 
ing that  he  was  treading  on  dangerous  ground. 

But  this  was  still  worse  ;  Nevyedovsky  and  Sviazhsky 
were  two  of  the  candidates. 

"  Not  I  in  any  case,"  replied  the  sarcastic  gentleman. 

It  was  Nevyedovsky  himself.  Sviazhsky  introduced 
him  to  Levin. 

"  This  takes  hold  of  you,  does  n't  it  ?  "  asked  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  winking  at  Vronsky.  "  It 's  just  like  a 
race.     One  might  put  up  stakes." 

"  Yes,  indeed  it  takes  hold,"  said  Vronsky.  "  And 
having  once  begun  with  it,  one  must  carry  it  through. 
It 's  a  battle,"  said  he,  contracting  his  brows  and  com- 
pressing his  powerful  jaws. 

"What  a  worker  Sviazhsky  is !  He  sees  everything 
so  clearly  and  plans  in  advance  !  " 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  Vronsky,  heedlessly. 

A  silence  followed,  during  which  Vronsky,  since  it 
was  necessary  to  look  at  something,  looked  at  Levin,  at 
his  legs,  at  his  uniform,  and  then  at  his  face ;  and  notic- 
ing his  downcast  expression  said,  for  the  sake  of  say- 
ing something :  — 

"  How  is  it  that  you  who  live  in  the  country  are  not  a 


ANNA   KARENINA  199 

justice  of  the  peace  ?  Your  uniform  is  not  that  of  a  jus- 
tice, I  see." 

"  Because  I  think  that  justices  of  the  peace  are  an 
absurd  institution,"  answered  Levin,  gloomily,  but  all  the 
time  hoping  for  an  opportunity  to  atone  for  his  former 
rudeness. 

"  I  do  not  think  so;  on  the  contrary  ...."  said  Vronsky, 
surprised. 

"  It  is  all  child's  play,"  interrupted  Levin;  "justices 
of  the  peace  are  unnecessary  for  us.  In  eight  years  I 
never  have  had  any  business  with  one.  And  the  one 
case  I  had  was  decided  exactly  contrary  to  the  evidence. 
There  's  a  justice  of  the  peace  forty  versts  from  me.  I 
had  a  small  matter  amounting  to  two  rubles;  I  had  to 
send  for  a  lawyer,  and  that  cost  fifteen  ...." 

And  Levin  went  on  to  tell  how  a  muzhik  had  stolen 
some  flour  from  a  miller,  and  when  the  miller  charged 
him  with  it,  the  muzhik  made  a  calumnious  complaint. 

All  this  was  not  to  the  point,  and  awkwardly  put,  and 
Levin  himself,  while  speaking,  felt  it. 

"  Oh,  this  is  such  an  origi?ial!"  said  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch,  with  his  oily  smile.  "  Come  on ;  it  seems 
they  are  balloting." .... 

And  they  separated. 

"  I  don't  understand,"  said  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  who 
had  noticed  his  brother's  awkward  sally,  "  I  don't  under- 
stand how  it  is  possible  to  be  so  absolutely  devoid  of 
political  tact.  It  is  just  what  we  Russians  lack.  The  gov- 
ernment marshal  is  our  opponent,  and  you  are  ami  cockon, 
you  are  on  intimate  terms  with  him.  But  why  on  earth 
make  an  enemy  of  Count  Vronsky  .-' ....  not  that  I  make  a 
friend  of  him,  for  I  have  just  refused  his  invitation  to 
dinner ;  but  he  is  ours.  Then  you  asked  Nevyedovsky  if 
he  was  going  to  be  a  candidate.  It  is  n't  the  right  way 
to  act." 

"  Oh  I  I  don't  understand  anything  about  it ;  it  all 
seems  to  me  unimportant,"  said  Levin,  gloomily. 

"You  say  that  it  is  unimportant;  but  when  you  mix 
up  in  it,  you  spoil  it." 

Levin  was  silent,  and  they  entered  the  large  hall. 


aoo  ANNA   KARENINA 

The  oM  marshal  had  decided  to  be  a  candidate, 
although  he  felt  that  there  was  something  up,  some  trick 
in  preparation  ;  and  though  he  knew  that  not  all  the  dis- 
tricts had  nominated  him,  still  he  decided  to  stand. 

Silence  reigned  in  the  hall;  the  secretary  in  a  loud 
voice  explained  that  votes  would  now  be  cast  for  Mikhaifl 
Stepanovitch  Snetkof,  captain  of  the  guard, ^  as  govern- 
ment marshal. 

The  district  marshals  went  from  their  desks  to  the 
government  table  with  plates  in  which  were  the  ballots, 
and  the  election  began.  "  Deposit  it  at  the  right,"  whis- 
pered Stepan  Arkadyevitch  to  Levin,  as  he  and  his 
brother  approached  the  table  behind  the  district  mar- 
shal. But  Levin  now  forgot  the  count  which  they  had 
explained  to  him,  and  was  afraid  that  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch had  made  a  mistake  in  saying  "At  the  right."  Now 
Snetkof  was  the  opposition  candidate.  Going  up  to  the 
box.  Levin  held  the  ballot  in  his  right  hand,  but  thinking 
that  he  was  wrong,  he  transferred  the  ballot  to  his  left 
hand  just  in  front  of  the  box  itself,  and  consequently  de- 
posited it  in  the  wrong  place.  The  tally-keeper  who 
stood  by  the  box,  knowing  by  the  mere  motion  of  the 
elbow  how  each  one  voted,  involuntarily  frowned. 
There  was  no  reason  for  him  to  practise  his  cleverness. 

Deep  silence  reigned  and  the  click  of  the  ballots  was 
heard.  Then  a  single  voice  was  heard  announcing  the 
affirmative  and  negative  votes. 

The  marshal  was  chosen  by  a  decided  majority.  A 
great  tumult  arose,  and  all  rushed  toward  the  door. 
Snetkof  came  in,  and  the  nobles  surrounded  him,  offer- 
ing him  their  congratulations. 

"  Well !  is  it  over  ? "  asked  Levin  of  Sergyef  Ivanovitch. 

"  On  the  contrary,  it  is  just  begun,"  replied  Sviazhsky, 
taking  the  words  out  of  his  brother's  mouth,  and  smiling. 
"The  opposition  candidate  may  have  more  votes." 

Levin  had  forgotten  all  about  this,  and  only  now  real- 
ized that  this  was  only  finessing.  But  it  was  a  bore  to 
him  to  recall  what  the  plan  had  been.  He  felt  a  sort  of 
humiliation,  and  a  desire  to  escape  from  the  throng.     As 

1  Rotmistr  gvardi. 


ANNA   KARENINA  201 

no  one  paid  any  heed  to  him,  and  he  thought  he  was  o. 
no  use  to  any  one,  he  sHpped  out  into  the  smaller  hall, 
where,  as  before,  he  found  consolation  in  watching  the 
servants.  The  old  servant  asked  him  if  he  would  have 
something  to  eat,  and  Levin  consented.  After  he  had 
eaten  a  cutlet  with  beans,  and  had  talked  with  the  ser- 
vants about  their  former  masters.  Levin,  not  caring  to 
go  back  to  the  crowd  which  was  so  unpleasant  to  him, 
walked  about  the  galleries. 

The  galleries  were  full  of  well-dressed  ladies,  who 
were  leaning  over  the  balustrades  endeavoring  not  to 
lose  a  word  that  was  said  in  the  hall  below,  and  around 
them  was  standing  and  sitting  a  throng  of  elegantly 
dressed  lawyers,  professors  of  the  gymnasia  with  spec- 
tacles on,  and  officers.  Everywhere  they  were  talking 
about  the  elections  and  the  proposed  change  in  the  mar- 
shal, and  saying  how  interesting  the  voting  was.  As 
Levin  stood  near  one  group,  he  heard  a  lady  saying  to  a 
lawyer  :  — 

"How  glad  I  am  that  I  heard  Koznuishef.  It  pays 
to  go  hungry  for  it.  It  was  charming.  How  distinctly 
I  could  hear  all  he  said.  There  is  not  one  who  equals 
him  in  the  court,  only  Maidel,  and  even  he  is  not  nearly 
so  eloquent." 

Finding  a  comfortable  place  near  the  railing.  Levin 
leaned  over  and  tried  to  look  and  to  listen.  All  the 
nobles  were  sitting  behind  screens  in  the  parts  of  the 
hall  devoted  to  their  various  districts.  In  the  center  of 
the  hall  stood  a  gentleman  in  uniform,  and  in  a  light  but 
clear  voice  he  was  saying :  — 

"  You  will  now  cast  your  votes  for  Staff-Captain 
Yevgeni  Ivanovitch  Apukhtin  as  candidate  for  the  posi- 
tion of  marshal  of  the  nobility  of  the  government." 

A  deathlike  silence  ensued,  and  again  a  weak,  senile 
voice  was  heard  :  — 

"  He  declined." 

Again  the  same  thing  began,  and  again,  "  He  de- 
clined."    So  it  went  on  for  about  an  hour. 

Levin,  leaning  on  the  balustrade,  looked  and  listened. 
At  first  he  was  filled  with  amazement,  and  was  anxious 


lOft  ANNA    KARENINA 

to  know  what  it  all  meant ;  then,  becoming  persuaded  that 
it  was  beyond  his  power  to  comprehend  it,  it  began  to 
bore  him.  Then,  as  he  thought  of  the  excitement  and 
the  angry  passions  expressed  in  all  faces,  he  felt  mel- 
ancholy ;  he  made  up  his  mind  to  depart,  and  he  started 
down-stairs.  As  he  was  passing  through  the  entry  of 
the  gallery,  he  encountered  a  sad-looking  gymnasium 
scholar  walking  back  and  forth  with  streaming  eyes. 
On  the  staircase  he  met  a  couple,  a  lady  swiftly  hur- 
rying along  on  her  heels,  and  the  gentle  colleague  of  the 
prokuror. 

"  I  told  you  not  to  be  late,"  the  prokuror  was  saying, 
just  as  Levin  stood  to  one  side  to  give  the  lady  room  to 
pass.  Levin  was  on  the  lowest  stair,  and  was  just  get- 
ting the  cloak-check  out  of  his  waistcoat  pocket,  when 
the  secretary  found  him. 

"  Excuse  me,  Konstantin  Dmitriyevitch,  they  are  bal- 
loting." 

And  the  candidate  who  was  now  receiving  votes  was 
this  very  Nevyedovsky  whose  refusal  had  seemed  to  him 
so  explicit ! 

Levin  started  to  go  into  the  hall.  The  door  was 
locked  ;  the  secretary  knocked ;  the  door  opened,  and  as 
he  entered  he  met  two  very  red-faced  proprietors. 

"  I  cannot  endure  it,"  said  one  of  the  red-faced  pro- 
prietors. 

Immediately  behind  the  proprietor  appeared  the  old 
government  marshal.  His  face  was  terrible  in  its  expres- 
sion of  fright  and  weakness. 

"  I  told  you  not  to  let  any  one  go  out !  "  he  shouted  to 
the  guard. 

"  I  let  some  one  in,  your  excellency."  ^ 

"O  Lord!"  and,  sighing  painfully,  the  old  marshal, 
slinking  along  in  his  white  pantaloons,  with  bowed  head, 
went  through  the  hall  to  the  great  table. 

The  vote  was  counted,  and  Nevyedovsky,  as  had 
been  planned,  was  government  marshal.  Many  were 
happy  ;  many  were  satisfied,  gay  ;  many  were  enthusias- 
tic ;  many  were  dissatisfied  and  unhappy.     The  old  gov- 

^  Vashe  prevoskhodilyclstvo. 


ANNA   KARENINA  qioj 

ernment  marshal  was  in  despair,  and  could  not  disguise 
it.  When  Nevyedovsky  went  out  of  the  hall,  the  throng 
surrounded  him  and  expressed  their  enthusiasm  toward 
him  as  they  had  done  toward  the  governor  when  he 
opened  the  election,  and  as  they  had  done  toward  Snet- 
kof  when  he  was  elected. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

On  this  day  the  newly  elected  marshal  of  the  govern- 
ment and  many  of  the  new  party  which  triumphed  with 
him  dined  with  Vronsky. 

The  count  came  to  the  elections  because,  it  was  tire- 
some in  the  country  and  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 
assert  his  independence  before  Anna,  and  also  because 
he  wished  to  render  a  service  to  Sviazhsky  in  return  for 
similar  favors  shown  him  at  the  zemstvo  elections,  and 
last  and  principally  because  he  intended  strictly  to  fulfil 
the  duties  which  he  imposed  upon  himself  as  a  noble 
and  a  landowner. 

But  he  had  never  anticipated  the  intense  interest 
which  he  would  take  in  the  elections  or  the  success 
with  which  he  would  play  his  part.  He  was  a  perfectly 
"new  man"  among  the  nobles,  but  he  was  evidently 
successful,  and  he  was  not  mistaken  in  supposing  that 
he  already  inspired  confidence.  This  sudden  influ- 
ence was  due  to  his  wealth  and  distinction,  to  the  fine 
house  which  he  occupied  in  town,  —  a  house  which  an 
old  friend  of  his,  Shirkof,  a  financier  and  the  director  of 
a  flourishing  bank  at  Kashin,  had  given  up  to  him,  — 
and  partly  to  an  excellent  cook  whom  he  brought  with 
him,  and  to  his  friendship  with  the  governor,  who  was 
his  ally  and  a  protecting  ally;  but  above  all  to  his  simple 
and  impartial  treatment  of  every  one,  so  that  the  majority 
of  the  nobles  quickly  changed  their  minds  in  regard  to 
the  reputation  he  had  acquired  of  being  proud.  He  him- 
self felt  that,  with  the  exception  of  this  silly  gentleman 
who  had  married  Kitty  Shcherbatsky,  and  who  a  propos 
de  bottes  had  been  disposed  foolishly  to  quarrel  with  hira 


204  ANNA    KARENINA 

and  say  all  manner  of  foolish  things,  everybody  whom 
he  met  was  disposed  to  side  with  him.  He  clearly  saw, 
and  others  recognized  the  fact,  that  he  had  very  largely 
contributed  to  Nevyedovsky's  success.  And  now,  as  he 
sat  at  the  head  of  his  own  table  celebrating  Nevy-edovsky 's 
election,  ne  experienced  a  pleasant  feeling  of  triumphant 
pride  in  his  choice.  He  was  so  much  interested  in  the 
election  that  he  determined  that,  if  he  should  be  married 
at  the  end  of  the  next  three  years,  he  would  run  as  a 
candidate,  just  as  once  when,  after  having  won  a  prize 
by  means  of  his  jockey,  he  had  decided  to  run  a  race 
himself. 

Now  he  was  celebrating  the  triumph  of  his  jockey. 
Vronsky  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table,  but  he  placed  the 
young  governor  at  his  right.  Vronsky  saw  that  all  looked 
upon  him  as  the  khozyaln  of  the  government,  who  had 
triumphantly  opened  the  elections,  who  had  gained  by 
his  speech  great  consideration  and  even  worship ;  but 
for  Vronsky  he  was  nothing  more  than  Katka  Maslof, 
—  such  was  his  nickname  at  the  Corps  of  Pages,  —  who 
used  to  be  confused  in  his  presence,  and  whom  he  tried 
to  put  at  his  ease. 

At  his  left  he  placed  Nevyedovsky,  a  young  man  with 
a  sarcastic  and  impenetrable  face.  Toward  him  Vronsky 
showed  respectful  consideration. 

Sviazhsky  accepted  his  own  failure  gayly  ;  indeed,  as 
he  said,  lifting  his  glass  to  Nevyedovsky,  he  could  not 
call  it  a  failure ;  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  a  bettei 
representative  of  the  new  tendencies  which  the  nobility 
was  to  follow.  And  therefore,  as  he  said,  everything 
that  was  honorable  stood  on  the  side  of  the  success  just 
won,  and  triumphed  with  it. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  also  was  gay,  because  he  was 
having  such  a  good  time  and  because  every  one  else 
was  so  happy. 

During  the  admirable  dinner  they  reviewed  the  various 
episodes  of  the  elections.  Sviazhsky  gave  a  comical 
travesty  of  the  former  marshal's  tearful  discourse,  and, 
turning  to  Nevyedovsky,  he  advised  his  excellency  to 
choose  a  more  complicated  manner  of  verifying  his  ac- 


ANNA   KARENINA  ^05 

counts  than  by  tears.  Another  noble  with  a  turn  for 
humor  related  how  lackeys  in  short  clothes  had  been 
ordered  for  the  former  marshal's  ball,  and  how  now 
these  lackeys  would  have  to  be  discharged  unless  the 
new  marshal  of  the  government  should  give  balls  with 
lackeys  in  short  clothes. 

During  all  the  time  of  the  dinner,  whenever  they 
addressed  Nevyedovsky  they  called  him  "  your  excel- 
lency," 1  and  all  spoke  of  him  as  "  our  government 
marshal."^  This  was  spoken  with  the  same  sort  of  satis- 
faction as  people  feel  when  they  address  a  newly  married 
woman  as  madame  and  add  her  husband's  name. 

Nevyedovsky  pretended  that  he  was  not  only  indiffer- 
ent, but  even  scorned  this  new  title,  but  it  was  evident 
that  he  was  happy  and  was  exercising  self-control  not  to 
betray  his  enthusiasm,  since  to  do  so  would  not  be  be- 
coming to  the  new  liberal  environment  in  which  they  all 
found  themselves. 

After  dinner  a  number  of  telegrams  were  sent  off  to 
people  who  were  interested  in  the  result  of  the  elections. 
And  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who  felt  very  gay,  sent  Darya 
Aleksandrovna  a  despatch  thus  worded  :  — 

Nevyedovsky  elected  by  twenty  majority.  I  am  well. 
Regards  to  all. 

He  dictated  it  alou^,  and  added,  "  I  want  to  make 
them  feel  happy."  But  when  Darya  Aleksandrovna 
received  the  despatch,  she  only  sighed  for  the  ruble 
which  it  cost,  and  she  knew  well  that  it  was  sent  during 
a  dinner.  She  knew  that  Stiva  had  a  weakness  at  the 
end  of  dinners  /aire  j'otier  /e  tilcgraphe. 

The  dinner  was  excellent,  and  the  wines  came  from 
no  Russian  dealer,  but  were  directly  imported  from 
abroad ;  and  everything  was  noble,  simple,  and  joyous. 
The  guests,  twenty  in  number,  were  selected  by  Sviazh- 
sky  from  among  the  new  liberal  workers,  and  they  were 
united  in  sentiments,  keen-witted,  and  thoroughly  well- 
bred.     They  drank  many  toasts,  accompanied  by  witty 

1  Vashe  prevoskhodityektvo. 
*  Nash  gubernsky  predvodityel. 


2o6  ANNA    KARENINA 

speeches,  in  honor  of  the  new  marshal,  and  of  the  gov- 
ernor, and  of  the  director  of  the  bank,  and  of  "  our 
beloved  host." 

Vronsky  was  contented.  He  had  never  expected  to  find 
in  the  provinces  such  distinguished  society. 

Toward  the  end  of  dinner  the  gayety  redoubled,  and 
the  governor  asked  Vronsky  to  attend  a  concert  arranged 
for  the  benefit  of  our  brothers  by  his  wife,  who  wanted 
to  make  his  acquaintance. 

"  There  will  be  a  ball  afterward,  and  you  shall  see  our 
beauty.     In  fact,  she  is  remarkable." 

'* Not  in  my  line,''  answered  Vronsky  in  English; 
he  liked  the  phrase,  but  he  smiled  and  promised  to 

go. 

Just  before  they  left  the  table,  and  while  they  were 
lighting  their  cigars,  Vronsky's  valet  approached  him, 
bringing  a  note  on  a  tray. 

"  From  Vozdvizhenskoye,  by  a  special  messenger," 
gaid  the  man,  with  a  significant  expression. 

"It  is  remarkable  how  much  he  looks  like  the  colleague 
of  the  prokuror  Sventitsky,"  said  one  of  the  guests  in 
French,  referring  to  the  valet,  while  Vronsky,  with  a 
frown  on  his  brow,  was  reading  the  note. 

The  note  was  from  Anna,  and  Vronsky  knew,  before 
he  read  it  through,  what  was  in  it.  He  had  promised, 
as  the  elections  were  to  last  fiVe  days,  to  return  on 
Friday;  but  it  was  now  Saturday,  and  he  knew  that  the 
letter  would  be  full  of  reproaches  because  he  had  not 
fulfilled  his  promise.  The  one  he  had  sent  off  the  after- 
noon before  had  evidently  not  been  received. 

The  tenor  of  the  note  was  what  he  expected ;  but  its 
form  was  a  great  surprise,  and  extremely  unpleasant  to 
him. 

Am  is  very  sick,  and  the  doctor  says  it  may  be  pneumonia. 

I  shall  go  wild,  here  all  alone.  The  Princess  Varvara  is  only 
a  hinurance  mstead  of  a  help.  I  expected  you  day  before 
yesterday,  and  now  I  send  a  messenger  to  know  where  you  are 
and  what  you  are  doing.  I  wanted  to  come  myself,  but  hesi- 
tated, knowing  that  it  would  be  disagreeable  to  you.  Send  some 
answer,  that  I  may  know  what  to  do. 


ANNA   KARENINA  So^ 

The  child  was  ill,  and  she  had  wished  to  come  herself. 
A.  sick  daughter,  and  this  hostile  tone ! 

Vronsky  was  impressed  by  the  antithesis  between  the 
jolly,  careless  company,  and  the  moody,  exacting  love  to 
which  he  was  obliged  to  return.  But  he  was  obliged  to 
go,  and  he  left  by  the  first  train  that  would  take  him 
home  that  night. 


CHAPTER   XXXII 

Before  Vronsky' s  departure  for  the  election,  Anna, 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  the  scenes  which  had 
always  taken  place  every  time  he  left  her  for  a  journey 
might  serve  to  cool  his  love  rather  than  attach  him 
more  firmly  to  her,  resolved  to  control  herself  to  the  best 
of  her  ability,  so  as  to  endure  calmly  the  separation  from 
him.  But  the  cold,  stern  look  which  he  had  given  her 
when  he  came  to  tell  her  about  his  journey  had  wounded 
her,  and  he  was  hardly  out  of  her  sight  before  her  reso- 
lution was  shaken. 

In  her  solitude,  as  she  began  to  think  over  his  cold 
look,  which  seemed  to  hint  at  a  desire  for  liberty,  she 
came  back,  as  she  always  did,  to  one  thing  —  to  the 
consciousness  of  her  humiliation. 

"  He  has  the  right  to  go  when  and  where  he  pleases. 
Not  only  to  go,  but  to  abandon  me.  He  has  all  the 
rights,  and  I  have  none !  But  as  he  knows  this,  he 
ought  not  to  have  done  this.  And  yet  what  has  he 
done  ? ....  He  looked  at  me  with  a  hard,  stern  look.  Of 
course,  that  is  vague,  intangible.  Still,  he  did  not  for- 
merly look  at  me  so,  and  it  signifies  much,"  she  thought; 
"that  look  proves  that  he  is  growing  cold  toward  me." 

And,  although  she  was  persuaded  that  he  had  begun 
to  grow  cold  toward  her,  still  there  was  nothing  she 
could  do,  there  was  no  change  she  could  bring  about  in 
her  relations  toward  him.  Just  as  before,  she  could 
retain  his  affections  only  by  her  love,  by  her  fascination. 
And,  just  as  before,  the  only  way  she  could  keep  herself 
from  thinking  what  would  happen  if  he  should  abandon 


2o8  ANNA    KARENINA 

her,  she  busied  herself  incessantly  all  day ;  at  night  she 
took  morphine. 

To  be  sure,  there  was  one  means  left  —  not  to  keep 
him  with  her  —  for  this  she  wished  nothing  else  but  his 
love  —  but  to  bind  him  to  her,  to  be  in  such  a  relation 
to  him  that  he  would  not  abandon  her.  This  means  was 
divorce  and  marriage ;  and  she  began  to  desire  it,  and 
resolved  that  she  would  agree  to  it  the  first  time  he  or 
Stiva  spoke  about  it  again.  With  such  thoughts  she 
spent  five  days  without  him,  the  five  days  he  expected 
to  be  away. 

Drives  and  walks,  conversations  with  the  Princess 
Varvara,  visits  to  the  hospital,  and,  above  all,  reading, 
the  reading  of  one  book  after  another,  occupied  her 
time.  But  on  the  sixth  day,  when  the  coachman  re- 
turned without  bringing  Vronsky,  she  felt  that  she  no 
longer  had  strength  enough  left  to  smother  the  thought 
about  him  and  what  he  was  doing  at  Kashin.  Just  at 
this  very  time  her  little  girl  was  taken  ill.  Anna  attended 
to  her,  but  it  did  not  divert  her  mind,  the  more  as  the 
little  one  was  not  dangerously  ill.  Do  the  best  she  could, 
she  did  not  love  this  child,  and  she  could  not  pretend  to 
feelings  which  had  no  existence. 

On  the  evening  of  the  sixth  day,  while  she  was  entirely 
alone,  she  felt  such  apprehension  about  him  that  she 
almost  made  up  her  mind  to  start  for  the  city  herself, 
but  after  a  long  deliberation,  she  wrote  the  prevaricating 
note  and  sent  it  by  a  special  messenger. 

When,  the  next  morning,  she  received  his  letter,  she 
regretted  hers.  With  horror  she  anticipated  the  repetition 
of  that  severe  look  which  he  would  give  her  on  his  return 
—  especially  when  he  learned  that  his  daughter  had  not 
been  dangerously  ill.  But  still  she  was  glad  she  had 
written  him.  Now  Anna  acknowledged  to  herself  that 
he  might  be  annoyed  by  her,  that  he  might  miss  his  liberty, 
but  yet  she  was  glad  that  he  was  coming ;  suppose  he 
was  annoyed  by  her,  still  he  would  be  there  with  her  so 
that  she  should  see  him,  so  that  she  should  be  aware  of 
his  every  motion. 

She  was  sitting  in  the  parlor,  by  the  lamp,  reading  a 


ANNA   KARENINA  209 

new  book  of  Taine's,  listening  to  the  sound  of  the  wind 
outside,  and  watching  every  moment  for  the  arrival  of 
the  carriage.  Several  times  she  thought  that  she  heard 
the  rumble  of  wheels,  but  she  was  deceived.  At  last 
she  distinctly  heard  not  only  the  wheels,  but  the  coach- 
man's voice,  and  the  carriage  rolling  under  the  covered 
porch. 

The  Princess  Varvara,  who  was  laying  out  a  game  of 
patience,  heard  it  too.  Anna's  face  flushed ;  she  rose, 
but,  instead  of  going  down,  as  she  had  twice  done  already, 
she  stopped.  She  was  suddenly  ashamed  at  her  decep- 
tion, and  still  more  alarmed  by  the  doubt  as  to  how  he 
would  receive  her.  All  her  irritation  had  vanished. 
All  she  feared  was  Vronsky's  displeasure.  She  remem- 
bered that  her  daughter  for  two  days  now  had  been 
perfectly  well.  She  was  annoyed  that  the  child  should 
recover  just  as  she  sent  off  the  letter. 

And  then  she  realized  that  he  was  there,  himself, 
with  his  eyes,  his  hands.  She  heard  his  voice,  joy 
filled  her  heart,  and,  forgetting  everything,  she  ran  to 
meet  him. 

"  How  is  Ani.**  "  he  asked  anxiously,  from  the  bottom 
of  the  stairs,  as  she  ran  swiftly  down. 

He  was  seated  in  a  chair,  and  his  lackey  was  pulling 
off  his  furred  boots. 

"All  right;  much  better." 

"  And  you .'' "  he  asked,  shaking  himself. 

She  seized  his  two  hands,  and  drew  him  toward  her, 
looking  into  his  eyes. 

"  Well,  I  am  very  glad,"  he  said,  coldly  surveying  her, 
her  head-dress,  her  whole  toilet,  which,  as  he  knew,  had 
been  put  on  expressly  for  him. 

All  this  pleased  him,  but  how  many  times  had  the 
same  thing  pleased  him  !  and  that  stony,  severe  expres- 
sion, which  Anna  so  much  dreaded,  remained  on  his 
face. 

"  Well !  I  am  very  glad  ;  and  how  are  you  ? "  he 
asked,  kissing  her  hand,  after  he  had  wiped  his  damp 
mustache. 

"  It  is  all  the  same  to  me,"  thought  Anna,  "if  only 

VOL.  III.  — 14 


2IO  ANNA    KARENINA 

he  is  here ;  and  when  he  is  here  he  cannot  help  loving 
me ;  he  does  not  dare  not  to  love  me." 

The  evening  passed  pleasantly  and  merrily  in  the 
presence  of  the  Princess  Varvara,  who  complained  to 
him  that  when  he  was  away  Anna  took  morphine. 

"  What  can  I  do  ?  I  cannot  sleep,  —  my  thoughts 
are  distracting ;  when  he  is  here,  I  never  take  it,  —  almost 
never." 

Vronsky  told  about  the  elections,  and  Anna,  by  her 
questions,  cleverly  led  him  to  talk  about  what  especially 
pleased  him,  his  own  success.  Then  she  told  him  all 
the  interesting  things  that  had  happened  since  he  went 
away,  and  took  care  to  speak  of  nothing  unpleasant. 

But  late  in  the  evening,  when  they  were  alone,  Anna, 
seeing  that  she  had  him  at  her  feet  again,  wished  to 
efface  the  unpleasant  effect  of  her  letter ;  she  said:  — 

"  Confess  that  you  were  displeased  to  receive  my 
letter,  and  that  you  did  not  believe  me." 

As  soon  as  she  spoke  she  saw  that,  though  he  was 
affectionately  disposed  toward  her,  he  did  not  forgive 
this. 

'*  Yes,"  answered  he,  "  your  letter  was  strange.  Ani 
was  sick,  and  yet  you  yourself  wanted  to  come." 

"  Both  were  true." 

"Well,  I  do  not  doubt  it." 

"Yes,  you  do  doubt.     I  see  that  you  are  angry." 

"  Not  for  one  minute ;  but  what  vexes  me  is  that  you 
will  not  admit  that  there  are  duties ...." 

"  What  duties  ?     Going  to  concerts  ? " 

"  We  won't  talk  about  it." 

"  Why  not  talk  about  it  ?  " 

"  I  only  mean  that  imperious  duties  may  meet  us. 
Now,  for   instance,  I   shall  have  to  go  to  Moscow  on 

busines.s Akh  !  Anna,  why  are  you  so  irritable  ?  Don't 

you  know  that' I  cannot  live  without  you  .<*  " 

"  If  this  is  the  way,"  said  Anna,  changing  her  tone 

suddenly,  "  then  you  are  tired  of  this  kind  of  life Yes, 

you  come  home  one  day  and  go  away  the  next ...." 

"  Anna,  this  is  cruel ;  I  am  ready  to  give  up  my  whole 
life...." 


ANNA    KARENINA  211 

But  she  would  not  listen  to  him. 

"  If  you  are  going  to  Moscow,  I  shall  go  with  you ;  I 

will  not  stay  here  alone We  must  either  live  together 

or  separate." 

"  But  you  know  I  ask  nothing  more  than  to  live  with 
you,  but  for  that ....  " 

"  The  divorce  is  necessary.     I  will  write  him.     I  see 

that  I  cannot  continue  to  live  in  this  way But  I  am 

going  with  you  to  Moscow." 

"  You  really  threaten  me ;  but  all  I  ask  in  the  world 
is  not  to  be  separated  from  you,"  said  Vronsky,  smiling. 

As  the  count  spoke  these  affectionate  words,  the  look 
in  his  eyes  was  not  only  icy,  but  wrathful,  hke  that  of  a 
man  persecuted  and  exasperated. 

She  saw  his  look  and  accurately  read  its  meaning. 

"  If  this  is  so,  then  it  is  misfortune !  "  said  this  look. 
The  expression  was  only  momentary,  but  she  never  for- 
got it. 

Anna  wrote  to  her  husband,  begging  him  to  grant  the 
divorce,  and  toward  the  end  of  November,  after  separat- 
ing from  the  Princess  Varvara,  who  had  to  go  to  Peters- 
burg, she  went  to  Moscow  with  Vronsky.  Expecting 
every  day  to  get  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch's  reply,  and 
immediately  afterward  to  secure  the  divorce,  they  set 
up  their  establishment  as  if  they  were  married. 


PART   SEVENTH 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  Levins  had  been  in  Moscow  for  two  months, 
and  the  time  fixed  by  competent  authorities  for 
Kitty's  deUverance  was  already  passed. 

But  she  was  still  waiting,  and  there  was  no  sign  that 
the  time  was  any  nearer  than  it  had  been  two  months 
before.  The  doctor  and  the  midwife  and  Dolly  and  her 
mother,  and  especially  Levin,  who  could  not  without  ter- 
ror think  of  the  approaching  event,  now  began  to  feel 
impatient  and  anxious.  Kitty  alone  kept  perfectly  calm 
and  happy.  She  now  clearly  recognized  in  her  heart 
the  birth  of  a  new  feeling  of  love  for  the  child  which 
already  partly  existed  for  her,  and  she  entertained  this 
feeling  with  joy.  The  child  was  no  longer  only  a  part 
of  her ;  even  now  it  already  lived  its  own  independent 
life  at  times.  This  caused  her  suffering ;  but  at  the 
same  time  she  felt  like  laughing,  with  a  strange,  un- 
known joy. 

All  whom  she  loved  were  with  her,  and  all  were  so 
good  to  her,  took  such  care  of  her,  and  tried  so  to  make 
everything  pleasant  for  her,  that,  if  she  had  not  known 
and  felt  that  the  end  must  soon  come,  this  would  have 
been  the  happiest  and  best  part  of  her  life.  Only  one 
thing  clouded  her  perfect  happiness,  and  this  was  that 
her  husband  was  different  from  the  Levin  she  loved  or 
the  Levin  that  lived  in  the  country. 

She  had  loved  his  calm,  gentle,  and  hospitable  ways 
in  the  country.  In  the  city  he  seemed  all  the  time  rest- 
less and  on  his  guard,  as  if  he  feared  that  some  one  was 
going  to  insult  him  or  her.  There  in  the  country  he 
was  usefully  occupied,  and  seemed  to  know  that  he  was 


ANNA    KARENINA  213 

in  his  place.  Here  in  the  city  he  was  constantly  on  the 
go,  as  if  he  were  afraid  of  forgetting  something ;  but  he 
had  nothing  really  to  do.     And  she  felt  sorry  for  him. 

But  she  knew  that  to  his  friends  he  was  not  an  object 
of  commiseration  ;  and  when  in  society  she  looked  at  him 
as  one  studies  those  who  are  beloved,  endeavoring  to  look 
on  him  as  a  stranger,  and  see  what  effect  he  produced  on 
others,  she  saw  with  anxiety  the  danger  that  she  herself 
might  become  jealous  of  him  for  the  reason  that  he  was 
not  at  all  pitiable,  but  was  rather  an  exceedingly  attrac- 
tive man  by  reason  of  his  dignified,  rather  old-fashioned, 
shy  politeness  to  ladies,  his  strong  physique,  and  his  very 
expressive  face.  But  she  read  his  inner  nature.  She 
saw  that  he  was  not  himself,  otherwise  she  could  not 
define  his  actions.  But  sometimes  in  her  heart  she  re- 
proached him  because  he  could  not  adapt  himself  to  city 
life.  Sometimes  even  she  confessed  that  it  was  really 
difficult  for  him  to  conduct  his  life  so  as  to  please  her. 

But,  indeed,  what  could  he  find  to  do  ?  He  was  not 
fond  of  cards.  He  did  not  go  to  the  clubs.  She  now  knew 
what  it  meant  to  frequent  the  company  of  high  livers, 

like  Oblonsky It  meant  to  drink  and  to  go  to  places  — 

she  could  not  think  without  horror  of  where  these  men 
were  in  the  habit  of  going.  Should  he  go  into  society  ? 
She  knew  that  to  enjoy  that  it  would  be  necessary  to 
find  pleasure  in  the  company  of  young  ladies,  and  she 
could  not  desire  that.  Then,  should  he  sit  at  home  with 
her,  with  her  mother,  and  her  sister.?  But  however 
pleasant  these  conversations  might  be  to  her,  she  knew 
that  they  must  be  wearisome  to  him.  What,  then,  re- 
mained for  him  to  do  ?  Was  he  to  go  on  with  his  book  ? 
He  intended  to  do  this,  and  began  to  make  researches 
in  the  public  library ;  but,  as  he  confessed  to  Kitty,  the 
more  he  had  nothing  to  do,  the  less  time  he  had.  More- 
over, he  complained  to  her  that  too  much  was  said  about 
his  book,  and  that  therefore  his  ideas  were  thrown  into 
confusion  and  that  his  interest  in  his  work  was  flagging. 

One  result  of  their  life  in  Moscow  was  that  there 
were  no  more  quarrels  between  them,  either  because  city 
conditions  were  different,  or  because  both  were  beginning 


214  ANNA    KARENINA 

to  be  more  guarded  and  prudent ;  the  fact  remained 
that,  since  they  left  the  country,  the  scenes  of  jealousy 
which  they  feared  might  again  arise  were  not  repeated. 

In  these  circumstances  one  very  important  affair  for 
them  both  took  place :  Kitty  had  a  meeting  with 
Vronsky. 

Kitty's  godmother,  the  old  Princess  Marya  Borisovna, 
was  always  very  fond  of  her,  and  wanted  to  see  her. 
Kitty,  though  owing  to  her  condition  she  was  not  going 
out  now,  went  with  her  father  to  see  the  stately  old 
princess  ;  and  there  she  met  Vronsky.  At  this  meeting 
Kitty  could  reproach  herself  only  for  the  fact  that  for 
the  moment  when  she  first  saw  the  features,  once  so 
familiar,  she  felt  her  heart  beat  fast,  and  her  face 
redden ;  but  her  emotion  lasted  only  a  few  seconds. 
The  old  prince  hastened  to  begin  an  animated  conver- 
sation with  Vronsky ;  and  by  the  time  he  had  finished 
Kitty  was  ready  to  look  at  Vronsky,  or  to  talk  with  him 
if  need  be,  just  as  she  was  talking  with  the  princess, 
and,  what  was  more,  without  a  smile  or  an  intonation 
which  would  have  been  disagreeable  to  her  husband, 
whose  invisible  presence,  as  it  were,  she  felt  near  her  at 
the  moment. 

She  exchanged  some  words  with  Vronsky,  smiled 
serenely  when  he  jestingly  called  the  assembly  at 
Kashin  "our  parliament,"  —  she  had  to  smile  so  as  to 
show  that  she  understood  the  jest.  Then  she  addressed 
herself  to  the  old  princess,  and  did  not  turn  her  head 
until  Vronsky  rose  to  take  leave.  Then  she  looked  at 
him,  but  evidently  it  was  only  because  it  is  impolite  not 
to  look  at  a  man  when  he  bows. 

She  was  grateful  to  her  father  because  he  said  noth- 
ing about  this  meeting  with  Vronsky ;  but  Kitty  under- 
stood from  his  especial  tenderness  after  their  visit,  during 
their  usual  walk,  that  he  was  satisfied  with  her.  She 
felt  satisfied  with  herself.  She  had  never  anticipated 
that  she  should  have  the  strength  of  mind  to  remember 
all  the  details  of  her  former  feelings  toward  Vronsky, 
and  yet  to  seem  and  to  feel  perfectly  indifferent  and 
calm  in  his  presence. 


ANNA    KARENINA  215 

Levin  turned  far  more  crimson  than  she  did,  when 
she  told  him  about  her  meeting  with  Vronsky  at  the 
house  of  the  Princess  Marya  Borisovna.  It  was  very 
hard  for  her  to  tell  him  about  it,  and  still  harder  to  go 
on  relating  the  details  of  the  meeting,  for  the  reason 
that  he  did  not  ask  her  a  question,  but  only  gazed  at  her 
and  frowned. 

"  It  was  such  a  pity  that  you  were  n't  there,"  she  said 
to  her  husband,  —  "  not  in  the  room,  for  before  you  I 
should  not  have  been  so  self-possessed.  I  'm  blushing 
now  ever  and  ever  so  much  more  than  I  did  then,"  said 
she,  blushing  till  the  tears  came,  —  "but  if  you  could 
have  looked  through  the  keyhole." 

Her  sincere  eyes  told  Levin  that  she  was  satisfied 
with  her  behavior,  and,  though  she  blushed,  he  immedi- 
ately became  calm ;  he  asked  her  some  questions,  just 
as  she  wished  him  to  do.  When  he  had  heard  the 
whole  story,  even  to  the  detail  that  she  could  not  help 
blushing  for  the  first  second,  and  afterward  was  per- 
fectly at  her  ease  as  if  she  had  never  met  him  before. 
Levin  grew  extraordinarily  gay,  and  declared  that  he 
was  very  glad  of  it,  and  that  in  future  he  should  not 
behave  so  foolishly  as  he  had  done  at  the  elections, 
but  that  when  he  met  Vronsky  again  he  should  be  as 
friendly  as  possible. 

"  It  is  so  painful  to  look  on  him  almost  as  an  enemy, 
whom  it  is  hard  to  meet.     I  am  very,  very  glad." 


CHAPTER   II 

"  Please  don't  forget  to  call  at  the  Bohls'/'  said 
Kitty,  as  her  husband  came  to  her  room,  about  eleven 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  before  going  out.  "  I  know  that 
you  are  going  to  dine  at  the  club,  because  papa  wrote 
you.     But  what  are  you  going  to  do  this  morning .'' " 

"  I  'm  only  going  to  Katavasof's." 

"  Why  are  you  going  so  early  }  " 

"  He  promised  to  introduce  me  to  Metrof.     He 's  a 


2i6  ANNA    KARENINA 

famous  scholar  from  Petersburg.  I  want  to  talk  over 
my  book  with  him." 

"  Oh,  yes ;  was  n't  it  his  article  you  were  praising  .^ 
Well,  and  after  that  ? " 

"  Possibly  to  the  tribunal,  about  that  affair  of  my 
sister's." 

"Are  n't  you  going  to  the  concert  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  No ;  why  should  I  go  all  alone  .■*  " 

"  Do  go.  They  're  going  to  give  those  new  pieces.... 
it  will  interest  you.     I  should  certainly  go." 

"  Well,  at  all  events,  I  shall  come  home  before  din- 
ner," said  he,  looking  at  his  watch. 

"  Put  on  your  best  coat,  so  as  to  go  to  the  Countess 
Bohl's." 

"  Why,  is  that  really  necessary  ?  " 

"  Akh !  certainly.  The  count  himself  came  here. 
Now,  what  does  it  cost  you.?  You  go,  you  sit  down, 
you  talk  five  minutes  about  the  weather,  then  you  get 
up  and  go." 

"  Well,  you  don't  realize  that  I  am  so  out  of  practice, 
that  I  feel  abashed.  How  absurd  it  is  for  a  strange 
man  to  come  to  a  house,  to  sit  down,  to  stay  a  little 
while  without  any  business,  to  find  himself  in  the  way, 
feel  awkward,  and  then  go." 

Kitty  laughed. 

"  Yes ;  but  did  n't  you  use  to  make  calls  before  you 
were  married .-' " 

"  Yes,  but  I  was  always  bashful,"  said  he  ;  "  and  now 
I  am  so  out  of  the  way  of  it,  that,  by  Heavens,^  I  would 
rather  not  have  any  dinner  for  two  days  than  make  this 
call.  I  am  so  bashful.  It  seems  to  me  as  if  they  must 
take  offense,  and  say,  'Why  do  you  come  without 
business  .■' ' " 

"  No,  they  don't  take  offense.  I  will  answer  that  for 
you,"  said  Kitty,  looking  brightly  into  his  face.  She 
took  his  hand.     "  Now,  prashchaf !  —  please  go  !  " 

He  kissed  his  wife's  hand,  and  was  about  to  go,  when 
she  stopped  him. 

"  Kostia,  do  you  know  I  have  only  fifty  rubles  left  ? " 

1  Yet  Bogu. 


ANNA    KARENINA  I17 

"Well,  I  will  go  and  get  some  from  the  bank.  How 
much  do  you  want  ? "  said  he,  with  his  well-known  ex- 
pression of  vexation. 

"  No,  wait!  "  She  detained  him  by  the  arm.  "  Let  us 
talk  about  this  a  moment ;  this  troubles  me.  I  try  not 
to  buy  anything  unnecessary ;'  still,  the  money  runs 
away.     We  must  retrench  somehow  or  other." 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Levin,  with  a  little  cough,  and 
looking  askance  upon  her. 

She  knew  this  cough.  It  was  a  sign  of  strong  vexa- 
tion, not  with  her,  but  with  himself.  He  was  actually 
discontented,  not  because  much  money  was  spent,  but 
because  he  was  reminded  of  what  he  wanted  to  forget. 

"  I  have  ordered  Sokolof  to  sell  the  corn,  and  to  get 
the  rent  of  the  mill  in  advance.  We  shall  have  money 
enough." 

"  No  ;  but  I  fear  that,  as  a  general  thing ....  " 

"Not  at  all,  not  at  all,"  he  repeated.  "Well,  good- 
by,  darling."  ^ 

"Sometimes  I  wish  I  hadn't  listened  to  mamma. 
How  happy  we  were  in  the  country !  I  tire  you  all, 
waiting  for  me ;  and  the  money  we  spend  ....  " 

"  Not  at  all,  not  at  all !  Not  one  single  time  since  we 
were  married  till  now  have  I  thought  that  things  would 
have  been  better  than  they  are." 

"  Truly  .**"  said  she,  looking  into  his  face. 

He  said  that,  thinking  only  to  comfort  her.  But  when 
he  saw  her  gentle,  honest  eyes  turned  to  him  with  an 
inquiring  look,  he  repeated  what  he  had  said  with  his 
whole  heart ;  and  he  remembered  what  was  coming  to 
them  so  soon. 

"  How  do  you  feel  this  morning  ?  Do  you  think  it 
will  be  soon  ? "  he  asked,  taking  both  her  hands  in  his. 

"  I  sometimes  think  that  I  don't  think  and  don't  know 
anything." 

"And  don't  you  feel  afraid?" 

She  smiled  disdainfully  :  — 

"  Not  the  least  bit.  No,  nothing  will  happen  to-day ; 
don't  worry."  ju  j;ij  ( 

^  Nu  prashchal,  dushenka;  literally,  Now,  farewell,  adieu,  little  soul. 


2i8  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  If  that  is  so,  then  I  am  going  to  Katavasof  s." 
"  I  am  going  with  papa  to  take  a  little  walk  on  the 
boulevard.  We  are  going  to  see  Dolly.  I  shall  expect 
you  back  before  dinner.  Oh,  there !  Do  you  know, 
Dolly's  position  is  getting  to  be  entirely  unendurable .'' 
She  is  in  debt  on  every"  side,  and  has  n't  any  money  at 
all.  We  talked  about  it  yesterday  with  mamma  and 
Arseny,"  ■ —  this  was  her  sister  Natali  Lvova's  husband, 

—  "  and  they  decided  that  you  should  scold  Stiva.  It  is 
truly  unendurable.  It  is  impossible  for  papa  to  speak 
about  it ;  but  if  you  and  he ....  " 

"Well,  what  can  we  do  .-* "  asked  Levin. 

"  You  had  better  go  to  Arseny's,  and  talk  with  him ; 
he  will  tell  you  what  we  decided  about  it." 

"  All  right !  I  will  follow  Arseny's  advice.  Then,  I 
will  go  directly  to  his  house.  By  the  way,  if  he  is  at  the 
concert,  then  I  will  go  with  Natali.     So  good-by." 

On  the  staircase,  the  old  bachelor  servant,  Kuzma, 
who  acted  in  the  city  as  steward,  stopped  his  mas- 
ter. 

"  Krasavtchika^has  just  been  shod,  and  it  lamed  her," 

—  this  was  Levin's  left  pole-horse,  which  he  had  brought 
from  the  country ;  — "  what  shall  I  do  ?  "  said  he. 

When  Levin  established  himself  in  Moscow,  he  brought 
his  horses  from  the  country.  He  wished  to  set  up  as 
good  a  stable  as  possible,  but  not  to  have  it  cost  too 
much.  It  seemed  to  him  now  that  hired  horses  would 
have  been  less  expensive ;  and  even  as  it  was,  he  was 
often  obliged  to  hire  of  the  izvoshchik. 

"  Take  her  to  the  veterinary ;  perhaps  she  is  going 
to  have  a  swimmer." 

"  Well,  how  shall  you  arrange  for  Katerina  Aleksan- 
drovna  ? "  asked  Kuzma. 

Levin  was  now  no  longer  troubled  as  he  had  been  at 
first,  when  he  first  came  to  Moscow,  that  for  the  drive 
from  Vozdvizhenko  to  Svintsef  Vrazhek  it  was  necessary 
to  have  a  span  of  heavy  horses  harnessed  into  his  heavy 
carriage  and  drive  in  it  four  versts  through  mealy  snow, 
and  keep  them  waiting  four  hours  there,  and  have  to  pay 

1  Little  Beauty. 


ANNA    KARENINA  ^,19 

five  rubles  for  it.  Now  it  seemed  to  him  the  natural 
thing  to  do. 

"  Get  a  pair  of  horses  from  the  izvoshchik,  and  put 
them  into  our  carriage." 

"  I  will  obey." 

And  having  thus  decided  simply  and  quickly,  thanks 
to  his  training  in  city  ways,  a  labor  which  in  the  coun- 
try would  have  cost  him  much  trouble  and  attention. 
Levin  went  out  on  the  porch,  and,  beckoning  to  an  izvosh- 
chik, took  his  seat  in  the  cab,  and  rode  off  to  the 
Nikitskaya  Street. 

On  the  way  the  question  of  money  did  not  occupy 
him,  but  he  thought  over  how  he  was  about  to  make 
the  acquaintance  of  the  sociological  savant  from  Peters- 
burg, and  what  he  should  say  to  him  in  regard  to  his 
treatise. 

It  was  only  during  the  first  part  of  his  stay  in  Mos- 
cow that  Levin,  who  had  been  used  to  the  productive 
ways  of  the  country,  was  amazed  at  the  strange  and 
unavoidable  expenses  which  met  him  on  every  side. 
But  now  he  was  wonted  to  them.  He  had  somewhat  the 
same  experience  as  he  had  been  told  drunken  men  went 
through  :  each  successive  glass  made  him  more  reckless.^ 

When  Levin  took  the  first  hundred-ruble  note  for  the 
purchase  of  liveries  for  the  lackey  and  Swiss,  he  could 
not  avoid  the  consideration  that  these  liveries  were 
wholly  useless  to  any  one ;  and  yet  they  seemed  to  be 
unavoidable  and  indispensable,  judging  from  the  amaze- 
ment of  Kitty  and  her  mother,  when  he  made  the  re- 
mark that  they  might  go  without  them  —  and  he  put  it 
to  himself  that  these  liveries  represented  the  wages  of 
two  laborers  for  a  year,  that  is  to  say,  about  three 
hundred  working  days  from  early  in  the  morning  till 
late  at  night ;  so  that  the  first  hundred-ruble  note  corre- 
sponded to  the  first  glass.^ 

But  the  second  bill  of  twenty-eight  rubles,  expended 
for  the  purchase  of  provisions  for  a  family  dinner,  cost 

1  An    untranslatable    Russian    proverb:    Piervaya    riumka  —  kolom; 
vtoraya  sokolom,  a  posle  tretve —  viielkimi  ptashetchkami. 
*  The  kolom,  or  stake,  of  the  proverb. 


220  ANNA    KARENINA 

him  less  trouble,  though  he  still  mentally  computed  that 
this  money  represented  nine  chetverts,  or  more  than 
fifty  bushels,  of  oats  which  these  same  workmen,  at  the 
cost  of  many  groans,  had  mowed,  bound  into  sheaves, 
threshed,  winnowed,  gathered  up,  and  put  into  bags. 

And  now  the  money  spent  in  this  way  had  long  ceased 
to  evoke  any  such  considerations,  but  they  flew  around 
him  like  little  birds.  He  had  long  ceased  to  ask  him- 
self whether  the  pleasure  purchased  by  his  money  was 
anywhere  near  commensurate  with  the  labor  spent  in 
acquiring  it.  He  also  forgot  the  common  principle  of 
economics,  that  there  is  a  certain  price  below  which  it  is 
impossible  to  sell  grain  except  at  a  loss.  His  rye,  the 
price  of  which  he  had  kept  up  so  long,  had  to  be  sold 
at  ten  kopeks  a  bushel  cheaper  than  he  had  sold  it  a 
month  earlier.  Even  the  calculation  that  if  he  kept  on 
at  his  present  rate  of  expenditure  it  would  be  impossible 
to  get  through  the  year  without  getting  into  debt,  did 
not  cause  him  any  anxiety. 

Only  one  thing  troubled  him :  the  keeping  up  his 
bank  account,  without  asking  how,  so  that  there  might 
be  always  enough  for  the  daily  needs  of  the  household. 
And  up  to  the  present  time  he  had  succeeded  in  doing 
this.  But  now  his  deposit  at  the  bank  had  run  low,  and 
he  did  not  know  exactly  how  to  restore  it.  And  this 
problem  was  causing  him  some  anxiety  just  at  the  time 
when  Kitty  asked  him  for  some  more  money.  But  he 
did  not  want  to  bother  about  that  just  now.  So  he 
drove  away,  thinking  of  Katavasof  and  his  approaching 
acquaintance  with  Metrof. 


CHAPTER   III 

During  his  present  stay  in  Moscow  Levin  had  once 
more  come  into  intimate  relationship  with  his  old  uni- 
versity friend,  Professor  Katavasof,  whom  he  had  not 
seen  since  the  time  of  his  marriage.  Katavasof  was 
agreeable  to  him  because  of  the  clearness  and  simplicity 
of  his  philosophy.     Levin  thought  that  the  clearness  of 


ANNA    KARENINA  22J 

his  philosophy  arose  from  the  poverty  of  his  nature, 
while  Katavasof  thought  that  the  incoherence  of  Le- 
vin's ideas  arose  from  a  lack  of  mental  discipline.  But 
Katavasof 's  lucidity  was  agreeable  to  Levin,  and  Levin's 
fecundity  of  undisciplined  ideas  was  agreeable  to  Kata- 
vasof, and  they  both  liked  to  meet  and  discuss  together. 

Levin  had  read  several  passages  from  his  treatise  to 
Katavasof,  who  had  liked  them.  The  evening  before 
Katavasof,  happening  to  meet  Levin  at  a  public  lecture, 
told  him  that  the  celebrated  scholar,  Professor  Metrof, 
whose  article  had  pleased  Levin,  was  in  Moscow,  and 
was  greatly  interested  in  what  he  had  heard  of  Levin's 
work.  He  was  to  be  at  Katavasof's  house  the  next  day 
at  eleven  o'clock,  and  would  be  delighted  to  make  Le- 
vin's acquaintance. 

"  Delighted  to  see  you,  batyushka,"  said  Katavasof, 
receiving  Levin  in  his  reception-room.     "  I   heard  the 

bell,  and  wondered  if  it  could  be  time And  now  what 

do  you  think  of  the  Montenegrins  ?  It  looks  to  me  like 
war." 

"What  makes  you  think  so  ? "  asked  Levin. 

Katavasof  in  a  few  words  told  him  the  latest  news,  and 
then,  taking  him  into  his  library,  introduced  him  to  a 
short,  thick-set,  and  very  pleasant-looking  man :  it  was 
Metrof.  The  conversation  for  a  short  time  turned  on 
politics,  and  on  the  views  held  by  the  high  authorities 
in  Petersburg  in  regard  to  the  recent  elections.  Metrof, 
in  regard  to  this,  quoted  some  significant  words  spoken 
by  the  emperor  and  one  of  the  ministers,  which  he  had 
heard  from  a  reliable  source.  Katavasof  had  heard  from 
an  equally  reliable  source  that  the  emperor  had  said  some- 
thing quite  different.  Levin  tried  to  imagine  to  himself 
the  conditions  in  which  the  words  in  either  case  might 
have  been  said,  and  the  conversation  on  this  theme  came 
to  an  end. 

"  Well !  here  is  the  gentleman  who  is  writing  a  book 
on  the  natural  condition  of  the  laborer  in  relation  to  the 
soil,"  said  Katavasof.  "I  am  not  a  specialist,  but  it 
pleases  me  as  a  naturalist  that  he  does  not  consider  the 
human  race  outside  of  zoological  laws,  but  recognizes 


222  ANNA   KARENINA 

man's  dependence  on  his  environment,  and  seeks  to  find 
in  this  dependence  the  laws  of  his  development." 

"  That 's  very  interesting,"  said  Metrof . 

"  I  began  simply  to  write  a  book  on  rural  economy,"  ^ 
said  Levin,  reddening ;  "  but  in  studying  the  principal 
instrument,  the  laborer,  I  arrived  at  a  decidedly  unex- 
pected conclusion,  in  spite  of  myself." 

And  Levin  expatiated  on  his  ideas,  trying  the  ground 
carefully  as  he  did  so,  for  he  knew  that  Metrof  had 
written  an  article  against  the  current  views  on  political 
economy ;  and  how  far  he  could  hope  for  sympathy  in 
his  new  views,  he  did  not  know,  and  could  not  tell  from 
the  scholar's  calm,  intellectual  face. 

"  How,  in  your  opinion,  does  the  Russian  laborer 
differ  from  that  of  other  peoples  .-'  "  asked  Metrof.  "  Is 
it  from  the  point  of  view  which  you  call  zoological  ?  or 
from  that  of  the  material  conditions  in  which  he  finds 
himself .-' " 

This  way  of  putting  the  question  proved  to  Levin  how 
widely  their  opinions  diverged ;  nevertheless,  he  con- 
tinued to  set  forth  his  theory,  which  was  based  on  the 
idea  that  the  Russian  people  could  not  have  the  same 
relation  to  the  soil  as  the  other  European  nations ;  and 
to  prove  this  position,  he  hastened  to  add  that,  in  his 
opinion,  the  Russian  people  feels  instinctively  predes- 
tined to  populate  the  immense  uncultivated  tracts  stretch- 
ing toward  the  East. 

**  It  is  easy  to  be  mistaken  about  the  general  destiny 
of  a  people,  by  forming  premature  conclusions,"  said 
Metrof,  interrupting  Levin ;  *'  and  the  situation  of  the 
laborer  will  always  depend  on  his  relation  to  land  and 
capital." 

And,  without  giving  Levin  time  to  reply,  he  began 
to  explain  the  peculiarity  of  his  own  views.  Levin  did 
not  understand,  because  he  did  not  try  to  understand, 
in  what  consisted  the  peculiarity  of  his  views ;  he  saw 
that  Metrof,  like  all  the  rest,  notwithstanding  his  article, 
in  which  he  refuted  the  teachings  of  the  economists, 
looked  on  the  condition  of  the  Russian  people  from  the 

^  Sehkoye  kkozyaistvo. 


ANNA   KARENINA  i^j 

standpoint  of  capital,  wages,  and  rent,  though  he  was 
obliged  to  confess  that  for  the  eastern  and  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  Russia,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  rent ; 
that  for  nine-tenths  of  Russia's  eighty  millions,  wages 
consisted  in  a  bare  subsistence,  and  the  capital  did  not 
yet  exist,  except  as  it  was  represented  by  the  most  primi- 
tive tools.  Although  Metrof  differed  from  other  political 
economists,  in  many  ways  he  regarded  the  laborer  from 
this  point  of  view,  and  he  had  a  new  theory  as  to  wages, 
which  he  demonstrated  at  length. 

Levin  listened  with  some  disgust,  and  tried  to  reply. 
He  wanted  to  interrupt  Metrof,  in  order  to  express  his 
own  opinions,  which  he  felt  deserved  to  be  heard  at  far 
greater  length.  But,  finally  recognizing  that  they  looked 
on  the  subject  from  such  a  radically  opposite  standpoint 
that  they  could  never  understand  each  other,  he  no 
longer  tried  to  refute  him,  he  let  Metrof  talk,  and  only 
listened.  Though  he  was  not  at  all  interested  in  what 
he  said,  nevertheless  he  experienced  a  certain  pleasure  in 
listening  to  him.  He  was  flattered  that  such  a  learned 
man  would  condescend  to  give  him  the  benefit  of  his 
thoughts,  sometimes  by  a  hint  pointing  to  a  complete 
phase  of  the  subject,  and  showing  him  so  much  defer- 
ence as  to  one  thoroughly  versed  in  the  subject.  He 
ascribed  this  to  his  own  merits ;  he  did  not  know  that 
Metrof,  having  talked  this  over  with  all  his  own  intimates 
on  this  subject,  was  glad  to  have  a  new  auditor ;  and, 
moreover,  that  he  liked  to  talk  with  any  one  on  the  sub- 
jects that  occupied  him,  so  as  to  elucidate  certain  points 
for  his  own  benefit. 

"  We  shall  be  late,"  remarked  Katavasof,  consulting 
his  watch  as  soon  as  Metrof  had  concluded  his  argu- 
ment. "  Yes !  there  is  a  special  session  to-day  of  the 
'  Society  of  Friends '  ^  in  honor  of  the  semi-centennial  of 
Svintitch,"  he  added,  in  reply  to  Levin's  question. 
"  We  meet  at  the  house  of  Piotr  Ivanuitch  ;  I  promised 
to  speak  on  his  work  in  zoology.  Come  with  us ;  it  will 
be  interesting." 

"  Yes,  it  is  high  time,"  said  Metrof.     "  Come  with  us, 

^  Obshchestvo  Liubitelye, 


?24  ANNA    KARENINA 

and  then  afterward,  if  you  like,  come  home  with  me. 
I  should  greatly  like  to  hear  your  work." 

"  It  is  only  a  sketch,  not  worth  much ;  but  I  should 
like  to  go  with  you  to  the  session." 

"  What  is  that,  batyushka  .-'  Have  you  heard  .''  He 
gave  a  special  opinion,"  said  Katavasof,  who  was  putting 
on  his  dress-coat  in  the  next  room. 

And  the  talk  turned  on  the  university  question. 

The  university  question  was  a  very  important  topic 
this  winter  in  Moscow.  Three  old  professors  in  the 
council  would  not  accept  the  opinion  of  the  younger 
ones ;  the  younger  ones  expressed  a  special  opinion. 
This  opinion,  according  1:o  some,  was  dreadful,  accord- 
ing to  others  was  the  simplest  and  most  righteous  of 
opinions,  and  the  professors  were  divided  into  two 
parties. 

The  one  to  which  Katavasof  belonged  saw  in  the 
opposition  dastardly  violation  of  faith,  and  deception ; 
the  other  side  charged  their  opponents  with  childishness 
and  lack  of  confidence  in  the  authorities. 

Levin,  although  he  was  not  connected  with  the  uni- 
versity, had  heard  and  talked  much  during  his  stay  in 
Moscow  regarding  this  affair,  and  had  his  own  opinion 
regarding  it.  So  he  took  part  in  the  conversation,  which 
was  continued  even  after  they  had  got  out  into  the 
street,  and  until  they  had  all  three  reached  the  buildings 
of  the  old  university. 

The  session  had  already  begun.  Six  men  were  sitting 
around  a  table  covered  with  a  cloth ;  and  one  of  them, 
nearly  doubled  up  over  a  manuscript,  was  reading  some- 
thing. Katavasof  and  Metrof  took  their  places  at  the 
table.  Levin  sat  down  in  an  unoccupied  chair  near  a  stu- 
dent, and  asked  him  in  a  low  voice  what  they  were  read- 
ing. The  student,  looking  angrily  at  Levin,  replied:  — 
..*' The  biography." 

f)-:>Levin  did  not  care  much  for  the  savant's  biography, 
fefill  he  could  not  help  listening,  and  he  learned  various 
interesting  particulars  of  the  life  of  the  celebrated  man. 

When  the  reader  came  to  an  end,  the  chairman  con- 
gratulated him,  and  then  read  some  verses  which  had 


ANNA   KARENINA  2^5 

been  sent  to  him  in  honor  of  the  occasion  by  the  poet 
Mient,  of  whose  work  he  spoke  eulogistically.  Then 
Katavasof  read  in  his  loud,  harsh  voice  a  sketch  of  the 
work  of  Svintitch.  When  Katavasof  had  finished,  Levin 
looked  at  his  watch  and  found  that  it  was  already  two 
o'clock;- he  realized  that  he  should  lose  the  concert  if 
he  should  read  his  treatise  to  Metrof,  and,  moreover,  he 
no  longer  cared  to  do  it. 

During  the  reading  of  the  papers  he  had  come  to  a 
conclusion  regarding  the  conversation  he  had  just  had. 
It  was  clear  to  his  own  mind  that,  though  Metrof's  ideas 
very  likely  had  some  value,  yet  his  own  ideas  also  had 
value,  and  that  ideas  could  be  made  clear  and  profitable 
only  when  every  person  should  work  separately  in  his 
chosen  path,  but  that  the  communication  of  these  ideas 
was  perfectly  profitless. 

And,  having  decided  to  decline  Metrof's  invitation. 
Levin  at  the  end  of  the  session  went  up  to  him.  Metrof 
introduced  Levin  to  the  chairman,  with  whom  he  was 
talking  about  the  political  news.  Thereupon  Metrof 
told  the  chairman  what  he  had  already  told  Levin,  and 
Levin  made  the  same  remarks  as  he  had  made  that  morn- 
ing, but  for  the  sake  of  variety  he  also  told  his  new  theory 
which  had  just  come  into  his  mind.  After  this  the  con- 
versation again  turned  on  the  university  question.  As 
Levin  had  already  heard  as  much  as  he  cared  to  about 
this,  he  made  haste  to  tell  Metrof  that  he  regretted  that 
he  could  not  accept  his  invitation,  bade  him  good-by, 
and  hastened  to  Lvof  s. 


CHAPTER   IV 

Lvof,  who  had  married  Natalie,  Kitty's  sister,  had 
spent  his  life  in  the  European  capitals,  where  he  had  not 
only  received  his  education,  but  had  also  pursued  his  dip- 
lomatic career. 

The  year  before  he  had  resigned  his  diplomatic  ap- 
pointment, not  because  it  was  distasteful  to  him,  —  for 
he  never  found  anything  distasteful  to  him,  —  and  had 
VOL.  III.  — 15 


226  ANNA    KARENINA 

accepted  a  position  in  the  department  of  the  palace  in 
Moscow,  so  that  he  might  be  able  to  give  a  better  educa- 
tion to  his  two  sons. 

In  spite  of  very  different  opinions  and  habits,  and  the 
fact  that  Lvof  was  considerably  older  than  Levin,  they 
had  seen  much  of  each  other  this  autumn,  and  had  be- 
come great  friends. 

Levin  found  his  brother-in-law  at  home,  and  went  in 
without  ceremony. 

Lvof,  in  a  house-coat  with  a  belt,  and  in  chamois-skin 
slippers,  was  sitting  in  an  arm-chair,  and  with  blue  glasses 
was  reading  a  book  which  rested  on  a  stand,  while  he 
held  a  half-burned  cigar  in  his  shapely  hand.  His  hand- 
some, delicate,  and  still  youthful  face,  to  which  his  shin- 
ing, silvery  hair  gave  an  expression  of  aristocratic  dignity, 
lighted  up  with  a  smile  as  he  saw  Levin. 

"  Good !  I  was  just  going  to  send  to  find  out  about 
you  all.  How  is  Kitty  }  "  said  he  ;  and,  rising,  he  pushed 
forward  a  rocking-chair,  "  Sit  down  here  :  you  '11  find 
this  better.  Have  you  read  the  last  circular  in  the /our- 
nal de  St.  P^tersbourgf  I  find  it  excellent,"  said  he,  with 
a  slight  French  accent. 

Levin  informed  him  of  what  he  had  heard  as  to  the 
reports  in  circulation  at  Petersburg ;  and,  after  having 
spoken  of  politics,  he  told  about  his  acquaintance  with 
Metrof  and  the  session  at  the  university.  This  greatly 
interested  Lvof. 

"  There !  I  envy  you  your  intimacy  in  that  learned 
society,"  said  he,  and  he  went  on  speaking,  not  in  Rus- 
sian, but  in  French,  which  was  far  more  familiar  to  him. 
"  True,  I  could  not  meet  them  very  well.  My  public 
duties,  and  my  occupation  with  the  children,  would  pre- 
vent it;  and  then,  I  do  not  feel  ashamed  to  say  that  my 
own  education  is  too  faulty."  ''Kf  orfv/ 

"  I  can't  think  that,"  said  Levin,  with'a  snifile,  and,  as 
always,  touched  by  his  modest  opinion  of  himself,  ex- 
pressed not  for  the  sake  of  bringing  out  a  flattering  con- 
tradiction, but  genuine  and  honest. 

"  Oh,  dear  !  I  now  feel  how  little  I  know.  Now  that 
I  am  educating  my  sons,  I  am  obliged  to  refresh  my 


.  ANNA   KARENINA  ibP^ 

memory.  I  learn  my  lessons  over  again.  Just  as  in 
your  estate,  you  have  to  have  workmen  and  overseers, 
so  here  it  needs  some  one  to  watch  the  teachers.  But 
see  what  I  am  reading,"  —  and  he  pointed  to  the  gram- 
mar of  Buslayef  lying  on  the  stand,  —  **  Misha  has  to 
learn  it,  and  it  is  so  hard Now  explain  this  to  me." 

Levin  wanted  to  explain  to  him  that  it  was  impossible 
to  understand  it,  that  it  simply  had  to  be  learned.  But 
Lvof  did  not  agree  with  him. 

"Yes,  now  you  are  making  fun  of  it." 

"  On  the  contrary,  you  can't  imagine  how  much  I 
learn,  when  I  look  at  you,  about  the  way  to  teach 
children." 

"  Well !     You  could  not  learn  much  from  me." 

"  I  only  know  that  I  never  saw  children  so  well 
brought  up  as  yours,  and  I  should  not  want  better  chil- 
dren than  yours." 

Lvof  evidently  wanted  to  restrain  himself  so  as  not 
to  betray  his  satisfaction,  but  his  face  lighted  up  with  a 
smile. 

"  Only  let  them  be  better  than  L  That  is  all  that  I 
want.  But  you  don't  know  the  bother,"  he  began, 
"with  lads  who,  like  mine,  have  been  allowed  to  run 
wild  abroad." 

"  You  are  regulating  all  that.  They  are  such  capable 
children.  The  main  thing  is — their  moral  training. 
And  this  is  what  I  learn  in  looking  at  your  children." 

"  You  speak  of  the  moral  training.  You  can't  imag- 
ine how  hard  it  is.  Just  as  soon  as  you  have  conquered 
one  crop  of  weeds,  others  spring  up,  and  there  is  always 
a  fight.  If  you  don't  have  a  support  in  religion, — be- 
tween ourselves,  —  no  father  on  earth,  relying  on  his  own 
strength  and  without  this  help,  could  ever  succeed  in 
training  them." 

This  conversation,  which  was  extremely  interesting  to 
Levin,  was  interrupted  by  the  pretty  Natalie  Aleksan- 
drovna,  dressed  for  going  out. 

"I  didn't  know  you  were  here,"  said  she  to  Levin, 
evidently  not  regretting,  but  even  rejoicing,  that  she  had 
interrupted  his  conversation,  which  was  too  long  for  her 


228  ANNA    KARENINA 

pleasure.  "  Well !  and  how  is  Kitty  ?  I  am  going  to 
dine  with  you  to-day.  See  here,  Arseny,"  she  said, 
turning  to  her  husband,  "you  take  the  carriage."  .... 

And  between  husband  and  wife  began  a  discussion  of 
the  question  how  they  should  spend  the  day.  As  the 
husband  had  to  attend  to  his  official  business,  and  the 
wife  was  going  to  the  concert  and  to  a  public  session  of 
the  Committee  of  the  Southeast,  it  was  needful  to  dis- 
cuss and  think  it  all  over.  Levin,  as  a  member  of  the 
family,  was  obliged  to  take  part  in  these  plans.  It  was 
decided  that  he  should  go  with  Natahe  to  the  concert 
and  to  the  pubhc  meeting,  and  then  send  the  carriage 
to  the  office  for  Arseny,  who  would  come  and  take  her 
to  Kitty's,  or  if  he  was  not  yet  ready  Levin  would  serve 
as  her  escort. 

"  This  man  is  spoiling  me,"  said  Lvof  to  his  wife  ; 
"  he  assures  me  that  our  children  are  lovely,  when  I 
know  that  they  are  full  of  faults." 

"  Arseny  goes  to  extremes.  I  always  say  so,"  said 
his  wife.  "  If  you  expect  perfection,  you  will  never  be 
satisfied.  And  papa  is  right  in  saying  that  when  we 
were  children  they  went  to  one  extreme :  they  kept  us 
on  the  entresol,  while  the  parents  lived  in  the  bel-etagc  ; 
but  now,  on  the  contrary,  the  parents  live  in  the  lumber- 
room,  and  the  children  in  the  bcl-etage.  The  parents 
are  now  of  no  account ;  everything  must  be  for  the 
children." 

"  Supposing  this  is  more  agreeable  .-•  "  suggested  Lvof, 
with  his  winning  smile,  as  he  offered  her  his  arm.  "  Any 
one  not  knowing  you  would  think  that  you  were  not  a 
mother,  but  a  step-mother." 

"  No,  it  is  not  good  to  go  to  extremes  in  anything," 
said  Natalie,  gently,  laying  his  paper-cutter  in  its 
proper  place  on  the  table. 

"  Ah,  here  they  are  !  Come  in,  ye  perfect  children," 
said  Lvof  to  the  handsome  lads,  who  came  in,  and,  after 
bowing  to  Levin,  went  to  their  father,  evidently  wishing 
to  ask  some  favor  of  him. 

Levin  wanted  to  speak  with  them,  and  to  hear  what 
they  said  to  their  father,  but  Natalie  was  talking  with 


ANNA    KARENINA  229 

him  ;  and  just  then  Lvof  s  colleague,  Makhotin,  in  his 
court-uniform,  came  into  the  room,  and  began  a  lively 
conversation  about  Herzegovina,  the  Princess  Korzin- 
sky,  and  the  premature  death  of  Madame  Apraksin. 

Levin  forgot  all  about  Kitty's  message.  He  remem- 
bered it  just  as  they  reached  the  vestibule. 

"  Oh !  Kitty  commissioned  me  to  speak  with  you 
about  Oblonsky,"  said  he,  as  Lvof  went  with  them  to 
the  head  of  the  staircase. 

"  Yes,  yes  !  inanian  wants  us,  les  beaux-fr^res,  to  at- 
tack him,"  said  Lvof,  turning  red.     "  But  how  can  I .?  " 

"Then  I'll  undertake  it,"  said  the  smiling  Madame 
Lvof,  who,  wrapped  in  her  white  dogskin  rotonda,  was 
waiting  till  they  should  finish  talking. 


CHAPTER   V 

Two  very  interesting  pieces  were  to  be  given  at  the 
matinee.  One  was  a  fantasia  or  symphonic  poem  called 
"  The  King  Lear  of  the  Steppes,"  the  other  was  a  quar- 
tette dedicated  to  the  memory  of  Bach.  Both  pieces 
were  new  and  of  the  new  school,  and  Levin  desired  to 
form  his  own  opinion  in  regard  to  them.  So,  after  he 
had  conducted  his  sister-in-law  to  her  place,  he  took  his 
stand  near  a  column,  and  determined  to  listen  as  atten- 
tively and  conscientiously  as  possible.  He  tried  not  to 
allow  his  attention  to  be  distracted  and  his  impressions 
spoiled  by  letting  his  eyes  follow  the  white-cravatted 
kapellmeister's  waving  arms,  which  are  always  so  dis- 
turbing to  the  musical  attention,  or  by  looking  at  the 
ladies  in  their  hats,  who  for  concerts  take  especial  pains 
to  tie  ribbons  round  their  ears,  or  at  all  those  faces 
either  occupied  with  nothing,  or  occupied  with  the  most 
heterogeneous  interests,  music  being  the  last.  He  tried 
to  avoid  meeting  the  connoisseurs  and  the  chatterers, 
but  he  stood  alone  by  himself,  looking  down  and  listen- 
ing. 

But  the  more  he  listened  to  the  "King  Lear"  fantasia, 
the  more  he  felt  the  impossibility  of  forming  a  clear  and 


230  ANNA    KARENINA 

exact  idea  of  it.  The  musical  thought,  at  the  moment 
of  its  development,  was  constantly  interrupted  by  the 
introduction  of  new  themes,  or  vanished,  leaving  only 
the  impression  of  a  complicated  and  laborious  attempt 
at  instrumentation.  But  these  same  new  themes,  beau- 
tiful as  some  of  them  were,  gave  an  unpleasant  impres- 
sion, because  they  were  not  expected  or  prepared  for. 
Gayety  and  sadness  and  despair  and  tenderness  and 
triumph  followed  one  another  like  the  incoherent 
thoughts  of  a  madman,  to  be  themselves  followed  by 
others  as  wild. 

During  the  whole  performance,  Levin  experienced  a 
feeling  analogous  to  what  a  deaf  man  might  have  in 
looking  at  dancers.  He  was  in  a  state  of  utter  dubiety 
when  the  piece  came  to  an  end,  and  he  felt  a  great  weari- 
ness from  the  strain  of  intellectual  intensity  which  was 
never  rewarded.  .     /t.'iT'f  AHO 

On  all  sides  were  heard  loud  applause  and  clapping 
of  hands.  All  got  up  and  moved  about,  talking.  Wish- 
ing to  get  some  hght  on  his  doubts  by  the  impressions 
of  others.  Levin  began  to  walk  about,  seeking  for  the 
connoisseurs,  and  he  was  glad  when  at  last  he  saw  one 
of  the  best-known  musical  critics  talking  with  his  friend 
Pestsof. 

"It's  wonderful,"  said  Pestsof,  in  his  deep  bass. 
"  How  are  you,  Konstantin  Dmitritch  ?  The  passage 
that  is  the  richest  in  color,  the  most  statuesque,  so  to 
speak,  is  that  where  Cordelia  appears,  where  woman, 
das  ewig  Weibliche,  comes  into  conflict  with  fate. 
Don't  you  think  so  .''  " 

'•  Why  Cordelia  .'' "  asked  Levin,  with  hesitation,  for 
he  had  wholly  forgotten  that  the  symphonic  poem  had 
anything  to  do  with  King  Lear. 

"Cordelia  appears  here,"  said  Pestsof,  tapping  with 
his  finger  on  the  satin  program  which  he  held  in  his 
hand.  Then  only  did  Levin  notice  the  title  of  the  sym- 
phonic poem,  and  he  made  haste  to  read  the  text  of 
Shakespeare,  translated  into  Russian  and  printed  on  the 
back  of  the  program.  "You  can't  follow  it  without 
that,"    said    Pestsof,    addressing    Levin,   now   that   his 


a 


ANNA    KARENINA  aj,t 

friend,  the  critic,  had  gone,  and  there  was  nothing  more 
to  talk  with  him  about. 

Levin  and  Pestsof  spent  the  intermission  in  discuss- 
ing the  merits  and  defects  of  the  Wagnerian  tendencies 
in  music.  Levin  maintained  that  the  mistake  of  Wag- 
ner and  all  his  followers  consisted  in  transferring  music 
to  the  domain  of  an  alien  art,  that  poetry  made  the  mis- 
take when  it  tried  to  depict  the  features  of  the  human 
face,  which  it  was  the  province  of  painting  to  do,  and  as 
a  concrete  example  of  this  kind  of  a  mistake  he  adduced 
the  sculptor  who  should  try  to  express  in  marble  the 
shades  of  poetic  imagery  rising  round  the  figure  of  the 
poet  on  the  pedestal. 

"  These  shades  are  so  far  from  being  shades  in  the 
case  of  the  sculptor,  that  they  even  rest  on  the  steps," 
said  Levin.  This  phrase  pleased  him,  but  he  had  a 
lurking  suspicion  that  he  had  once  used  this  same 
phrase  before,  and  to  Pestsof  himself,  and  he  felt 
confused. 

Pestsof  argued  that  art  is  one,  and  that  it  can  reach  its 
loftiest  manifestations  only  by  combining  all  its  forms. 

Levin  could  not  listen  to  the  second  number  on  the 
program.  Pestsof,  who  was  standing  near  him,  kept 
talking  to  him  most  of  the  time,  criticizing  it  for  its  ex- 
cessive, mawkish,  affected  simplicity,  and  comparing  it 
to  the  simplicity  of  the  Pre-Raphaelites  in  painting. 

On  his  way  out,  he  met  various  acquaintances,  with 
whom  he  exchanged  remarks  on  politics,  music,  and 
other  topics ;  among  others  he  saw  Count  Bohl,  and  the 
call  which  he  should  have  made  on  him  came  to  mind. 

"  Well,  go  quickly,"  said  Natalie,  to  whom  he  confided 
this.  "  Perhaps  the  countess  is  not  receiving.  If  so, 
you  will  come  and  join  me  at  the  meeting.  You  will 
have  plenty  of  time." 


132  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER  VI 

"  Perhaps  they  are  not  receiving  ?  "  asked  Levin,  as 
he  entered  the  vestibule  of  Count  Bohl's  house. 

"  Oh,  yes  !  permit  me  !  "  answered  the  Swiss,  resolutely 
taking  the  visitor's  shuba. 

"  What  a  nuisance  !  "  thought  Levin,  drawing  off  one 
of  his  gloves  with  a  sigh,  and  turning  his  hat  in  his 
hands.  "  Now,  why  did  I  come  ?  Now,  what  am  I 
going  to  say  to  them  ? " 

Passing  through  the  first  drawing-room,  he  met  the 
Countess  Bohl  at  the  door,  who,  with  a  perplexed  and 
severe  face,  was  giving  orders  to  a  servant.  When  she 
saw  Levin,  she  smiled,  and  invited  him  to  walk  into  a 
small  parlor,  where  voices  were  heard.  In  this  room 
were  sitting  her  two  daughters  and  a  Muscovite  colonel 
whom  Levin  knew.  Levin  joined  them,  passed  the 
usual  compliments,  and  sat  down  near  a  divan,  holding 
his  hat  on  his  knee. 

*'  How  is  your  wife  .-*  Have  you  been  to  the  concert  .■* 
We  were  not  able  to  go.  Mamma  had  to  attend  the 
requiem,"  said  one  of  the  young  ladies. 

"Yes,  I  heard  about  it  —  what  a  sudden  death!"  — 
said  Levin. 

The  countess  came  in,  sat  down  on  the  divan,  and 
asked  also  about  his  wife  and  the  concert. 

Levin  replied,  and  asked  some  questions  about  the 
sudden  death  of  Madame  Apraksin. 

"  But  then,  she  was  always  in  delicate  health." 

"  Were  you  at  the  opera  yesterday .-' " 

"Yes,  I  was." 

"  Lucca  was  very  good." 

"Yes,  very  good,"  he  said  ;  and  he  began,  seeing  that 
it  was  entirely  immaterial  to  him  what  they  thought 
about  him,  to  repeat  what  he  had  heard  a  hundred  times 
about  the  singer's  extraordinary  talent.  The  Countess 
Bohl  pretended  that  she  was  listening.  Then,  when  he 
had  said  all  he  had  to  say,  and  relapsed  into  silence,  the 
colonel,  who  had  hitherto  held  his  peace,  began  also  to 


ANNA    KARENINA  ^^ 

speak.  The  colonel  also  talked  about  the  opera  and 
about  an  illumination.  Then,  saying  something  about  a 
supposititious  fo/le  journie  at  Turin,  the  colonel,  laugh- 
ing, got  up,  and  took  his  departure.  Levin  also  got  up, 
but  a  look  of  surprise  on  the  countess's  face  told  him 
that  it  was  not  yet  time  for  him  to  go.  Two  minutes 
more  at  least  were  necessary.     He  sat  down. 

But,  as  he  thought  what  a  foolish  figure  he  was  cut- 
ting, he  was  more  and  more  incapable  of  finding  a  sub- 
ject of  conversation. 

"Are  you  going  to  the  public  meeting.?"  asked  the 
countess.     "  They  say  it  will  be  very  interesting." 

"  No,  but  I  promised  my  belle-sceur  that  I  would  call 
for  her  there,"  replied  Levin. 

Silence  again  ensued;  the  mother  exchanged  a  look 
with  her  daughter. 

"  Now  it  must  be  time  to  go,"  thought  Levin  ;  and 
he  rose.  The  ladies  shook  hands  with  him,  and  charged 
him  with  mille  choses  for  his  wife. 

The  Swiss,  as  he  put  on  his  shuba  for  him,  asked  his 
address,  and  wrote  it  gravely  in  a  large,  handsomely 
bound  book. 

"  Of  course,  it 's  all  the  same  to  me ;  but  how  useless 
and  ridiculous  it  all  is  !  "  thought  Levin,  comforting  him- 
self with  the  thought  that  every  one  did  the  same  thing, 
and  he  went  to  the  public  meeting  of  the  committee, 
where  he  was  to  find  his  sister-in-law  to  bring  her  home 
with  him. 

At  the  public  meeting  of  the  committee  there  was  a 
great  throng  of  people,  and  society  was  well  represented. 
Levin  reached  the  place  just  in  time  to  hear  a  sketch 
which  all  said  was  very  interesting.  When  the  reading 
of  the  sketch  was  finished,  society  came  together,  and 
Levin  met  Sviazhsky,  who  invited  him  to  come  that  very 
evening  to  a  meeting  of  the  Society  of  Rural  Economy,^ 
at  which  a  very  important  report  was  to  be  read.  He 
also  met  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who  had  just  returned 
from  the  races,  and  many  other  acquaintances,  and 
Levin  talked  much  and  heard  many  opinions  relating  to 

^  Obshchestvo  siekkava  khozyaistva. 


234  ANNA   KARENINA 

the  meeting  and  the  new  piece  and  the  lawsuit.  But 
apparently  in  consequence  of  his  weariness  and  the 
strain  which  he  began  to  feel,  he  made  a  blunder  in 
speaking  of  a  certain  lawsuit,  and  this  blunder  he  after- 
ward remembered  with  annoyance.  Speaking  of  the 
recent  punishment  of  a  foreigner  who  had  been  tried  in 
Russia,  and  that  it  would  have  been  irregular  to  punish 
him  by  exile.  Levin  repeated  what  he  had  heard  the 
evening  before  in  a  conversation  with  a  friend  of  his. 

"  I  think  that  to  send  him  abroad  is  just  the  same  as  to 
punish  a  fish  by  throwing  it  into  the  water,"  said  Levin. 

Too  late  he  remembered  that  this  comparison  which 
he  put  forth  to  express  his  thought,  though  he  had  heard 
his  friend  use  it,  was  really  taken  from  a  fable  by  Krui- 
lof ,  and  that  his  friend  had  taken  it  from  the  feiiilleton 
of  a  newspaper. 

Returning  home  with  his  sister-in-law,  and  finding 
Kitty  well  and  happy.  Levin  went  to  the  club. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Levin  reached  the  club  very  punctually.  A  number 
of  the  guests  and  members  arrived  there  at  the  same 
time  as  he  did.  Levin  had  not  been  at  the  club  very 
recently,  indeed,  not  since  the  time  when,  havang  finished 
his  studies  at  the  university,  he  passed  a  winter  at  Mos- 
cow, and  went  into  society.  He  remembered  the  club 
in  a  general  sort  of  way,  but  had  entirely  forgotten  the 
impressions  which,  in  former  days,  it  had  made  upon 
him.  But  as  soon  as  he  entered  the  great  semicircular 
dvor,  or  court,  sent  away  his  izvoshchik,  and  mounted  the 
steps  and  saw  the  liveried  Swiss  noiselessly  open  the  door 
for  him,  and  bow  as  he  ushered  him  in ;  as  soon  as  he 
saw  in  the  cloak-room  the  galoshes  and  shubas  of  the 
members,  who  felt  that  it  was  less  work  to  take  them  off 
down-stairs,  and  leave  them  with  the  Swiss,  than  to  wear 
them  up-stairs ;  as  soon  as  he  heard  the  well-known 
mysterious  sound  of  the  bell,  and  as  soon  as  he  mounted 
the  easy  flight  of  carpeted  stairs  and  saw  the  statue  on 


'ANNA   KARENINA  ^45 

the  landing,  and  on  the  upper  floor  recognized  the  third 
Swiss  in  his  club  livery,  who,  having  grown  older,  dis- 
played neither  dilatoriness  nor  haste  in  opening  the  door 
for  him,  he  once  more  felt  the  old-time  impression  of  the 
club  —  the  atmosphere  of  comfort,  ease,  and  good- 
breeding. 

"Your  hat,  if  you  please,"  said  the  Swiss  to  Levin, 
who  had  forgotten  the  rule  of  the  club  to  leave  hats  at 
the  cloak-room. 

"It's  a  long  time  since  you  were  here,"  said  the 
Swiss.  "  The  prince  wrote  to  you  yesterday.  Prince 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  has  not  come  yet." 

The  Swiss  knew  not  only  Levin,  but  all  his  connec- 
tions and  family,  and  took  pleasure  in  reminding  him 
of  his  relationships. 

Passing  through  the  first  connecting  "  hall "  and  the 
conversation-room  at  the  right  where  the  fruit-dealer 
sits,  Levin,  who  walked  faster  than  the  old  attendant, 
entered  the  dining-room,  which  was  filled  with  a  noisy 
throng.  He  made  his  way  along  by  the  tables,  almost 
all  of  which  were  occupied.  As  he  looked  about  him 
on  all  sides,  he  saw  men  of  the  most  heterogeneous 
types,  old  and  young,  most  of  them  acquaintances  and 
many  of  them  friends.  It  seemed  as  if  all  of  them  had 
-left  their  cares  and  worries  with  their  hats  in  the  cloak- 
room, and  had  collected  together  to  make  the  most  of 
the  material  advantages  of  life.  There  were  Sviazhsky 
and  Shcherbatsky  and  Nevyedovsky  and  the  old  prince 
and  Vronsky  and  Sergye'f  Ivanovitch. 

"  Ah,  why  are  you  late  ?  "  said  the  prince,  with  a  smile, 
extending  his  hand  to  his  son-in-law  over  his  shoulder. 
"How  is  Kitty.?"  added  he,  putting  a  corner  of  his 
napkin  into  the  button-hole  of  his  waistcoat. 

"  She  is  well,  and  is  dining  with  her  sisters." 

"  Ah !  the  old  gossips  !  Well,  there  's  no  room  with 
us.  Go  to  that  table  there  and  get  a  seat  as  quickly  as 
you  can .... "  said  the  prince,  taking  with  care  a  plate  of 
nk/ia,  or  soup  made  of  lotes. 

"  Here,  Levin,"  cried  a  jovial  voice  from  a  table  a 
little  farther  away. 


236  ANNA    KARENINA 

It  was  Turovtsuin.  He  was  sitting  with  a  young 
officer,  and  near  him  were  two  chairs  tilted  up.  Levin, 
with  joy,  went  to  join  him.  He  always  liked  the  good- 
hearted,  prodigal  Turovtsuin ;  his  reconciliation  with 
Kitty  was  connected  with  him,  and  now,  especially, 
after  all  his  wearisome  intellectual  conversations,  the 
sight  of  his  jolly  face  was  delightful. 

"  These  places  were  for  you  and  Oblonsky.  He  will 
be  here  directly,"  said  Turovtsuin;  and  then  he  intro- 
duced Levin  to  the  young  officer,  who  held  himself  very 
straight  and  had  bright,  laughing  eyes,  —  Gagin,  from 
Petersburg. 

"  Oblonsky  is  always  late." 

"Ah!  here  he  is." 

"  You  have  only  just  come,  have  n't  you .-' "  asked 
.Oblonsky  of  Levin,  hurrying  up  to  him.  "  Your  health. 
Will  you  take  vodka .''     Come  on,  then." 

Levin  got  up,  and  went  with  him  to  a  large  table,  on 
which  all  kinds  of  liquors  and  a  most  select  zakuska 
were  set  out.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  two  dozen  differ- 
ent kinds  of  drinks  might  have  offered  a  choice,  but 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  thought  good  to  ask  for  a  special 
concoction,  which  a  servant  in  livery  hastened  to  get  for 
him.  They  drank  it  from  small  glasses,  and  then  re- 
turned to  their  places. 

At  the  very  iirst,  even  while  they  were  eating  their 
ukha,  Gagin  had  champagne  served,  and  he  ordered  the 
four  glasses  filled.  Levin  did  not  refuse  the  wine  when 
it  was  offered  to  him,  and  he  in  turn  ordered  a  bottle. 

He  was  hungry,  and  ate  and  drank  with  great  satis- 
faction ;  and  with  still  greater  satisfaction  took  part  in 
the  gay  and  lively  conversation  of  his  neighbors.  Gagin, 
lowering  his  voice,  told  a  new  Petersburg  anecdote ; 
and,  though  it  was  indecorous  and  ridiculous,  it  was  so 
funny  that  Levin  laughed  uproariously,  till  those  around 
him  looked  at  him  in  surprise. 

"  That  is  in  the  same  kind  as  '  Alas,  I  cannot  endure 
it,'  "  quoted  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "  Do  you  remember.-' 
Akh  !  it  was  lovely  !  Bring  us  another  bottle,"  said  he 
to  the  lackey,  and  he  began  to  tell  an  anecdote. 


ANNA    KARENINA  237 

"Piotr  Ilyitch  Vinovsky  sends  these,"  interrupted  a 
little  old  lackey,  addressing  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  and 
bringing  two  diminutive  glasses  of  bubbling  champagne, 
and  offering  them  to  Oblonsky  and  Levin,  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  took  the  glass,  and,  exchanging  glances 
with  a  bald,  ruddy,  mustachioed  man,  at  the  other  end  of 
the  table,  nodded  to  him  and  smiled. 

"Who  is  that  ?  "  asked  Levin. 

"  You  met  him  at  my  house  once,  don't  you  remem- 
ber .-*     He  's  a  very  good  fellow." 

Levin  followed  Oblonsky's  example,  and  took  his 
glass.  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's  anecdote  was  also  very 
diverting.  Then  Levin  had  his  story  to  tell,  and  it 
likewise  raised  a  laugh.  Then  the  conversation  turned 
on  horses,  and  the  races  that  had  taken  place  that  day, 
and  they  told  how  brilliantly  Vronsky's  trotter,  Atlasnui, 
had  won  the  first  prize. 

"  Ah,  here  they  are ! "  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
toward  the  end  of  the  dinner,  turning  round  in  his  chair 
to  extend  his  hand  to  Vronsky,  who  was  walking  with  a 
tall  colonel  of  the  Guards.  Vronsky's  face  was  also 
radiant  with  the  good-natured  gayety  that  reigned  in  the 
club.  He  leaned  his  elbow  on  Oblonsky's  shoulder,  and 
whispered  some  words  in  his  ear  with  an  air  of  good- 
humor,  and  extended  his  hand  with  a  friendly  smile  to 
Levin. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  meet  you,"  said  he.  "  I  looked 
for  you  after  the  elections,  but  they  told  me  you  had 
gone." 

"Yes!     I  went  away  the  same  day We  have  just 

been  speaking  of  your  trotter.  It  was  a  very  fast 
race." 

"  Yes,  it  was.     Have  n't  you  race-horses,  too  .-'  " 

"  I  ?  No.  My  father  had  horses,  and  I  know  about 
them." 

"  Where  did  you  dine  .-* "  asked  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

"At  the  second  table,  behind  the  columns." 

"  He  has  been  loaded  down  with  congratulations.  It 's 
very  pretty ....  a  second  imperial  prize.  I  wish  I  could 
only  have  the  same  luck  at  play  as  he  does  with  horses. 


238  ANNA    KARENINA 

Now !  how  they  waste  golden  time  !  I  am  going  to  the 
Infernalnaya,"  said  the  tall  colonel ;  and  he  left  theiji. 

"That's  Yashvin,"  said  Vronsky  to  Turovtsuin ;  and 
sat  down  in  a  vacant  place  near  them.  Having  drained 
the  glass  of  champagne  which  was  filled  for  him,  he  also 
ordered  a  bottle.  Either  from  the  effect  of  the  wine 
which  he  had  drunk,  or  from  the  social  atmosphere  of 
the  club,  Levin  talked  cordially  with  him  about  the  best 
breeds  of  cattle,  and  was  happy  to  feel  no  more  hatred 
against  his  former  rival.  He  even  told  him,  among  other 
things,  that  he  had  heard  from  his  wife  of  the  meeting 
which  had  taken  place  at  the  house  of  the  Princess 
Marya  Borisovna. 

"  Akh  !  the  Princess  Marya  Borisovna }  She  's  a 
charmer !  "  exclaimed  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  ;  and  he 
told  an  anecdote  of  the  old  lady  which  made  every  one 
laugh.  Especially  Vronsky  laughed  so  heartily  that 
Levin  felt  perfectly  reconciled  to  him. 

"Well,  gentlemen,  have  we  finished.?"  said  Oblonsky, 
getting  up  and  smiling.     "  Then  let  us  go." 


CHAPTER   Vni 

On  leaving  the  table  Levin,  in  company  with  Gagin, 
walked  through  the  lofty  rooms  to  the  billiard-room,  and 
he  felt  that  his  walk  was  singularly  straight,  and  that  his 
hands  moved  easily.  In  the  large  "  hall "  he  met  his 
father-in-law. 

"  Well !  How  do  you  like  our  Temple  of  Indolence  ?  " 
asked  the  old  prince,  taking  his  son-in-law  by  the  arm. 
"Come,  take  a  turn." 

"  I  should  like  to  look  around.  It  is  interesting." 
jn'M  Yes,  to  you ;  but  my  interest  in  it  is  different  from 
yours.  When  you  see  old  men  like  that,"  said  he,  indi- 
cating a  member  of  the  club  who,  with  stooping  shoul- 
ders and  falling  lip,  was  slowly  shuffling  along  in  soft 
boots  across  the  hall,  "you  would  think  that  they  were 
born  shliupiks." 

"  Why  do  you  call  them  '  little  sloops  '  ?  " 


ANNA   KARENINA  239 

"  Here  you  are,  and  don't  know  what  that  means ! 
That  is  our  club  term.  You  know  how  eggs  roll.  Well, 
when  any  one  goes  with  a  gait  like  that,  he  becomes  a 
shliupik.  And  so  when  any  one  of  us  goes  stumbling 
through  the  club,  he  becomes  a  shliupik.  You  laugh, 
do  you .''  but  one  has  to  look  out  else  he  finds  himself 
one.  Do  you  know  Prince  Chechensky .^ "  he  asked; 
and  Levin  saw  by  his  face  that  he  was  going  to  tell 
some  ridiculous  yarn. 

"  No,  I  don't  know  him." 

"Well,  no  matter.  Prince  Chechensky  is  famous. 
Well,  that  is  neither  here  nor  there.  He  's  always  play- 
ing billiards.  Three  years  ago  he  wasn't  among  the 
shliupiks,  but  was  a  great  galliard !  He  himself  called 
other  people  shliupiks.  Only  he  came  one  time ....  but 
our  Swiss  —  you  know  Vasili,  our  tall  one.-'  —  he  is  a 
great  bonmotist.  Prince  Chechensky  asks  him,  *  Well, 
Vasili,  is  any  one  here  yet  .-*  have  any  shliupiks  come  } ' 
And  Vasili  answers,  '  You  are  the  third.'  Now,  brother ! 
how  is  that?" 

The  two  men  walked  on,  chatting,  and  greeting  their 
friends,  and  passed  through  all  the  rooms,  —  the  main 
room,  where  men  accustomed  to  one  another  as  partners 
were  playing  cards  for  small  stakes ;  the  divan-room, 
where  others  were  having  games  of  chess,  and  Sergyef 
Ivanovitch  was  talking  with  some  one ;  the  billiard-room, 
where,  in  the  bay  of  the  room,  around  a  divan,  a  gay 
party,  among  them  Gagin,  had  gathered  and  were  drink- 
ing champagne.  They  glanced  in  also  at  the  Infernal- 
nay  a,  where,  at  the  gambling-table,  Yashvin,  surrounded 
by  men  betting,  was  already  established.  With  hushed 
voices,  they  entered  the  reading-room,  where,  under  a 
shaded  lamp,  a  young  man  with  a  stern  face  was  turn- 
ing over  the  leaves  of  one  journal  after  another,  while 
near  by  was  a  bald-headed  general  absorbed  in  reading. 
They  passed  quietly  into  a  room  which  the  prince  called 
the  Hall  of  the  Wits,^  and  there  they  found  three  gen- 
tlemen talking  politics. 

"  Prince,  we  're   all  ready,   if  you  please,"  said  one 

1  Umnaya  Komnata,  the  intellectual  room. 


24.0  ANNA    KARENINA 

of  his  partners,  finding  him  there.  And  the  prince 
joined  them. 

Levin  sat  down,  and  Hstened  to  the  three  gentlemen, 
but,  as  he  recalled  all  the  conversations  of  the  same  kind 
he  had  heard  since  morning,  he  felt  excessively  bored. 
He  got  up,  and  went  off  to  find  Turovtsuin  and 
Oblonsky,  who  were  sure  to  be  gay. 

Turovtsuin  was  with  the  champagne-drinkers  on  the 
high  divan  in  the  billiard-room,  and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
and  Vronsky  were  talking  in  a  corner  near  the  door. 

*'  Not  that  she  finds  it  tedious,"  Levin  heard  in  pass- 
ing ;  "  but  it 's  the  uncertainty,  the  indefiniteness  of  her 
position." 

He  was  about  to  pass  on  discreetly,  but  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  called  him. 

"  Levin,"  said  he ;  and  Levin  saw  that  there  were  in 
his  eyes,  not  exactly  tears,  but  moisture,  as  was  always 
the  case,  either  after  he  had  been  drinking,  or  when 
he  was  touched  ;  and  just  now  it  was  both.  "  Levin, 
don't  go;"  and  he  took  him  by  the  arm,  and  detained 
him.  "He  is  my  sincere,  if  not  my  best,  friend,"  said 
he,  addressing  Vronsky.  "You,  too,  are  more  like  a 
kinsman  and  a  friend  to  me.  I  want  to  bring  you 
together,  and  see  you  friends.  You  ought  to  be  good 
friends,  because  you  are  both  good  men." 

"  There  's  nothing  left  for  us  but  to  give  the  kiss  of 
friendship,"  said  Vronsky,  gayly,  offering  his  hand  to 
Levin,  who  pressed  it  cordially. 

"I  am  very,  very  glad,"  said  Levin. 

"  Waiter,  a  bottle  of  champagne ! "  cried  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch. 

"  I  am  also  very  glad,"  said  Vronsky. 

But,  in  spite  of  Oblonsky's  desires,  and  their  mu- 
tual satisfaction,  they  had  nothing  to  say,  and  both 
knew  it. 

"Do  you  know,  he  doesn't  know  Anna.-*"  remarked 
Oblonsky  ;  "  and  I  want  to  introduce  him  to  her.  Come 
on,  Levin." 

"Is  it  possible?"  said  Vronsky.  "She  will  be  very 
much  pleased.      I  should  beg  you  to  come  at  once,  but 


ANNA    KARENINA  241 

I  am  troubled  about  Yashvin,  and  I  want  to  stay  here 
till  he  has  finished  playing." 

"  Is  he  going  to  lose?  " 

"  All  he  has.  I  am  the  only  one  who  has  any  influ- 
ence over  him,"  said  Vronsky. 

"  What  do  you  say,  Levin,  shall  we  have  a  game  of 
pool.''  First-rate,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "Place 
the  pyramid,"  said  he,  addressing  the  marker. 

"  It  is  all  ready,"  replied  the  marker,  who  had  some 
time  before  put  the  balls  in  the  triangular  frame,  and 
had  placed  the  red  ball  in  readiness  to  break  the 
pyramid. 

"  Well,  then,  go  ahead." 

After  their  game,  Vronsky  and  Levin  sat  down  at 
Gagin's  table,  and  Levin,  at  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's 
instance,  began  to  bet  on  the  aces.  Vronsky  sat  down 
for  a  time  at  the  same  table,  where  his  acquaintances 
kept  coming  up  and  joining  him ;  then,  after  a  time,  he 
went  to  the  Infernalnaya  to  find  out  how  Yashvin  was  get- 
ting along.  Levin  felt  a  pleasant  sense  of  exhilaration 
after  the  intellectual  weariness  of  the  morning.  He  was 
pleased  to  have  his  unfriendly  feehngs  toward  Vronsky 
ended,  and  the  impression  of  restfulness,  good-fellow- 
ship, and  comfort  still  remained  by  him. 

When  the  game  was  ended,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
took  Levin's  arm,  saying  :  — 

"  Well !  let  us  go  to  see  Anna.  We  need  n't  wait  for 
Vronsky.  What  say  you  .-*  She  is  at  home.  I  promised 
her  to  bring  you  a  long  time  ago.  Where  were  you  go- 
ing this  evening  ? " 

"  Nowhere  in  particular.  I  only  told  Sviazhsky  I 
would  go  to  the  Society  of  Rural  Economy.  But  I  '11 
go  with  you,  if  you  wish." 

"  Excellent !  let  us  go,  then.  See  if  my  carriage  has 
come,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  addressing  a  lackey. 

Levin  went  to  the  desk,  paid  the  forty  rubles  which 
he  had  lost  at  cards,  in  some  mysterious  way  gave  his 
fee  to  the  old  lackey  who  was  standing  by  the  door,  and 
went  through  the  long  rooms  down  to  the  entrance. 

VOL.  III.  — 16 


242  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER   IX 

"  Oblonsky's  carriage !  "  cried  the  Swiss,  in  a  porten- 
tous voice. 

The  carriage  came  up,  and  the  two  friends  got  in. 
Only  as  long  as  the  carriage  was  still  in  the  courtyard 
did  Levin  continue  to  experience  the  feeling  of  clubbish 
comfort,  of  satisfaction,  and  of  indubitable  decorum, 
which  had  surrounded  him.  But  as  soon  as  the  car- 
riage rolled  out  on  the  street,  the  jolting  over  the  un- 
even pavement,  the  cries  of  an  angry  izvoshchik  whom 
they  met,  and  the  sight  of  the  red  sign  of  a  low  public 
house  and  some  shops  lighted  up,  caused  this  impression 
to  fade  away,  and  he  began  to  think  over  what  follies  he 
had  committed,  and  to  ask  himself  if  he  were  doing  right 
in  going  to  see  Anna.  What  would  Kitty  say  ?  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  as  if  he  had  divined  what  was  passing  in 
the  mind  of  his  companion,  cut  short  his  meditations. 

"How  glad  I  am,"  said  he,  "that  you  are  going  to 
know  her !  You  know  Dolly  has  been  wishing  it  for  a 
long  time.  Lvof  goes  to  her  house,  too.  Though  she 
is  my  sister,"  continued  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  "  I  am 
bold  enough  to  say  that  she  is  a  remarkable  woman. 
You  will  see  it.  Her  position  is  very  hard,  especially 
just  now." 

"  Why  do  you  say  *  especially  now '  ?  " 

"  We  are  negotiating  with  her  husband  for  a  divorce, 
and  he  is  willing ;  but  there  are  difficulties  on  account 
of  the  son ;  and  this  matter,  which  ought  to  have  been 
settled  long  ago,  is  dragging  on  now  these  three  months. 
As  soon  as  the  divorce  is  granted,  she  will  marry  Vronsky. 
—  How  stupid  it  is,  this  old  habit  of  dizziness,  '  Isaiah  re- 
joice,' in  which  no  one  beheves,  and  which  destroys  the 
happiness  of  people,"  exclaimed  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
interrupting  what  he  was  saying.  Then  he  went  on, 
"  and  then  her  position  will  become  as  regular  as  yours 
or  mine." 

"  Where  does  the  difficulty  lie  ? " 

"  Akh  !  it  is  a  long  and  tiresome  story ;  everything  is 


ANNA    KARENINA  243 

so  undecided.  But  this  is  the  point :  she  has  been  wait- 
ing three  months  for  that  divorce  here  in  Moscow,  where 
everybody  knows  her  and  him ;  and  she  does  n't  see  a 
single  woman  but  Dolly,  because,  don't  you  see,  she 
does  n't  wish  that  any  one  should  come  to  see  her  from 
pity.  What  do  you  think  .-*  That  fool  of  a  Princess 
Varvara  left  her  because  she  considered  it  irregular. 
Any  other  woman  than  Anna  would  not  have  found 
resources  in  herself ;  but  you  shall  see  how  she  lives, 
how  dignified  and  calm  she  is.  —  To  the  left,  at  the  cor- 
ner opposite  the  church,"  cried  Oblonsky  to  the  coach- 
man, leaning  out  of  the  window.  "  Fu,  how  hot  it  is  !  " 
he  added,  throwing  open  his  shuba  in  spite  of  twelve 
degrees  of  cold. 

"Well,  she  has  a  daughter,  hasn't  she,  to  take  up 
her  time  and  attention  ? " 

"You  seem  to  imagine  every  woman  to  be  only  a 
setting-hen,  ime  couvetise,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
"  Why,  yes,  of  course,  she  gives  her  time  and  attention 
to  her  daughter  ;  but  she  does  n't  make  any  fuss  about  it. 
She  is  occupied  mainly  with  her  writing.  I  see  you  smile 
ironically,  but  you  are  wrong.  She  has  written  a  book 
for  young  people.  She  has  n't  spoken  of  it  to  any  one, 
except  to  me  ;  and  I  showed  the  manuscript  to  Vorkuyef, 
the  publisher ....  you  know  he  is  a  writer  himself,  it  seems. 
He  is  up  in  such  matters,  and  he  says  that  it  is  a  remark- 
able thing.  Do  you  think  that  she  sets  up  for  a  blue- 
stocking ?  Not  at  all.  Anna  is,  above  all  things,  a 
woman  with  a  heart,  as  you  will  see.  She  has  in  her 
house  a  little  Enghsh  girl  and  a  whole  family,  and  is 
looking  after  them." 

"  What  ?     Some  philanthropical  scheme  ?  " 

"  Here  you  are  immediately  trying  to  turn  it  into 
something  absurd !  It  is  not  for  philanthropy's  sake, 
but  because  she  loves  to  do  it.  They  had  —  that  is, 
Vronsky  had  —  an  English  trainer,  a  master  in  his  call- 
ing, but  a  drunkard.  He  did  nothing  but  drink  —  dc- 
liriwn  tremens  —  and  abandoned  his  family.  Anna  saw 
them,  helped  them,  got  drawn  in  more  and  more,  and 
now  has  the  whole  family  on  her  hands.     I  don't  mean 


244  ANNA    KARENINA 

merely  by  giving  them  money.  She  herself  teaches  the 
boys  Russian,  so  as  to  fit  them  for  the  gymnasium  ;  and 
she  has  taken  the  little  girl  home  with  her.  Well,  you 
shall  see  her." 

At  this  moment  the  carriage  entered  a  courtyard. 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  rang  at  the  door  before  which 
they  had  stopped,  and,  without  inquiring  whether  the 
mistress  of  the  house  was  at  home,  went  into  the  vesti- 
bule. Levin  followed  him,  more  and  more  uneasy  as  to 
the  propriety  of  the  step  he  was  taking. 

He  saw,  as  he  looked  at  himself  in  the  glass,  that  he 
was  very  red  in  the  face ;  but  he  knew  that  he  was  not 
tipsy.  He  went  up  the  carpeted  stairs  after  Oblonsky. 
On  the  second  floor  a  servant  received  them  with  a  bow  ; 
and  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  as  if  he  were  a  connection, 
asked  him,  "Who  is  with  Anna  Arkadyevna .-' "  and 
received  the  answer  :  — 

"  Mr.  Vorkuyef." 

"Where  are  they.?" 

"  In  the  library." 

They  passed  through  a  small,  wainscoted  dining-room, 
and  walking  along  on  the  thick  carpet  they  came  to  the 
library,  dimly  lighted  by  a  single  lamp  with  a  huge  shade. 
A  reflector-lamp  on  the  wall  threw  its  rays  on  a  full-length 
portrait  of  a  woman,  which  instantly  attracted  Levin's 
attention.  It  was  the  portrait  of  Anna,  painted  by  Mi- 
khai'lof  in  Italy.  While  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  went  on, 
and  the  man's  voice,  which  had  been  heard,  ceased  speak- 
ing. Levin  stood  looking  at  the  portrait  which  shone  down 
from  its  frame,  and  he  could  not  tear  himself  away.  He 
forgot  where  he  was ;  and,  not  hearing  what  was  said, 
he  kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  wonderful  portrait.  It  was 
not  a  painting,  but  a  living,  beautiful  woman,  with  her 
dark,  curling  hair,  bare  shoulders  and  arms,  and  a  pen- 
sive half-smile  on  her  lovely  lips,  and  gazing  at  him  tri- 
umphantly and  yet  tenderly  from  her  entrancing  eyes. 
Only  because  it  was  not  ahve  did  it  seem  more  beautiful 
than  life  itself. 

"  Va  otcJien  rada  —  I  am  very  glad,"  said  a  voice,  sud- 
denly, behind   him,  evidently  addressed  to   him,  —  the 


ANNA   KARENINA  245 

voice  of  the  same  woman  whom  he  admired   in   the 
picture. 

It  was  Anna,  who  had  been  concealed  by  a  lattice- 
work of  climbing  plants,  and  who  rose  to  receive  her 
visitor.  And  in  the  dusk  of  the  library  Levin  recog- 
nized the  original  of  the  portrait,  in  a  simple  dark  blue 
gown,  not  in  the  same  position,  not  with  the  same  ex- 
pression, but  with  the  same  lofty  beauty  which  had  been 
represented  by  the  artist  in  the  painting.  She  was  less 
brilliant  in  the  reality,  but  the  living  woman  had  a  new 
attraction  which  the  portrait  lacked. 


CHAPTER   X 

She  advanced  to  meet  him,  and  did  not  conceal  the 
pleasure  which  his  visit  caused  her.  With  the  ease  and 
simplicity  which  Levin  recognized  as  characteristic  of  a 
woman  of  the  best  society,  she  extended  to  him  a  small, 
energetic  hand,  introduced  him  to  Vorkuyef,  and  called 
his  attention  to  a  light-complexioned  and  pretty  little 
girl  —  her  pupil,  she  said  —  who  was  seated  with  her 
work  near  the  table. 

"  I  am  very,  very  glad,"  she  repeated ;  and  in  these 
simple  words,  spoken  by  her.  Levin  found  an  extraordi- 
nary significance.  "  I  have  known  you  and  liked  you 
for  ever  so  long,  both  because  of  your  friendship  with 

Stiva  and  because  of  your  wife I  knew  her  a  very 

short  time,  but  she  gave  me  the  impression  of  a  flower, 
a  lovely  flower.  And  to  think !  she  will  soon  be  a 
mother ! " 

She  talked  freely  and  without  haste,  occasionally  look- 
ing from  Levin  to  her  brother,  and  Levin  was  conscious 
that  the  impression  which  he  produced  was  excellent, 
and  he  immediately  felt  perfectly  at  his  ease  with  her 
and  on  the  simplest  and  most  friendly  terms,  as  if  he 
had  known  her  from  childhood. 

To  Oblonsky,  who  asked  if  smoking  was  allowed,  she 
replied :  — 

"  That  is  why  we  have  taken  refuge  in  Aleksef's  study ; " 


246  ANNA    KARENINA 

and,  looking  at  Levin,  instead  of  asking  "  Do  you 
smoke  ?  "  she  held  over  a  tortoise-shell  cigar-case  to  him, 
and  took  a  cigarette  herself. 

"  How  are  you  to-day  ?  "  asked  her  brother. 

"  Pretty  well ;  a  little  nervous,  as  usual." 

"  Isn't  it  extraordinarily  good  ?  "  said  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch,  noticing  Levin's  admiration  of  the  portrait. 

"  I  never  saw  a  better  portrait." 

"An  extraordinary  likeness,  is  n't  it.'"'  added  Vorkuyef. 

Levin  looked  from  the  portrait  to  the  original.  Anna's 
face  lighted  up  with  a  peculiar  glow  as  she  felt  conscious 
of  his  eyes  resting  on  her.  He  blushed,  and,  to  conceal 
his  confusion,  was  just  going  to  ask  her  when  she  had 
seen  Darya  Aleksandrovna.  But  at  that  instant  Anna 
said  :  — 

"  Ivan  Petrovitch  and  I  were  talking  just  now  of 
Vashchenkof's  pictures.     Do  you  know  them  .?  " 

"  Yes  ;  I  have  seen  them,"  answered  Levin. 

"  But  I  beg  your  pardon  ....  you  were  just  going  to  ask 
me  something  .-* " 

Levin  asked  whether  she  had  seen  Dolly  lately. 

"  She  was  here  yesterday.  She  was  indignant  at  what 
happened  to  Grisha  at  the  gymnasium.  It  seems  his 
Latin  teacher  was  unfair  to  him." 

"  Yes ;  I  saw  the  pictures.  They  pleased  me  very 
much,"  said  Levin,  returning  to  the  topic  which  they 
had  begun  to  talk  about. 

What  Levin  now  said  was  entirely  free  from  the  tech- 
nical formahty  with  which  he  had  talked  in  the  morning. 
Every  word  of  the  conversation  with  her  seemed  to  be 
significant.  And  pleasant  as  it  was  to  talk  with  her,  it 
was  still  pleasanter  to  listen  to  her.  Anna  talked  not 
only  naturally  and  intelligently,  but,  though  intelligently, 
still  without  pretense,  not  arrogating  any  great  importance 
to  her  own  thoughts  but  attributing  great  importance  to 
what  her  friends  said. 

The  conversation  turned  on  the  new  tendencies  of  art 
and  on  some  new  illustrations  to  the  Bible  which  a 
French  artist  had  recently  made. 

Vorkuyef  severely  criticized  the  realism  which  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  247 

artist  carried  to  brutality ;  Levin  remarked  that  the 
French  had  carried  conventionality  in  art  to  greater 
lengths  than  any  other  people,  and  that,  therefore,  they 
found  especial  merit  in  the  reaction  toward  realism. 
They  discovered  poetry  in  the  fact  that  they  no  longer 
lied. 

Never  had  Levin  said  a  clever  thing  which  gave  him 
anything  like  the  pleasure  that  this  did.  Anna's  face 
grew  suddenly  bright,  as  the  full  force  of  his  remark 
dawned  on  her.     She  laughed. 

"I  am  delighted,"  she  said;  "just  as  you  are  when 
you  see  a  very  lifelike  portrait.  What  you  just  said  is 
characteristic  of  all  French  art  at  the  present  time  — 
painting  and  even  literature :  Zola,  Daudet.  But  pos- 
sibly this  is  always  the  way  that  men  form  their 
conceptions  from  imaginary,  conventional  figures,  but 
afterward  —  all  the  combinaisons  made,  the  imaginary 
figures  weary,  and  people  begin  to  invent  more  natural 
and  truthful  figures." 

"  That  is  perfectly  true,"  said  Vorkuyef. 

"  Have  you  been  to  the  club } "  asked  Anna,  turning 
to  her  brother. 

"  Yes,  yes,  here  is  a  genuine  woman,"  said  Levin  to 
himself,  forgetting  himself,  and  gazing  steadily  into  her 
handsome,  mobile  face,  which  now  suddenly  changed 
its  expression.  Levin  did  not  hear  what  she  was  talk- 
ing about  as  she  bent  over  toward  her  brother,  but  he 
was  struck  by  the  change  in  her  expression.  Beautiful 
as  it  had  been  before  in  repose,  it  now  suddenly  as- 
sumed a  mixed  expression  of  curiosity,  wrath,  and  pride. 
But  this  lasted  for  only  one  minute.  She  half  closed 
her  eyes,  as  if  she  were  trying  to  remember  something. 

"  However,  this  is  interesting  to  no  one,"  said  she, 
and  she  addressed  the  English  girl  in  English.  "  Please 
order  the  tea  in  the  drawing-room  ^ 

The  girl  rose  and  went  out. 

"  Well,  has  she  passed  the  examination } "  asked 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

"  Perfectly.  She  is  a  very  capable  girl,  and  a  lovely 
character." 


248  ANNA    KARENINA 

"You  will  end  by  loving  her  better  than  your  own 
daughter." 

"  That's  just  like  a  man.  In  love,  there  is  no  such  a 
thing  as  more  or  less.  I  love  my  daughter  in  one  way, 
and  this  girl  in  another." 

"  I  tell  Anna  Arkadyevna,"  said  Vorkuyef,  "that  if  she 
would  spend  a  hundredth  part  of  the  activity  she  devotes 
to  this  little  English  girl  for  the  benefit  of  Russian  chil- 
dren, what  a  service  her  energy  would  render.  She 
would  accomplish  prodigies." 

"  Now  there !  What  you  want,  I  can't  do  !  Count 
Aleksei  Kirillovitch  "  — she  glanced  with  an  air  of  timid 
inquiry  at  Levin  as  she  pronounced  this  name,  and  he 
involuntarily  responded  by  a  look  which  was  encourag- 
ing, and  full  of  admiration  —  "  used  to  encourage  me, 
when  we  were  in  the  country,  to  visit  the  schools.  I 
went  a  few  times.  They  were  very  pleasant,  but  I 
could  n't  get  interested  in  this  occupation.  You  talk  of 
energy ;  but  the  foundation  of  energy  is  love,  and  love 
does  not  come  at  will.  So  I  love  this  little  English  girl, 
but  I  really  don't  know  why." 

She  looked  at  Levin  again ;  and  her  smile  and  her 
look  all  told  him  that  she  spoke  only  with  the  aim  of 
gaining  his  approval,  though  sure  in  advance  that  they 
understood  each  other. 

"  I  agree  with  you  thoroughly,"  cried  he.  "  You  can't 
put  your  heart  into  schools  and  such  things,  and  I  think 
that  from  the  same  reason  philanthropic  institutions  gen- 
erally give  such  small  results." 

She  was  silent  a  moment,  then  she  smiled.  "Yes, 
yes,"  she  replied,  "  I  never  could.  Je  n'ai  pas  le  coetir 
asses  large  to  love  a  whole  asylum  of  wretched  little 
girls,  cela  ne  ma  jamais  rhissi.  Women  only  do  it  to  win 
for  themselves  position  sociale.  Even  now,  when  I  have 
so  much  need  of  occupation,"  added  she  with  a  sad,  con- 
fiding expression,  addressing  Levin,  though  she  was 
speaking  to  her  brother,  "  even  now  I  cannot."  Then, 
suddenly  frowning,  —  and  Levin  saw  that  she  frowned 
because  she  had  begun  to  speak  of  herself,  —  she 
changed  the  subject. 


ANNA    KARENINA  24^ 

"  I  know  about  you,"  said  she,  smiling  at  Levin;  "you 
have  the  reputation  of  being  only  an  indifferent  citizen, 
but  I  have  always  defended  you  as  well  as  I  could." 

"  How  have  you  defended  me  ?  " 

"That  has  depended  on  the  attacks.  But  suppose 
we  have  some  tea,"  said  she.  She  rose  and  took  a 
morocco-bound  book  which  was  lying  on  the  table. 

"  Give  it  to  me,  Anna  Arkadyevna,"  said  Vorkuyef, 
pointing  to  the  book,  "  it  is  well  worth  while." 

"  No  ;  it 's  all  so  unfinished  !  " 

"  I  have  told  him  about  it,"  remarked  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch,  indicating  Levin. 

"  You  were  wrong.  My  writings  are  like  those  little 
baskets  and  carvings  made  by   prisoners,   which   Liza 

Myertsalova  used  to  sell She   managed  the  prisons 

for  our  society,"  said  she,  turning  to  Levin.  "  Those 
unfortunates  used  to  do  perfect  miracles  of  patience." 

Levin  was  struck  by  still  a  new  feature  in  this  remark- 
able, fascinating  woman.  Besides  wit,  grace,  beauty, 
she  had  sincerity.  She  did  not  wish  to  conceal  the 
thorns  of  her  situation.  As  she  said  that  she  sighed,  and 
her  face  suddenly  assumed  a  stern  expression,  as  if 
it  were  changed  to  stone.  With  this  expression  on  her 
face,  she  was  even  more  beautiful  than  before.  But 
that  expression  was  new ;  it  was  entirely  alien  to  that 
which  a  few  moments  before  had  seemed  to  irradiate 
happiness,  and  which  the  artist  had  managed  to  repro- 
duce in  the  portrait.  Levin  looked  once  more  at  the 
portrait  and  at  the  original  of  it,  while  Anna  took  her 
brother's  arm,  and  a  feeling  of  tenderness  and  pity  came 
over  him,  surprising  even  himself.  She  let  the  two 
gentlemen  pass  into  the  parlor,  and  remained  behind  to 
speak  to  Stiva. 

"  What  is  she  talking  with  him  about .''  — the  divorce .'' 
Vronsky  ?  what  he  was  doing  at  the  club.?  about  me.-*" 
thought  Levin  ;  and  he  was  so  stirred  that  he  heard 
nothing  that  Vorkuyef  was  saying  to  him  about  the 
merits  of  the  story  for  children  which  Anna  Arkadyevna 
had  written. 

During  tea,  a  pleasant  conversation  full  of  ideas  was 


250  ANNA    KARENINA 

carried  on.  There  seemed  to  be  no  lack  of  subjects  at 
any  moment ;  but  it  was  felt  that  there  was  time  to  say 
all  that  any  one  wanted  to  say,  and  each  was  willing  to 
listen  when  the  other  talked.  And  all  that  was  said,  not 
only  by  Anna  herself,  but  by  Vorkuyef  and  by  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  had  a  special  significance,  thanks  to  her 
interested  attention  and  her  pertinent  remarks;  so  at 
least  it  seemed  to  Levin. 

All  the  time  they  were  talking  Levin  studied  her,  and 
admired  her  beauty  and  the  cultivation  of  her  mind,  and 
not  less  her  perfect  simplicity  and  naturalness.  He  lis- 
tened and  talked,  and  all  the  time  thought  about  her  and 
her  inner  life,  and  tried  to  penetrate  her  feelings ;  and 
he,  who  had  formerly  criticized  her  so  severely,  now  by 
some  strange  train  of  thought  justified  her  and  pitied 
her,  and  confessed  to  himself  the  fear  that  Vronsky  did 
not  wholly  understand  her. 

It  was  more  than  eleven  o'clock  when  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch rose  to  go.  Vorkuyef  had  already  left  some 
time  before.  Levin  rose,  too,  but  with  regret.  He  felt 
as  if  he  had  only  just  come. 

'^  Praskcha'ite  —  farewell,"  said  Anna  to  him,  holding 
his  hand  in  hers,  and  looking  into  his  eyes  with  a  fas- 
cinating look.     "  I  am  glad  qiie  la  glace  est  rompne.'' 

She  let  go  his  hand,  and  her  eyes  twinkled. 

"  Tell  your  wife  that  I  love  her  as  I  have  always  done; 
and,  if  she  cannot  forgive  me  my  position,  tell  her  how 
I  hope  she  may  never  pardon  me ;  for  to  pardon,  it  is 
necessary  to  understand  what  I  have  suffered ;  and  God 
preserve  her  from  that !  " 

"  Yes !  I  will  surely  tell  her,"  answered  Levin,  and 
the  color  came  into  his  face. 


CHAPTER   XI 

"  What  a  wonderful,  lovely,  and  pitiable  woman ! " 
thought  Levin,  as  he  went  out  with  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
into  the  cold  night  air. 

"  There !   what  did  I  tell  you  1 "  demanded   Obion- 


■ 


ANNA   KARENINA  251 

sky,  as  he  saw  that  Levin  was  perfectly  overcome. 
"Wasn't  I  right?" 

"  Yes,"  answered  Levin,  thoughtfully,  "  an  extraordi- 
nary woman !  Not  only  intellectual,  but  she  has  a  won- 
derfully warm  heart.  What  a  terrible  pity  it  is  about 
her ! " 

"  Now,  thank  God,  all  will  soon  be  arranged,  I 
hope.  Well,  after  this,  don't  form  hasty  judgments," 
said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  opening  his  carriage-door. 
" Proshcha'i —  farewell;  we  go  different  ways." 

Levin  went  home,  never  ceasing  to  think  about  Anna, 
recaUing  the  smallest  incidents  of  the  evening,  bringing 
back  all  the  charm  of  her  face,  and  understanding  her 
situation  better  and  better,  and,  at  the  same  time,  feel- 
ing the  deepest  commiseration  for  her. 

When  he  reached  his  house,  Kuzma  told  Levin  that 
Katerina  Aleksandrovna  was  well,  and  that  her  sisters 
had  but  just  left  her.  He  handed  him  at  the  same  time 
two  letters.  Levin,  as  he  stood  in  the  vestibule,  ran 
through  them  at  once  so  as  not  to  be  distracted  after- 
ward. One  was  from  his  superintendent,  Sokolof. 
Sokolof  wrote  that  he  had  not  found  a  purchaser  who 
would  give  more  than  five  and  a  half  rubles  for  the 
wheat,  and  that  he  could  not  raise  the  money  elsewhere. 
The  other  letter  was  from  his  sister.  She  reproached 
him  because  her  affairs  were  not  yet  regulated. 

"  Well,  we  '11  sell  for  five  rubles  and  a  half  if  they 
won't  give  more,"  thought  he,  settling  with  extraordinary 
promptness  the  first  question  which  had  been  troubling 
him. 

"  It  is  wonderful  how  the  time  here  is  occupied,"  he 
said  to  himself,  thinking  of  the  second  letter.  He  felt 
that  he  was  to  blame  toward  his  sister,  because  he  had 
not  yet  accomplished  what  she  had  asked  him  to  do  for 
her.  "  To-day  I  did  not  get  to  the  court  either,  but  I  did 
not  have  a  moment's  time."  And,  making  up  his  mind 
that  he  would  surely  go  the  next  day,  he  went  to  his 
wife's  room.  On  his  way,  he  cast  a  quick  glance  back 
at  his  day.     There  had  been  nothing  except  conversa- 


252  ANNA    KARENINA 

tions,  —  conversations  in  which  he  had  listened,  and  in 
which  he  had  taken  part.  No  one  of  the  subjects 
touched  on  would  have  occupied  him  when  in  the  coun- 
try, but  here  they  were  very  interesting.  And  all  the 
conversations  in  which  he  had  engaged  were  good  :  only 
in  two  places  they  were  not  absolutely  good,  —  one  was 
his  remark  about  the  fish  at  the  club,  the  other  was 
something  intangibly  wrong  in  his  feeling  of  tender 
pity  for  Anna. 

Levin  found  his  wife  sad  and  absent-minded.  The 
dinner  of  the  three  sisters  had  been  merry ;  but  after- 
ward they  had  waited  and  waited  for  him,  and  the 
evening  had  seemed  long  to  them ;  and  now  Kitty  was 
alone. 

"  Well,  what  have  you  been  doing  ? "  she  asked  him, 
looking  at  him,  as  she  did  so,  with  a  suspicious  light  in 
her  eyes ;  but  she  took  good  care  to  conceal  her  inten- 
tions, so  as  not  to  prevent  him  from  telling  her  the 
whole  story,  and  with  an  encouraging  smile  she  listened 
as  he  told  her  how  he  had  spent  the  evening. 

"  Well,  I  met  Vronsky  at  the  club,  and  I  am  very  glad 
of  it.  I  felt  very  much  at  my  ease  with  him,  and  enjoyed 
it.  Of  course,  I  shall  try  to  avoid  him,  but  still  henceforth 
I  shan't  feel  that  awkwardness  in  his  society."  As  he 
said  these  words,  he  remembered  that  in  order  not  to 
"avoid  him,"  he  had  immediately  gone  to  Anna's  house, 
and  his  face  grew  red.  "Here  we  say  the  peasantry 
drink;  but  I  don't  know  which  drink  more,  the  peas- 
antry, or  men  in  society.  The  peasantry  drink  on  fes- 
tival days,  but.... " 

Kitty  was  not  interested  in  the  question  how  much  the 
peasantry  drink.  She  saw  her  husband's  face  grow  red, 
and  she  wanted  to  know  the  reason, 

"  Well,  where  else  did  you  go  .-*  " 

"  Stiva  insisted  on  my  going  with  him  to  Anna  Arka- 
dyevna's,"  answered  he,  blushing  more  and  more,  and  his 
doubts  as  to  the  propriety  of  his  visit  to  Anna  were  de- 
cided for  him.  He  now  knew  that  he  ought  not  to  have 
done  so. 

Kitty's  eyes  opened  wide  and  flashed  lightning  at  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  453 

mention  of  Anna ;  but  she  restrained  herself,  and,  con- 
cealing her  emotion,  she  misled  him. 

She  merely  said,  "  Ah  !  " 

"You  are  not  going  to  be  vexed  because  I  went? 
Stiva  begged  me  to  go ;  and  Dolly  wanted  me  to." 

"Oh,  no!"  said  she;  but  in  her  eyes  he  saw  a  look 
which  boded  little  good. 

"  She  is  a  very  charming  woman,  who  is  very  much 
to  be  pitied,  a  good  woman,"  continued  Levin ;  and  he 
described  the  life  which  Anna  led,  and  gave  her  message 
of  remembrance  to  Kitty. 

"Yes,  of  course  she  is  to  be  pitied,"  said  Kitty,  when 
he  had  finished.     "  Whom  did  you  get  a  letter  from  }  " 

He  told  her,  and,  misled  by  her  apparent  calmness, 
went  to  undress. 

When  he  came  back,  he  found  Kitty  in  the  same  arm- 
chair. When  he  approached,  she  looked  at  him,  and 
burst  into  tears. 

"What  is  it.-*  What's  the  matter.?"  he  asked,  with 
some  annoyance ;  for  he  understood  the  cause  of  her 
tears. 

"  You  are  in  love  with  that  horrid  woman.  She  has 
bewitched  you.  I  saw  it  in  your  eyes.  Yes,  yes  !  What 
will  be  the  end  of  it  .-*  You  were  at  the  club  ;  you  drank 
too  much  ;  you  gambled  ;  and  then  you  went  —  where  ! 
No  !  this  shall  not  go  on.  We  must  leave.  I  am  going 
home  to-morrow !  " 

It  was  long  before  Levin  could  pacify  his  wife ;  and 
when  at  last  he  succeeded,  it  was  only  by  acknowledg- 
ing that  his  feeling  of  pity  for  Anna,  together  with  the 
wine,  had  clouded  his  brain,  and  that  he  had  fallen 
under  her  seductive  influence,  and  by  promising  that  he 
would  avoid  her.  What  he  acknowledged  with  more 
sincerity  was  the  ill  effect  produced  on  him  by  this  idle 
life  in  Moscow,  passed  in  eating,  drinking,  and  gossip- 
ing. They  talked  till  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
Only  when  it  was  three  o'clock  were  they  sufficiently 
reconciled  to  go  to  sleep. 


254  ANNA    KARENINA 


CHAPTER  XII 

After  having  said  good-by  to  her  visitors,  without 
sitting  down  Anna  began  to  walk  up  and  down  the  full 
length  of  her  apartments. 

Of  late  she  had  got  into  the  habit  of  unconsciously 
doing  all  she  could  to  attract  young  men  to  her ;  and 
so  this  whole  evening  she  had  striven  to  awaken  a  feel- 
ing of  love  in  Levin.  But  though  she  knew  that  she 
had  succeeded  in  doing  this  as  far  as  it  was  possible 
with  a  chaste  married  man,  and  though  he  pleased  her 
very  much,  —  and  in  spite  of  the  sharply  defined  dis- 
similarity between  Vronsky  and  Levin,  she  as  a  woman 
was  able  to  detect  the  subtile  likeness  between  them 
which  had  caused  Kitty  to  be  in  love  with  them  both,  — 
yet  as  soon  as  he  had  left  the  room  she  ceased  to  think 
about  him. 

One  thought  and  one  only  in  various  guises  followed 
her  :  — 

"  Why,  since  I  have  so  evidently  an  attraction  for 
others,  —  for  this  married  man,  who  is  in  love  with  his 
wife,  —  why  is  he  so  cold  to  me.''....  Yet  not  exactly  cold; 
he  loves  me,  I  know ;  but  lately  something  new  has 
come  between  us.  Why  has  he  spent  the  whole  eve- 
ning away.-*  He  told  Stiva  that  he  could  not  leave 
Yashvin,  but  had  to  watch  him  while  he  played.  Is 
Yashvin  a  baby  .-•  It  must  be  true ;  he  never  tells  lies. 
But  there  's  something  else  back  of  it.  He  is  glad  of 
the  chance  to  show  me  that  he  has  other  duties.  I 
know  this.  I  don't  object  to  it,  but  what  need  has  he 
to  assert  it  so  .-*  He  wants  to  show  that  his  love  for  me 
must  not  interfere  with  his  independence !  But  the 
proof  is  not  necessary.  I  must  have  his  love.  He 
ought  to  understand  the  wretchedness  of  the  life  I  lead 
here  in  Moscow,  Why  am  I  living }  I  am  not  living, 
—  only  dragging  out  life,  in  hope  of  a  turn  in  affairs, 
which  never,  never  comes.  And  Stiva  says  that  he 
can't  go  to  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch.  And  I  can't  write 
again.     I  cannot  do  anything,  I  can't  begin  anything, 


ANNA   KARENINA  255 

or  make  any  changes,  but  only  control  myself,  wait, 
and  invent  amusements  —  this  English  family,  my  read- 
ing, my  writing ;  but  it  is  all  only  to  deceive  myself, 
like  this  morphine.  He  ought  to  be  sorry  for  me,"  she 
said,  feeling  how  the  tears  of  pity  at  her  own  lot  filled 
her  eyes. 

She  heard  the  door-bell  Vronsky  rang  violently ;  and 
instantly  she  wiped  away  her  tears,  not  only  wiped 
away  the  tears,  but  sat  down  near  the  lamp  with  a  book, 
and  pretended  to  be  calm.  She  felt  that  she  must  show 
her  dissatisfaction  because  he  had  not  returned  as  he 
had  promised,  but  not  to  let  her  grief  be  seen.  She 
might  pity  herself,  but  Vronsky  must  not  be  allowed  to 
pity  her.  She  did  not  want  a  contest,  she  blamed  him 
because  he  wanted  to  quarrel,  but  she  herself  involun- 
tarily took  the  attitude  of  an  opponent. 

"Well!  you  weren't  lonely,  were  you,''"  said  he, 
briskly  and  cheerfully,  as  he  came  toward  her.  "  What 
a  terrible  passion  gambling  is." 

"  No,  I  was  not  lonely.  I  long  ago  learned  not  to 
be  lonely.     Stiva  and  Levin  have  been  here  to  see  me." 

"  Yes,  I  knew  that  they  intended  to  come.  Well,  and 
how  do  you  like  Levin  ? "  he  asked,  as  he  sat  down  near 
her. 

"Very  much.  They  have  only  just  gone.  How 
about  Yashvin  .'' " 

"  He  had  won  seventeen  thousand  rubles.  I  got  him 
away,  but  he  escaped  from  me,  and  went  back  again ; 
and  now  he 's  losing." 

"  But  why  did  you  abandon  him .'' "  said  Anna,  sud- 
denly raising  her  eyes  to  his.  The  expression  of  her 
face  was  cold  and  unpleasant.  "  You  told  Stiva  that 
you  were  going  to  stay,  to  bring  him  away.  Now  you 
abandon  him !  " 

"  In  the  first  place,  I  did  not  send  any  message  to 
you ;  in  the  second  place,  I  never  tell  lies ;  and  chiefly, 
I  wished  to  stay  and  I  stayed,"  he  answered  angrily. 
"  Anna,  why,  why  do  you  do  so .'' "  added  he,  after  a 
moment's  silence,  holding  out  his  hand  to  her,  in  the 
hope  that  she  would  place  hers  in  it. 


256  ANNA    KARENINA 

She  was  glad  of  this  appeal  to  her  love,  but  some 
strange  spirit  of  evil  prevented  her  frona  yielding. 

"  Of  course  you  stayed  because  you  wanted  to ;  you 
always  do  as  you  please.  But  why  tell  me  so  .''  What 
is  the  good .? "  answered  she,  growing  more  and  more 
heated.  "  Who  .  denies  that  you  tell  the  truth  .-'  You 
wish  to  justify  yourself,  do  so  then ! " 

Vronsky  drew  back  his  hand,  and  his  face  became 
more  set  than  before. 

"  For  you  this  is  a  matter  of  obstinacy,"  she  cried, 
looking  at  him  fixedly,  and  suddenly  finding  the  term  by 
which  to  call  the  expression  of  his  face  which  exasper- 
ated her  —  "sheer  obstinacy.  For  you  the  question  is 
to  see  whether  you  will  win  the  victory  over  me.  But 
the  question  for  me ....  "  and  again  the  sense  of  her  piti- 
able lot  came  over  her,  and  she  almost  sobbed.  "  If 
you  knew  what  it  meant  for  me  when  I  feel,  as  I  do 
now,  that  you  hate  me, ....yes,  hate  me!  If  you  knew 
what  it  meant  for  me !  If  you  knew  how  near  I  am  to 
horrible  misfortune  at  these  moments!  how  I  fear.... 
how  I  fear  for  myself,"  —  and  she  turned  away  to  hide 
her  sobs. 

"But  what's  all  this  for.-*"  said  Vronsky,  alarmed  at 
this  despair,  and  leaning  toward  Anna  to  take  her  hand 
and  kiss  it.  "  Do  I  seek  outside  diversion  ?  Don't  I 
avoid  the  society  of  women  ?  " 

"  As  if  that  were  all !  "  said  she. 

"  Well !  Tell  me  what  I  must  do  to  make  you  con- 
tent. I  am  ready  to  do  anything  that  you  may  be 
happy,"  said  he,  moved  to  see  her  in  such  despair. 
"  What  would  I  not  do  to  spare  you  such  grief,  Anna !  " 
he  said. 

"  It 's  nothing,  nothing,"  she  replied.     "  I  myself  don't 

know.     It 's  the  loneliness :  it 's  my  nerves There,  let 's 

not  talk  about  it  any  more Tell  me  what  happened 

at  the  races.  Why  have  n't  you  told  me  about  it  ?  "  she 
asked,  attempting  to  conceal  the  pride  she  felt  at  her 
victory,  for  she  knew  it  rested  with  her. 

Vronsky  asked  for  some  supper,  and  as  he  was  eat- 
ing described  to  her  the  incidents  of  the  races ;   but 


ANNA    KARENINA  257 

from  the  sound  of  his  voice,  and  from  his  glance,  that 
grew  colder  and  colder,  she  saw  that  he  would  not  for- 
give her  for  the  victory,  that  the  sense  of  obstinacy 
which  she  had  struggled  to  overcome  was  as  firm  in 
him  as  ever.  He  was  colder  toward  her  than  before, 
as  if  he  regretted  having  yielded  to  her.  And  as  she 
remembered  the  words  that  won  her  the  victory,  espe- 
cially the  words,  "  How  near  I  am  to  horrible  misfor- 
tune, and  I  fear  for  myself,"  she  realized  that  it  was  a 
dangerous  weapon,  and  that  she  must  never  employ  it 
again.  But  she  felt  that  along  with  the  love  which 
united  them,  there  stood  between  them  an  evil  spirit  of 
conflict  which  she  had  not  the  power  to  drive  from  his 
heart,  and  still  less  from  her  own. 


CHAPTER   XHI 

There  are  no  imaginable  conditions  to  which  a  man 
cannot  accustom  himself,  especially  if  he  sees  that  all 
those  who  surround  him  are  living  in  the  same  way. 

Three  months  before  Levin  would  not  have  believed 
that  he  could  have  slept  tranquilly  under  the  conditions 
in  which  he  found  himself  at  the  present  time,  —  that 
living  an  aimless,  unprofitable  life,  spending  more  than 
his  income,  getting  tipsy,  —  for  he  could  not  call  his 
experience  at  the  club  anything  else,  —  his  absurd  inti- 
macy with  a  man  with  whom  his  wife  had  once  been 
in  love,  and  his  still  more  absurd  visit  to  a  woman  whom 
it  was  impossible  to  regard  as  respectable,  and  after  the 
fascination  which  she  had  exerted  over  him  and  the 
mortification  which  he  had  caused  his  wife  —  that  under 
all  these  conditions  he  could  sleep  serenely.  But  under 
the  influence  of  his  weariness,  the  long  hours  without 
a  nap,  and  the  wine  which  he  had  drunk,  he  slept  soundly 
and  serenely. 

At  five  o'clock  the  noise  of  an  opening  door  wakened 
him.     He  sat  up  and  looked  around;  Kitty  was  not  in 
bed  next  him.      But  behind  a  screen  there  was  a  light 
moving,  and  he  heard  her  steps. 
VOL.  HI.  — 17 


258  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  What 's  the  matter  ? "  he  asked,  still  only  half  awake. 
"  Kitty,  what  is  it  ?  " 

"  Nothing,"  answered  she,  coming  from  behind  the 
screen  with  a  candle  in  her  hand,  and  smiling  at  him 
with  a  peculiarly  sweet  and  significant  smile ;  "  I  don't 
feel  quite  well." 

"  What !  Is  this  the  beginning  ?  Must  we  send  ?  " 
exclaimed  he  in  alarm,  and  he  began  to  dress  as  quickly 
as  possible. 

"  No,  no,"  said  she,  smiling,  and  holding  his  hand ; 
"  it 's  nothing ;  I  did  not  feel  quite  well ;  it 's  all  right 
now." 

Going  back  to  bed,  she  put  out  the  light,  and  lay 
down  again,  keeping  perfectly  still,  although  her  very 
stillness  and  the  way  she,  as  it  were,  held  her  breath, 
were  suspicious,  and  still  more  so  the  expression  of  pe- 
culiar tenderness  and  alertness  with  which,  as  she  came 
out  from  behind  the  screen,  she  said  to  him,  "  it 's  noth- 
ing "  ;  still,  he  was  so  overcome  by  drowsiness  that  he 
immediately  went  to  sleep  again. 

It  was  only  afterward  that  he  realized  the  calmness 
of  her  spirit,  and  appreciated  all  that  was  passing  in 
her  dear,  gentle  heart  as  she  lay  thus  motionless  near 
him,  awaiting  the  most  solemn  moment  of  a  woman's  life. 

About  seven  o'clock  he  was  awakened  by  her  hand 
touching  his  shoulder  and  her  low  whisper.  She  appar- 
ently hesitated  between  the  fear  of  waking  him  and  the 
wish  to  speak  to  him. 

"  Kostia,  don't  be  afraid,  it's  nothing;  but  I  think.... 
Lizavyeta  Petrovna  had  better  be  called." 

The  candle  was  again  lighted.  She  was  sitting  on 
the  bed,  holding  the  knitting  on  which  she  had  been  at 
work  during  the  last  few  days. 

"  Please  don't  be  alarmed.  I  'm  not  in  the  least 
afraid,"  said  she,  seeing  her  husband's  terrified  face; 
and  she  pressed  his  hand  to  her  breast,  then  to  her  Ups. 

Levin  leaped  from  his  bed,  and,  unconscious  of  him- 
self, without  taking  his  eyes  off  his  wife  for  a  moment, 
hurried  on  his  dressing-gown.  It  was  necessary  for 
him  to  go,  but  he  could  npt  tear  himself  away.     Dearly 


ANNA    KARENINA  259 

as  he  loved  her  face,  well  as  he  knew  her  expression, 
her  eyes,  yet  never  before  had  he  seen  her  look  as  she 
did  then.  How  ugly  and  horrible  did  he  now  seem  as 
he  saw  her  now,  and  remembered  the  mortification  which 
he  had  caused  her  the  evening  before !  Her  flushed 
face,  with  the  clustering  soft  curls  escaping  from  under 
her  nightcap,  was  radiant  with  joy  and  resolution. 

Natural  and  simple  as  Kitty's  character  in  general 
was,  Levin  was  amazed  by  what  unfolded  itself  before 
him  now,  when  suddenly  all  the  curtains  were  withdrawn, 
and  the  very  essence  of  her  soul  shone  in  her  eyes. 
And  in  this  simplicity  and  revelation,  she,  her  very  self, 
whom  he  loved,  was  more  apparent  than  ever.  She 
looked  at  him,  and  smiled.  But  suddenly  her  brows 
contracted,  she  lifted  her  head,  and,  coming  to  him,  took 
his  hand,  and  clung  to  him,  sighing  painfully.  She 
suffered,  and  yet  she  seemed  to  pity  him  for  her  suffer- 
ings. At  first,  as  he  saw  this  silent  suffering,  it  seemed 
to  him  that  he  was  to  blame  for  it.  But  in  her  look 
there  was  tenderness  which  told  him  that  she  not  only 
did  not  blame  him,  but  that  she  loved  him  all  the  more 
for  her  suffering. 

"  If  not  I,  who,  then,  is  to  blame  for  this  }  "  he  asked 
himself.  She  suffered,  and  she  seemed  to  take  pride 
in  her  pain,  and  to  rejoice  in  it.  He  saw  that  in  her 
soul  some  beautiful  transformation  was  taking  place ; 
but  what .''  he  could  not  understand.  It  was  above  his 
comprehension. 

"  I  have  sent  for  mamma.  Now  go  quick,  and  get 
Lizavyeta  Petrovna....  Kostia....  it 's  nothing....  it  is  all 
over." 

She  went  to  the  other  side  of  the  room,  and  rang  the 
bell. 

"  There,  now,  please  go.  Pasha  is  coming ;  I  want 
nothing."  And  Levin,  with  astonishment,  saw  her  take 
up  her  work  again. 

As  he  went  out  of  one  door,  he  heard  Pasha,  the  maid, 
come  in  at  the  other.  He  paused  on  the  threshold  and 
listened  as  Kitty  gave  directions  for  arranging  the  room, 
and  as  she  herself  began  to  move  the  bed. 


26o  ANNA    KARENINA 

He  dressed,  and  when  he  had  ordered  his  carriage, 
since  it  was  too  early  for  izvoshchiks,  he  flew  up  to  her 
room  again,  not  on  tiptoes,  but  on  wings,  as  it  seemed 
to  him.  Two  maids  were  busily  engaged  in  moving 
something  in  the  room.  Kitty  was  walking  up  and 
down,  knitting  swiftly,  slipping  the  knots,  and  giving 
directions. 

"  I  'm  going  for  the  doctor  immediately.  Lizavyeta 
Petrovna  has  been  sent  for,  but  I  will  call  there.  There  's 
nothing  more,  is  there  }     Oh,  yes,  —  Dolly." 

She  looked  at  him,  evidently  without  hearing  what  he 
said.  "  Yes,  yes,  go,"  said  she,  and  motioned  to  him 
with  her  hand.  He  was  just  passing  through  the  draw- 
ing-room, when  he  heard  a  groan,  pitiful,  but  instantly 
suppressed.  He  stood  still,  and  could  not  make  up  his 
mind. 

"  It  is  she,"  he  said  to  himself ;  and,  putting  his  hands 
to  his  head,  he  rushed  out. 

"  Lord  have  mercy  on  us  !  pardon  us  !  save  us  !  "  he 
exclaimed ;  and  these  words,  which  suddenly  and  unex- 
pectedly came  to  his  lips,  were  not  spoken  merely  by 
his  lips,  unbeliever  though  he  was. 

Now  at  this  instant,  he  knew  perfectly  well  that  all 
his  doubts  and  the  impossibility  which  his  reason  found 
in  belief,  had  not  the  slightest  influence  to  prevent  him 
from  adckessing  himself  to  God.  Everything  of  this 
sort  now  vanished  like  dust  from  his  soul.  To  whom 
could  he  address  himself  if  not  to  Him  in  whose  hands 
he  felt  were  held  himself,  and  his  soul,  and  his  love  .-* 

The  horse  was  not  yet  ready,  but,  feeling  the  special 
strain  of  physical  powers  unemployed,  and  of  the  work 
before  him  calling  for  his  attention,  he  started  on  foot 
so  as  not  to  lose  a  single  instant,  and  ordered  Kuzma 
to  follow  him.  At  the  corner  of  the  street  he  met  a 
night  izvoshchik  hurrying  along.  In  the  little  sledge 
sat  Lizavyeta  Petrovna,  in  a  velvet  cloak,  with  her  head 
wrapped  up  in  a  kerchief.  "  Thank  God  !  "  ^  he  mur- 
mured, as  he  saw  with  joy  her  pale  little  face,  which  had 
a  peculiarly  serious,  and  even  stern,  expression.     Not 

1  Slava  Bohu. 


ANNA   KARENINA  261 

ordering  the  driver  to  stop,  he  ran  along  with  it  back  to 
the  house. 

"  Only  two  hours  ?  not  more  ?  "  asked  Lizavyeta  Pe- 
trovna.  "  You  may  speak  to  Piotr  Dmitritch,  but  don't 
hurry  him.  Yes,  please  get  some  opium  at  the  apothe- 
cary's." 

"  Do  you  think  all  will  go  on  well  ? "  asked  he.  "  God 
help  us !  "  he  added,  as  he  saw  his  horse  starting  from 
the  door ;  he  got  into  the  sledge  alongside  of  Kuzma, 
and  ordered  him  to  hurry  to  the  doctor's. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

The  doctor  was  not  yet  up ;  and  a  servant,  who  was 
busy  cleaning  the  lamps,  announced  that  his  master  had 
gone  to  bed  late,  and  had  given  orders  not  to  be  waked, 
but  would  be  up  before  long. 

The  lackey  was  polishing  lamp-chimneys  and  seemed 
very  much  absorbed  in  this  occupation.  At  first  this  ab- 
sorption of  the  lackey  in  his  lamp-chimneys,  and  his  in- 
difference to  what  was  going  on  at  home,  made  Levin 
indignant;  but  on  reflection  he  realized  that  no  one  knew 
anything  about  it  or  was  obliged  to  share  in  his  feelings, 
and  that  consequently  it  was  incumbent  on  him  to  be 
calm,  reasonable,  and  firm,  so  as  to  break  down  that 
wall  of  indifference,  and  attain  his  end. 

"  I  must  not  spoil  matters  by  haste,"  said  Levin  to 
himself,  feeling  all  the  time  a  growing  intensity  of 
physical  energy  and  concentration  on  what  was  before 
him. 

Now  that  he  knew  that  the  doctor  was  not  up,  and 
had  given  orders  not  to  be  disturbed,  Levin  thought 
over  several  plans  which  presented  themselves  to  him, 
and  finally  decided  on  the  following :  to  send  Kuzma 
with  a  note  to  another  doctor,  to  go  himself  to  the  apothe- 
cary's for  the  laudanum,  and,  if  on  his  return  the  doctor 
was  not  up,  then  either  by  bribery  or  by  main  force,  if 
the  man  would  not  consent,  to  waken  the  doctor  at  any 
cost. 


262  ANNA    KARENINA 

At  the  apothecary's,  the  lean  clerk,  with  the  same  in- 
difference as  the  lackey  cleaning  the  lamp-chimneys  had 
shown,  put  a  seal  on  the  powders  for  the  waiting  coach- 
man, and  refused  to  deliver  the  opium.  Striving  not  to 
get  impatient  or  angry,  and  mentioning  the  doctor  and 
midwife  by  name,  and  telling  what  it  was  needed  for, 
Levin  pleaded  with  him.  The  clerk  asked  his  employer 
in  German  if  it  should  be  permitted,  and,  receiving  a 
favorable  reply  from  behind  the  screen,  he  proceeded  to 
get  out  a  bottle  and  a  funnel,  and  slowly  poured  the 
liquid  from  it  into  a  smaller  vial,  pasted  on  a  label, 
sealed  it,  and  in  spite  of  Levin's  urgency  not  to  do  so, 
was  even  going  to  wrap  it  up.  This  Levin  could  not 
endure  ;  he  resolutely  snatched  the  vial  out  of  the  clerk's 
hands,  and  rushed  through  the  great  glass  doors. 

The  doctor  was  still  asleep ;  and,  this  time,  the  ser- 
vant was  shaking  the  rugs. 

Levin,  leisurely  getting  from  his  pocket  a  ten-ruble 
note,  and  dwelling  on  his  words,  but  not  wasting  time, 
gave  him  the  money,  and  explained  that  Piotr  Dmitri- 
evitch  —  how  great  and  significant  now  seemed  this 
hitherto  unimportant  Piotr  Dmitrievitch  —  had  prom- 
ised him  to  be  on  hand  at  any  time,  so  that  he  would 
certainly  not  be  angry,  and  that,  therefore,  he  must 
instantly  awaken  him. 

The  lackey  consented,  and  went  up-stairs  and  showed 
Levin  into  the  reception-room. 

Levin  could  hear  in  the  next  room  how  the  doctor 
coughed,  walked  about,  washed  his  face  and  hands,  and 
made  some  remark. 

Three  minutes  passed ;  it  seemed  to  Levin  that  it 
was  more  than  an  hour.  He  could  no  longer  contain 
himself. 

"  Piotr  Dmitrievitch  !  Piotr  Dmitrievitch  !  "  he  cried, 
through  the  opened  door,  in  a  beseeching  voice.  "  For 
God's  sake,  forgive  me.  Let  me  come  in  just  as  you 
are.     It  has  been  more  than  two  hours  now." 

"  I  '11  be  out  immediately,"  replied  a  voice,  and  Levin 
to  his  surprise  knew  by  the  sound  of  the  doctor's  voice 
that  he  was  smiling  as  he  spoke. 


ANNA   KARENINA  a&j 

"Just  for  one  little  minute." 

"  I  '11  be  out  immediately." 

Two  minutes  more  went  by,  while  the  doctor  was 
putting  on  his  boots,  and  another  two  minutes  while  he 
was  brushing  his  hair  and  putting  on  his  coat. 

"  Piotr  Dmitrievitch,"  Levin  was  just  saying  once 
more ;  but  at  that  instant  the  doctor  came  in,  all  ready 
dressed  and  with  his  hair  brushed. 

"These  people  have  no  hearts,"  thought  Levin.  "  He 
can  brush  his  hair,  while  we  are  dying." 

"  Good  morning!  "  said  the  doctor,  entering  the  recep- 
tion-room serenely,  and  offering  to  shake  hands.  "Don't 
feel  anxious.     Well,  how  is  it .'' " 

Levin  began  at  once  a  long  and  circumstantial  ac- 
count, iilled  with  a  crowd  of  useless  details,  and  inter- 
rupted himself  at  every  moment  to  urge  the  doctor  to 
set  out. 

"Yes,  but  you  must  not  be  anxious.  You  see  you 
don't  know.  I  really  am  not  needed  yet ;  still  I  have 
promised,  and  I  assure  you  I  '11  go.  But  there 's  no 
hurry.     Please  sit  down;  won't  you  have  some  coffee.?" 

Levin  looked  at  him,  with  a  questioning  look,  asking 
with  his  eyes  if  he  were  not  laughing  at  him ;  but  the 
doctor  was  in  serious  earnest. 

"I  know,  I  know,"  added  the  physician,  smiling;  "I 
myself  am  a  family  man,  and  we  husbands  cut  a  sorry 
figure  in  such  cases.  The  husband  of  one  of  my  pa- 
tients always,  on  such  occasions,  goes  off  to  the  stable." 

"  But  do  you  think,  Piotr  Dmitrievitch,  —  do  you 
think  she  '11  get  on  well .?  " 

"  All  the  indications  point  to  a  fortunate  issue." 

"Won't  you  come  at  once.-*"  said  Levin,  looking 
with  angry  eyes  at  the  servant  who  was  bringing  the 
coffee. 

"  Within  an  hour." 

"  For  God's  sake  !  " 

"Well,  let  me  take  my  coffee." 

The  doctor  proceeded  to  take  his  breakfast.  Both 
were  silent. 

"  It  seems  the  Turks  are  beating.     Did  you  read  the 


264  ANNA    KARENINA 

telegram  last  evening  ? "  asked  the  doctor,  biting  into 
a  roll. 

"  No ;  but  I  'm  going,"  said  Levin.  "  Will  you  come 
in  a  quarter  of  an  hour .''  " 

"  Make  it  a  half." 

"  On  your  honor  .-'  " 

When  Levin  got  home,  he  found  the  princess  at  the 
door,  and  they  went  to  Kitty's  room  together.  The 
princess  had  tears  in  her  eyes,  and  her  hands  trembled. 
When  she  saw  Levin,  she  threw  her  arms  round  him, 
and  kissed  him. 

"How  is  it,  Lizavyeta  Petrovna,  dearie," ^  said  she, 
seizing  the  midwife's  hand  as  she  came  to  meet  them 
with  a  radiant  but  solicitous  face. 

"  It  is  going  well,"  said  she.  "  It  would  be  well  for 
her  to  lie  down.  Try  to  persuade  her.  She  would  find 
it  easier." 

Ever  since  Levin,  on  waking,  had  understood  the 
situation,  he  had  made  up  his  mind,  without  indulging 
in  anxious  thought,  or  forebodings,  crushing  down  all 
his  anxieties  and  feelings,  firmly,  without  worrying  his 
wife,  but,  on  the  contrary,  calming  her  and  sustaining 
her  courage,  that  he  would  endure  what  was  before 
him.  Not  allowing  himself  even  to  think  of  what  was 
coming  or  how  it  might  end,  judging  by  answers  to 
his  questions,  how  long  it  generally  lasted.  Levin  in  his 
imagination  prepared  to  have  patience  and  hold  his 
heart  in  his  hands  for  five  hours,  and  this  seemed  to 
him  within  the  limit  of  possibihty.  But  when  he  re- 
turned after  his  visit  to  the  doctor's,  and  found  Kitty 
still  suffering,  again  he  cried  more  and  more  frequently, 
"  Lord,  forgive  us,  and  be  merciful!  "  and  he  was  afraid 
that  he  could  not  endure  it,  so  terrible  was  it  to  him ; 
thus  an  hour  went  by. 

And  after  this  another  hour  passed,  and  a  second,  and 
a  third,  and  the  five  which  he  had  set  as  the  very  ulti- 
mate limit  of  his  endurance  ;  and  the  situation  was  still 
the  same,  and  still  he  was  enduring  the  suspense,  because 
there  was  nothing  else  to  do  except  endure,  thinking 
^  Duskenka,  little  soul. 


ANNA    KARENINA  165 

every  moment  that  he  had  reached  the  last  limit,  and 
that  his  heart  would  burst  with  his  agony.  But  the 
minutes  still  went  by,  hours  and  hours,  and  his  feelings 
of  agony  and  horror  kept  growing  worse  and  more  un- 
endurable. All  the  ordinary  conditions  of  life,  without 
which  it  is  impossible  to  take  cognizance  of  anything, 
ceased  to  exist  for  Levin.  He  lost  all  consciousness  of 
time.  Now  the  minutes  when  she  called  him  to  her  and 
he  held  her  moist  hand,  which  at  one  time  would  press 
his  with  extraordinary  force,  and  again  push  him  away, 
seemed  hours ;  then  again  the  hours  would  seem  to  him 
minutes. 

He  was  surprised  when  Lizavyeta  Petrovna  asked 
for  a  light,  and  he  learned  that  it  was  five  o'clock 
in  the  evening.  If  they  had  told  him  that  it  was  only 
ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  would  have  been  just  as 
much  surprised.  Where  the  time  had  gone,  what  he 
had  done,  where  he  had  been,  he  could  not  have  told. 
Sometimes  he  saw  Kitty's  flushed  face,  now  troubled 
and  piteous,  then  calm  and  almost  smiling,  as  she  tried 
to  reassure  him.  Then  he  saw  the  princess,  flushed  with 
anxiety,  her  gray  curls  in  disorder,  swallowing  down  her 
tears  and  biting  her  lips  to  keep  from  crying.  He  had 
also  seen  Dolly,  and  the  doctor  smoking  great  cigar- 
ettes, and  Lizavyeta  Petrovna,  with  a  calm,  serious,  but 
reassuring  look,  and  the  old  prince,  pacing  the  dining- 
room  with  a  frowning  face.  But  how  they  came  and 
went,  and  where  they  had  been,  he  could  not  tell. 

The  princess  had  been  with  the  doctor  in  Kitty's  room, 
then  in  the  library,  where  a  well-set  table  had  appeared ; 
then  she  disappeared,  and  Dolly  was  in  her  place. 

Then  Levin  remembered  that  they  sent  him  somewhere ; 
he  moved  a  divan  and  a  table  zealously,  thinking  it  was 
for  her  sake ;  and  only  when  it  was  done  did  he  learn 
that  they  were  preparing  his  own  bed  for  the  night. 

He  was  sent  to  the  library  to  ask  the  doctor  some- 
thing ;  the  doctor  replied,  and  then  began  to  speak  of 
the  disorders  of  the  dnina,  or  town-council.  Then  they 
sent  him  to  the  princess's  bedchamber  to  get  a  holy 
image  made  of  silver,  with  a  golden  trimming,  from 


266  ANNA    KARENINA 

there ;  and,  with  the  aid  of  an  old  chambermaid  of  the 
princess's,  he  cHmbed  up  to  get  it  from  the  cabinet; 
and,  in  doing  so,  broke  a  little  lamp,  and  the  old  woman 
consoled  him  for  this  accident,  and  encouraged  him  about 
his  wife.  And  he  had  carried  the  image  to  Kitty,  and 
placed  it  at.  her  head,  carefully  arranging  it  behind  her 
pillow.  But  where,  when,  and  why  all  this  was  done 
was  more  than  he  could  tell. 

Neither  did  he  comprehend  why  the  old  princess  took 
him  by  the  hand,  and,  looking  at  him  compassionately, 
begged  him  to  calm  himself ;  or  why  Dolly  tried  to  per- 
suade him  to  eat  something,  and  led  him  from  the  room  ; 
or  why  even  the  doctor  looked  at  him  gravely  and  sym- 
pathetically, and  offered  him  a  pill. 

He  knew  and  felt  conscious  only  that  what  was  occur- 
ring was  Hke  that  which  had  occurred  the  year  before  at 
the  hotel  of  the  government  city,  by  the  death-bed  of 
his  brother  Nikolai'.  That  was  grief,  this  was  happiness. 
But  that  grief  and  this  happiness  were  in  the  same  way 
outside  of  the  ordinary  conditions  of  life;  were  in  this 
peculiar  life,  as  it  were,  the  loopholes  through  which 
appeared  something  higher.  And  in  exactly  the  same 
way,  while  the  hard,  painful  event  was  accomplishing 
before  him,  in  exactly  the  same  way  incomprehensible, 
his  soul,  at  the  contemplation  of  this  loftiness,  raised 
itself  to  a  height  which  he  had  never  before  dreamed 
possible,  and  whither  his  reason  could  not  follow. 

"  Lord,  have  mercy  and  aid  us,"  he  kept  repeating,  in 
spite  of  his  long  lack  of  practice,  and  yet  feeling  that  he 
was  addressing  God  with  the  same  simplicity,  the  same 
confidence,  as  in  his  childhood  and  early  youth.  All 
this  time  he  seemed  to  be  leading  two  separate  exis- 
tences ;  one  was  away  from  Kitty,  with  the  doctor  smok- 
ing one  fat  cigarette  after  another,  and  knocking  the 
ashes  off  against  the  rim  of  the  unemptied  ash-tray ;  or 
with  Dolly  and  the  old  princess,  who  insisted  on  talking 
about  dinner,  politics,  or  the  illness  of  Marya  Petrovna, 
and  with  whom  Levin  suddenly,  for  an  instant,  would 
forget  entirely  what  was  taking  place,  and  feel  wide 
awake ;  and  the  other  was  in  her  presence,  by  her  bed- 


ANNA   KARENINA  167 

side,  where  his  heart  felt  as  if  it  would  burst,  and  it 
almost  did  break  with  compassion,  and  where  he  did  not 
cease  to  pray  to  God. 

And  every  time  when  he  would  be  aroused  from 
momentary  oblivion  by  a  cry  coming  from  her  chamber, 
he  would  fall  under  the  same  strange  delusion  as  had  at 
the  first  moment  taken  possession  of  him  ;  every  time  he 
heard  the  cry  he  would  spring  to  his  feet,  hasten  to 
her  room,  and  on  the  way  remember  that  he  was  not  to 
blame,  and  would  long  to  protect  and  help.  And  as  he 
looked  on  her,  he  would  see  that  there  was  no  help  to 
be  given  her;  and  again  the  pity  would  seize  him,  and 
he  would  pray,  "  Lord,  forgive  and  help  us !  " 

And  in  proportion  as  the  time  passed  by,  the  stronger 
became  the  two  conditions  of  mind,  —  he  would  be 
calmer  at  one  moment,  perfectly  oblivious  of  her,  while 
remaining  out  of  her  presence,  and  then  again  the  more 
painful  would  become  his  sympathetic  torments  and  the 
feeling  of  helplessness  before  them.  He  would  spring 
to  his  feet,  feel  the  impulse  to  escape  somewhere,  and 
hasten  to  her. 

Sometimes  when  she  would  keep  calling  for  him  he 
would  reproach  her ;  but,  seeing  her  submissive,  smiling 
face,  and  hearing  her  words,  "  I  have  tired  you  out,"  he 
would  reproach  God ;  but,  remembering  what  God  was, 
he  would  beg  for  pardon  and  aid. 


CHAPTER  XV 

He  did  not  know  whether  it  was  late  or  early.  The 
candles  had  already  burned  down.  Dolly  had  just  come 
into  the  library,  and  was  proposing  to  the  doctor  to  lie 
down.  Levin  had  been  sitting  there  Hstening  to  the  doc- 
tor's story  of  the  charlatanry  of  magnetizers,  and  look- 
ing at  the  ash  at  the  end  of  his  cigarette.  It  was  one  of 
the  moments  of  rest,  and  he  was  oblivious.  He  had  en- 
tirely forgotten  what  was  taking  place.  He  listened  to 
the  doctor,  and  followed  him  understandingly. 

Suddenly  was  heard  a  cry  unlike   anything   he  had 


268  ANNA    KARENINA 

ever  heard.  This  cry  was  so  terrible  that  Levin  did 
not  even  stir,  but,  holding  his  breath,  he  looked  at  the 
doctor  with  eyes  full  of  questioning  terror. 

The  doctor  bent  his  head,  as  if  to  hear  better,  and 
smiled  with  an  air  of  approbation.  Levin  had  reached 
the  point  where  nothing  could  surprise  him ;  and  he 
said  inwardly,  "  Evidently  that  must  be  so ;  but  why 
that  cry .-'  "  He  went  back  to  the  sick-room  on  tiptoe, 
passed  round  by  Lizavyeta  Petrovna  and  the  princess, 
and  stood  in  his  place  by  the  bedside.  The  cry  had 
ceased,  but  evidently  there  was  some  change.  What, 
he  did  not  know,  and  did  not  care  to  know.  But  he 
saw  it  by  the  grave  expression  of  Lizavyeta  Petrovna's 
pale  face.  Her  face  was  stern  and  pale,  and  just  as 
resolute  as  ever,  although  her  lower  jaw  trembled  a 
little.  Her  eyes  were  kept  steadily  fixed  on  Kitty. 
Her  flushed,  tortured  face,  with  the  little  tufts  of  hair 
clinging  to  it,  was  turned  toward  him,  and  her  eyes 
sought  his.  She  raised  her  hand  and  tried  to  take  his. 
When  once  she  had  got  hold  of  it,  she  tried  with  her 
moist  hand  to  press  it  to  her  forehead. 

"  Don't  go,  don't  go !  I  am  not  afraid,"  said  she, 
quickly.       "  Mamma,    take    away  my  ear-rings  ;    they 

annoy  me You  are  n't  afraid  .'' ....  Lizavyeta  Petrovna, 

quick,  quick  !  "  —  She  spoke  rapidly,  and  tried  to  smile ; 
but  suddenly  her  face  grew  convulsed,  and  she  pushed 
him  away.  "  This  is  terrible  !  I  shall  die,  I  shall  die ! 
go !  go  !  "     Then  came  the  same  unearthly  cry. 

Levin  seized  his  head  in  his  hands,  and  rushed  from 
the  room. 

"  That  is  nothing ;  all  is  going  well,"  said  Dolly,  fol- 
lowing after  him*. 

But,  whatever  they  might  say,  he  knew  that  now  all 
was  lost !  Leaning  his  head  against  the  lintel,  he  stood 
in  the  adjoining  room  and  listened  to  screams  and 
moaning  —  such  sounds  as  he  had  never  heard  before, 
and  he  knew  that  what  was  making  such  animaMike 
noise  was  she  who  had  once  been  Kitty.  He  had  long 
ceased  to  care  about  the  child.  He  now  hated  that 
child.     He  even  went  so  far  as  not  to  wish  for  Kitty 


ANNA    KARENINA  269 

to  live,  provided  only  her  horrible  agonies  might  be 
ended. 

"  Doctor,  what  does  that  mean  ?  My  God  !  "  he  said, 
seizing  the  doctor's  arm  as  he  went  in. 

"It  is  the  end,"  replied  the  doctor;  and  his  face  was 
so  serious,  as  he  said  this,  that  Levin  thought  he  meant 
that  Kitty  was  dead. 

Not  knowing  what  would  become  of  him,  he  went 
back  to  the  bedroom. 

What  he  first  saw  was  Lizavyeta  Petrovna's  face ;  it 
was  even  more  than  before  portentous  and  stern.  It 
was  no  longer  Kitty's  face  that  was  there  ;  in  the  place 
where  it  had  been  before,  there  was  something  terrible 
both  by  reason  of  the  agony  which  contracted  it,  and  by 
reason  of  the  sound  that  came  from  it.  He  bowed  his 
head  against  the  wooden  frame  of  the  bed,  feeling  that 
his  heart  would  burst.  The  awful  shriek  still  continued, 
it  grew  more  piercing  than  ever,  as  if  the  last  Hmit  of 
horror  had  been  reached.  Then  suddenly  the  shriek 
ceased.  He  could  not  believe  it,  but  he  could  not 
doubt;  and  he  heard  a  gentle  rustling  and  a  quick 
breathing,  and  his  wife's  living,  loving,  happy  voice 
whispered,  "  Kanetchna  —  It  is  over  !  " 

He  raised  his  head.  As  she  lay  there,  beautiful  with 
a  supernatural  beauty,  with  her  arms  nervelessly  resting 
on  the  counterpane,  she  looked  at  him,  and  tried  to 
smile  at  him,  but  could  not. 

Coming  suddenly  out  of  that  mysterious  and  terrible 
world  where  he  had  been  living  for  twenty-two  hours, 
Levin  felt  himself  transported  back  into  his  ordinary 
every-day  world  of  luminous  happiness,  and  he  could 
not  bear  it.  The  cords  long  tense  snapped.  He  burst 
into  tears ;  and  the  sobs  of  joy  which  he  could  not  fore- 
see shook  his  whole  body  so  violently  that  he  could  not 
speak. 

He  knelt  beside  Kitty,  and  pressed  his  lips  on  her 
hand,  and  her  gentle  fingers  answered  his  caress.  And 
meantime,  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  in  the  skilful  hands  of 
Lizavyeta  Petrovna,  Uke  the  small,  uncertain  flame  of  a 
lamp,  flickered  the  life  of  a  human  being,  which  just 


a70  ANNA   KARENINA 

before  had  not  been,  and'  which  with  every  right  and 
every  responsibility  would  live,  and  propagate  its  kind. 

"  He  lives,  he  lives !  Yes,  it  is  a  boy !  Don't  be 
worried,"  Levin  heard  Lizavyeta's  voice  saying,  while 
with  a  trembling  hand  she  slapped  the  little  one's  back. 

"  Mamma,  is  it  true  ?  "  asked  Kitty. 

And  the  princess's  sobs  answered  her. 

And  amid  the  silence,  Hke  an  indubitable  answer  to 
the  young  mother's  questions,  was  heard  a  voice,  abso- 
lutely different  from  the  subdued  voices  speaking  in  the 
room.  It  was  the  bold,  decided,  imperious,  almost  im- 
pertinent cry  of  the  new  human  being,  which  had  come 
whence  no  one  knew. 

Just  before,  if  Levin  had  been  told  that  Kitty  was 
dead,  that  he  himself  had  died  with  her,  and  that  their 
children  were  angels,  and  that  they  were  all  in  the  pres- 
ence of  God,  he  would  not  have  been  surprised.  And 
now  that  he  had  come  back  to  reality,  it  took  a  prodig- 
ious effort  of  thought  to  comprehend  that  his  wife  was 
alive,  that  she  was  doing  well,  and  that  this  desperately 
screeching  creature  was  his  son.  Kitty  was  saved,  her 
suffering  was  passed,  and  he  was  inexpressibly  happy. 
That  he  could  understand,  and  it  made  him  happy ;  but 
the  child  !  Whence.-'  Why.?  What  was  it .-'....  He  could 
not  wont  himself  to  the  thought  of  it.  It  seemed  to  him 
somehow  too  much,  too  overwhelming ;  and  it  was  long 
before  he  became  accustomed  to  it. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

The  old  Prince  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  and  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch  met  at  Levin's  the  next  morning,  about  ten 
o'clock,  and  after  they  talked  about  the  little  mother, 
they  began  to  converse  about  irrelevant  topics.  Levin 
listened  to  them,  and  involuntarily  remembering  what 
had  taken  place,  what  had  been  going  on  that  morning, 
he  also  remembered  what  he  himself  had  been  but  a 
few  hours  before. 

It  was  as  if  a  hundred  years  had  passed  since  then. 


ANNA    KARENINA  471 

He  felt  that  he  was  on  some  unattainable  height  from 
which  he  endeavored  to  descend  to  their  level,  that  he 
might  not  offend  those  with  whom  he  was  talking.  While 
talking  about  indifferent  things,  he  was  thinking  of  his 
wife,  of  the  state  of  her  health,  and  of  his  son,  to  the 
idea  of  whose  existence  he  was  trying  to  accustom  him- 
self. The  whole  world  of  womanhood,  which  had  taken 
on  a  new  and  incomprehensible  significance  to  him,  even 
after  his  itiarriage,  occupied  such  a  lofty  place,  that  he 
could  not  begin  to  realize  it.  He  heard  the  men  talking 
about  their  dinner  at  the  club ;  but  he  was  thinking, 
"What  is  she  doing  now.?  Is  she  asleep.?  How  is 
she  ?  What  is  in  her  mind }  Is  the  son  Dmitri  cry- 
ing.-"' And,  in  the  midst  of  the  conversation,  in  the 
midst  of  a  sentence,  he  sprang  up,  and  left  the  room. 

"  Send  word  down  if  I  may  see  her,"  said  the  old  prince. 

"Very  good....  I  will  at  once,"  replied  Levin,  and 
without  pausing  he  went  to  her  room. 

She  was  not  asleep,  but  was  softly  talking  with  her 
mother,  making  plans  about  the  christening. 

With  clean  clothes  and  with  her  hair  brushed,  she 
lay  comfortably  arranged  in  bed,  with  her  hands  rest- 
ing on  the  counterpane,  and  a  mob-cap  with  blue  rib- 
bons on  her  head,  and  as  her  eyes  met  his  she  drew 
him  to  her  by  their  look.  Her  face  lighted  up  more  and 
more  brightly  as  he  approached  her.  There  was  in  it 
that  change  from  the  earthly  to  the  superhuman  calm 
which  one  sees  in  death,  but,  instead  of  a  farewell,  she 
welcomed  him  to  a  new  life.  Again  an  emotion,  like 
that  which  he  had  felt  during  her  agony,  seized  his 
heart.  She  took  his  hand,  and  asked  him  if  he  had 
slept. 

He  could  not  answer,  but  turned  his  head  away,  yield- 
ing to  his  weakness. 

"  I  have  had  a  nap,  Kostia,"  she  said;  "  and  I  feel  so 
well  now." 

She  looked  at  him,  and  suddenly  the  expression  of 
her  face  changed.     She  heard  her  baby  cry. 

"  Give  him  to  me,  Lizavyeta  f  etrovna,  and  let  me 
show  him  to  his  father,"  she  said. 


272  ANNA   KARENINA 

"There,  now,  let  papa  look,"  said  Lizavyeta  Petrovna, 
taking  up  and  exhibiting  something  red,  strange,  and 
wobbling.  "  Wait,  we  must  change  it  first,"  and  Liza- 
vyeta Petrovna  deposited  this  red  and  wobbling  some- 
thing on  the  bed,  and  proceeded  to  unswathe  it  and 
then  swathe  it  again,  lifting  and  turning  it  over  with  one 
finger,  and  shaking  some  kind  of  powder  over  it. 

Levin,  as  he  looked  at  the  poor  little  bit  of  humanity, 
tried  in  vain  to  discover  within  his  soul  some  pat-ernal  senti- 
ments toward  it.  His  only  feeling  was  one  of  repulsion  ; 
but  when  they  took  off  its  things,  and  he  saw  its  little  tiny 
delicate  arms  and  legs,  still  saffron-colored,  and  its  still 
tinier  fingers,  and  even  a  thumb  differentiated  from  the 
others,  and  when  he  saw  Lizavyeta  Petrovna  handling 
its  little,  waving  arms,  just  as  if  they  were  delicate 
springs,  and  putting  them  into  linen  garments,  such  pity 
seized  him,  and  such  terror  lest  she  should  hurt  it,  that 
he  made  a  gesture  to  stop  her. 

Lizavyeta  Petrovna  laughed. 

"  Never  fear,  never  fear,"  she  said. 

When  the  child  was  dressed,  and  metamorphosed  into 
a  regular  doll,  Lizavyeta  Petrovna  tossed  him  up  and 
down,  as  if  proud  of  her  work,  and  held  him  off  so  that 
Levin  might  see  his  son  in  all  his  beauty. 

Kitty,  not  taking  her  eyes  from  him,  was  alarmed. 

"  Give  him  to  me,  give  him  to  me,"  she  cried  ;  and 
she  even  Ufted  herself  up. 

"  But,  Katerina  Aleksandrovna,  you  must  know  that 
any  such  motions  are  forbidden.  Be  patient;  I  will 
give  him  to  you.  But  we  must  let  papasha  see  what  a 
fine  young  man  we  are." 

And  Lizavyeta  Petrovna  handed  to  Levin  with  one 
hand  —  the  other  supported  the  Hmp  occiput  —  this 
strange,  weak,  red  creature,  whose  head  fell  limply  on 
its  swaddling-clothes.  All  that  was  to  be  seen  of  it  was  a 
nose,  a  pair  of  eyes  that  looked  in  two  directions,  and 
smacking  lips. 

" Prekrasmd  rebyonok  —  a  splendid  baby,"  said  Liza- 
vyeta Petrovna. 

Levin   drew  a  deep   breath  of   mortification.      This 


•  ANNA    KARENINA  273 

splendid  baby  inspired  him  only  with  a  feeling  of  pity 
and  disgust.  It  was  not  at  all  the  feeling  that  he 
expected. 

He  turned  away  while  the  nurse  placed  it  in  Kitty's 
arms.  Suddenly  a  laugh  caused  him  to  raise  his  head. 
It  was  Kitty  who  laughed ;  the  baby  had  taken  the 
breast. 

"There!  that's  enough,  that's  enough,"  said  Liza- 
vyeta  Petrovna ;  but  Kitty  would  not  let  go  of  her  son, 
who  had  gone  to  sleep  on  her  arm. 

"  Look  at  him  now,"  said  she,  turning  the  child  so 
that  his  father  might  see  him.  The  little  old  face  sud- 
denly grew  still  more  wrinkled,  and  the  child  sneezed. 

Levin,  smiling  and  hardly  able  to  restrain  his  tears 
of  tenderness,  kissed  his  wife,  and  left  the  room. 

The  feelings  which  this  little  being  awakened  in  him 
were  entirely  different  from  what  he  had  expected! 
There  was  neither  pride  nor  joy  in  the  feeling,  but 
rather  a  new  and  painful  fear.  It  was  the  consciousness 
that  he  had  become  vulnerable  in  a  new  way.  And  this 
consciousness  at  first  was  so  acute,  his  fear  lest  this  poor, 
defenseless  creature  might  suffer  was  so  poignant,  that 
it  drowned  the  strange  feeling  of  thoughtless  joy,  and 
even  pride,  that  rose  in  his  heart  when  the  infant 
sneezed. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

The  affairs  of  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  reached  a 
critical  stage. 

The  money  brought  by  the  sale  of  two-thirds  of  the 
timber  had  long  ago  been  spent,  and  he  had  obtained 
from  the  merchant  at  a  discount  of  ten  per  cent  a  large 
part  of  the  remaining  third  in  advance.  Now  the  mer- 
chant would  not  advance  anything  more ;  as  Dolly,  for 
the  first  time  in  her  life  asserting  her  rights  to  her  per- 
sonal property,  had  refused  her  signature  to  the  contract 
when  it  was  proposed  to  give  a  receipt  for  the  sale  of 
the  last  third  of  the  wood.     All  the  salary  was  used  up 


174  ANNA    KARENINA  * 

for  household  expenses,  and  for  the  payment  of  unavoid- 
able debts.     There  was  absolutely  no  money  to  be  had. 

It  was  disagreeable  and  awkward,  and  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch  felt  that  it  ought  not  to  be  continued.  The  reason  of 
it,  in  his  opinion,  lay  in  the  fact  that  he  got  too  small  a 
salary.  The  place  which  he  held  had  been  very  good 
five  years  before,  but  it  was  so  no  longer.  Petrof,  the 
director  of  a  bank,  got  twelve  thousand ;  Sventitsky,  a 
member  of  the  Council,  got  seventeen  thousand ;  Mitin, 
the  head  of  a  bank,  got  fifty  thousand. 

"Apparently  I  have  been  asleep,  and  they  have  for- 
gotten me,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  to  himself ;  and 
he  began  to  keep  his  eyes  and  ears  open  ;  and  at  the 
end  of  the  winter  he  discovered  a  very  good  place,  and 
matured  his  attack  upon  it,  beginning  at  Moscow  through 
his  uncles,  his  aunts,  and  his  friends,  and  then,  when 
the  time  seemed  ripe  in  the  spring,  he  himself  went 
down  to  Petersburg. 

It  was  one  of  those  lucrative  sinecure  places  which 
nowadays  are  found,  varying  in  importance,  worth  any« 
where  from  looo  to  50,000  rubles  a  year.  This  place 
was  in  the  Commission  of  the  Consolidated  Agency  for 
the  Mutual  Credit-Balance  of  the  Southern  Railway 
and  Banking  Establishments.  This  place,  like  all  such 
places,  required  at  once  such  varied  talents  and  such 
extraordinary  activity,  that  it  was  hard  to  find  them  united 
in  one  person ;  but  since  it  was  hopeless  to  find  any  one 
with  all  these  qualities,  it  was  certainly  better  that  the  man 
put  in  should  be  an  honest  rather  than  a  dishonest  man. 

Now  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  an  honest  man  in 
every  sense  of  the  term ;  for  in  Moscow  the  word  chest- 
nui,  meaning  honest,  has  two  significations,  depending 
on  its  accent.  They  speak  of  an  honest  agent,  an  honest 
writer,  an  honest  journal,  an  honest  institution ;  and  it 
means  not  only  that  men  or  institutions  are  not  dishonest, 
but  that  they  know  how  to  adapt  themselves  to  circum- 
stances. Stepan  Arkadyevitch  belonged  in  Moscow  to 
that  class  of  people  who  used  that  convenient  word ; 
and,  as  he  passed  for  honest,  he  therefore  felt  that  he 
had  a  better  right  than  any  one  else  to  that  place. 


ANNA    KARENINA 


275 


This  place  was  worth  from  7000  to  10,000  rubles  a 
year ;  and  Oblonsky  could  accept  this  position,  and  not 
resign  his  present  duties.  Everything  depended  on  two 
ministers,  a  lady,  and  two  Jews ;  and,  although  they 
were  ready  to  grant  what  he  wished,  he  had  to  go  to 
Petersburg  to  solicit  their  aid.  Moreover,  he  faithfully 
promised  Anna  that  he  would  obtain  from  Karenin  a 
decisive  answer  about  the  divorce,  and,  having  extorted 
fifty  rubles  from  Dolly,  he  set  out  for  Petersburg. 

Sitting  in  Karenin's  library  and  hstening  to  his  ex- 
position of  a  project  for  reforming  the  status  of  Russian 
finance,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  waited  as  patiently  as  he 
could  till  he  might  put  in  a  word  about  his  personal 
affairs  and  about  Anna. 

"  Yes !  That  is  very  true,"  said  he,  when  Alekse'f 
Aleksandrovitch  took  off  the  pince-nez  without  which 
he  could  not  read  now,  and  looked  inquiringly  at  his 
brother-in-law  ;  "  that  is  very  true  in  detail ;  but  never- 
theless, the  leading  principle  of  our  age  is  liberty." 

"  Yes,  but  I  advocate  another  principle  which  embraces 
freedom,"  replied  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch,  accenting 
the  word  "  embraces,"  and  putting  on  his  pince-nez  to 
read  over  the  passage  where  he  had  said  that  very 
thing. 

And,  turning  over  the  pages  of  his  elegantly  written 
manuscript,  with  its  wide  margins,  he  again  read  the 
concluding  paragraph :  — 

"  *  For  if  I  sustain  the  protectionist  system,  it  is  not 
for  the  advantage  of  private  individuals,  but  for  the 
general  good,  for  all  classes  alike,  both  low  and  high  ; ' 
and  it  is  that  which  they  will  not  understand,"  added 
he,  looking  over  his  pince-nez  at  Oblonsky,  "  absorbed  as 
they  are  in  their  personal  interests,  and  so  easily  satisfied 
with  phrases." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  knew  that  when  Karenin  began 
to  speak  of  what  was  said  and  done  by  those  who  were 
opposed  to  his  views,  and  who  were  the  source  of  all 
evil  in  Russia,  he  was  nearing  the  end ;  and  so  he  will- 
ingly renounced  his  "principle  of  liberty,"  and  agreed 
with  him.     Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  came  to  a  pause, 


276  ANNA   KARENINA 

and  turned  over  the  leaves  of  his  manuscript  with  a 
thoughtful  air. 

"  Oh,  by  the  way,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, "  I  wanted 
to  ask  you,  in  case  you  should  meet  Pomorsky,  to  say  a 
little  word  to  him  for  me ;  that  I  should  very  much  like 
to  be  appointed  a  member  of  the  Commission  of  the 
Combined  Agencies  of  the  Mutual  Credit-Balance  of 
the  Railways  of  the  South."  To  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
the  name  ^  of  this  positfon  which  was  so  dear  to  his 
heart  was  already  very  familiar,  and  he  could  rattle  it 
off  with  great  rapidity  and  without  making  a  mistake. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  asked  what  the  functions  of 
this  new  commission  were  to  be,  and  then  he  reflected. 
It  seemed  to  him  that  the  existence  of  this  commission 
was  directly  opposed  to  his  projects  of  reform.  But  as 
the  operations  of  this  commission  were  very  complicated, 
and  his  own  projects  of  reform  occupied  a  very  vast 
field,  he  felt  that  he  could  not  settle  this  question  at  a 
glance,  and,  taking  off  his  pince-nez,  he  said  :  — 

"  Without  doubt  I  could  speak  to  him ;  but  why  are 
you  especially  desirous  to  have  this  place  }  " 

"  The  salary  is  good,  —  nine  thousand  rubles,  —  and 
my  means....  " 

"  Nine  thousand  rubles  !  "  repeated  AlekseY  Aleksan- 
drovitch, and  he  frowned.  The  high  emolument  of  this 
position  reminded  him  that  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's  sup- 
posititious function  was  directly  opposed  to  the  principal 
feature  of  his  projects,  which  always  inclined  to  economy. 

"  I  believe,  and  I  show  in  my  pamphlet,  that  in  our 
day  these  enormous  salaries  are  signs  of  the  defective- 
ness of  the  economic  assiette  of  our  administration." 

"  Yes  ;  but  what  would  you  have  .■' "  said  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch.  "  Now  let  us  see  !  A  bank  director  gets 
ten  thousand,  he  is  worth  it ;  or  an  engineer  gets  twenty 
thousand.     These  are  not  sinecures." 

"  I  opine  that  salaries  are  payments  for  merchandise, 
and  ought  to  be  subject  to  the  law  of  supply  and  demand. 
If  salaries  are  not  subject  to  this  law, — if,  for  example, 

^  Chlen  komissii  ot  soyedinennava  agensiva  kreditno-vzaimnava  balansa 
yuzhno-zheleznuikh  dorog. 


ANNA    KARENINA  277 

I  see  two  engineers  of  equal  capacity,  having  pursued 
the  same  studies  at  the  institute,  one  receiving  forty 
thousand  rubles,  while  the  other  contents  himself  with 
two  thousand ;  or  if  I  see  a  hussar,  who  has  no  special 
knowledge,  become  director  of  a  bank  with  a  phenomenal 
salary,  I  conclude  that  these  salaries  are  fixed,  not  in 
accordance  with  the  law  of  supply  and  demand,  but  by 
sheer  partiality.  And  so,  here  is  an  abuse,  great  in  itself 
and  disastrous  in  its  influence  on  the  imperial  service.  I 
opine....  " 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  made  haste  to  interrupt  his 
brother-in-law :  — 

"  Yes,  but  you  agree  that  a  new  and  undoubtedly 
useful  institution  has  been  opened.  It 's  a  live  thing, 
and  it  is  certainly  worth  while  to  have  it  conducted 
honestly,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  emphasizing  the 
adjective. 

But  the  Muscovite  signification  of  the  adjective  had 
no  force  for  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch. 

"  Honesty  is  only  negative  merit,"  he  replied. 

"  But  you  will  do  me  a  great  favor,  nevertheless,"  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  "  if  you  will  speak  a  little  word 

to  Pomorsky When  you  happen  to  meet  him,  you 

know." 

"  Yes,  certainly ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  this  depends 
more  on  Bolgarinof,"  said  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch. 

"Bolgarinof  on  his  part  is  well  disposed,"  said  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  reddening.  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  red- 
dened at  the  remembrance  of  Bolgarinof,  because  that 
very  morning  he  had  been  at  the  Jew's  house,  and  this 
visit  had  remained  as  an  unpleasant  recollection. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  knew  perfectly  well  that  the 
commission  of  which  he  wished  to  become  a  member 
was  a  new,  important,  and  honorable  enterprise ;  but 
that  morning,  when  Bolgarinof,  evidently  with  malice 
prepense,  kept  him  with  other  petitioners  waiting  in  his 
reception-room  for  two  hours,  the  whole  affair  became 
awkward  to  him. 

Whether  it  was  awkward  to  him  that  he,  a  descendant 
of  Rurik,  a  Prince  Oblonsky,  had  to  wait  two  hours  in 


278  ANNA    KARENINA 

the  Jew's  reception-room,  or  because  he,  for  the  first 
time  in  his  Hfe,  was  not  following  the  example  of  his 
ancestors  in  serving  the  government,  but  had  got  into  a 
new  field,  at  all  events  it  was  awkward. 

During  these  two  hours  of  waiting  at  Bolgarinof's, 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  briskly  walking  up  and  down 
through  the  reception-room,  smoothing  his  side  whiskers, 
occasionally  entering  into  conversation  with  the  other 
petitioners,  and  trying  to  work  out  a  pun  on  his  long 
waiting  at  the  Jew's,  diligently  concealed  from  the 
others,  and  also  from  himself,  the  trying  feeling.  But 
all  that  time  he  felt  awkward  and  annoyed,  he  did  not 
know  why ;  it  was  either  because  he  had  not  succeeded 
very  well  with  his  pun  on  the  word  Jew  —  how  he  had 
to  cheiv  1  on  the  cud  of  expectation  —  or  for  some  other 
reason. 

When  at  last  Bolgarinof,  with  excessive  humility,  re- 
ceived him,  evidently  triumphing  in  his  humiliation,  and 
almost  refused  his  request,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  made 
haste  to  forget  it  all.  But  now,  remembering  it  again, 
he  reddened  with  shame. 

CHAPTER   XVIII 

"  Now,  I  have  yet  one  more  thing  to  talk  over  with 
you ;  and  you  know  what  it  is  about,  —  Anna,"  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  after  a  moment's  silence,  and 
shaking  off  these  disagreeable  memories. 

When  Oblonsky  spoke  Anna's  name,  Karenin's  face 
entirely  changed ;  in  place  of  its  former  vivacity  it  took 
on  an  expression  of  corpse-like  rigidity  and  weariness. 

"What  more  do  you  want  of  me.'"'  said  he,  turning 
about  on  his  arm-chair,  and  shutting  his  pince-nez. 

"  A  decision  ....  some  sort  of  a  decision,  Aleksei  Alek- 
sandrovitch.  I  address  you,  not  as....  "  he  was  going  to 
say  "  a  deceived  husband,"  but  fearing  it  might  hurt  his 
cause  he  stopped,  and  substituted  with  little  appropriate- 
ness, "not  as  a  statesman,  but  simply  as  a  man,  and  a  good 
man  and  a  Christian.     You  ought  to  have  pity  on  her." 

1  "  Builo  dyelo  do-ZAida  i  ya  dozhidaAsA." 


ANNA   KARENINA  279 

"In  what  way  could  I,  properly?"  asked  Karenin, 
quietly. 

"  Yes,  have  pity  upon  her.  If  you  saw  her  as  I  do,  ■ — 
I  have  seen  her  all  winter,  —  you  would  pity  her.  Her 
position  is  cruel." 

"  I  thought,"  said  Karenin,  suddenly,  in  a  piercing, 
almost  whining  voice,  "  that  Anna  Arkadyevna  had 
obtained  all  that  she  wished." 

"Oh!  Aleksel"  Aleksandrovitch,  for  God's  sake,  let  us 
not  make  recriminations.  What  is  past  is  past ;  and 
you  know  what  she  is  now  waiting  for  and  hoping  for  is 
....  the  divorce." 

"  But  I  understood,  that  in  case  I  kept  my  son,  Anna 
Arkadyevna  refused  the  divorce  ;  and  so  my  silence  was 
equivalent  to  a  reply,  and  I  thought  the  question  settled. 
I  consider  it  settled,"  said  he,  with  more  and  more 
warmth. 

"  For  God's  sake  don't  get  angry,"  said  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch,  touching  his  brother-in-law's  knee.  "This 
question  is  not  settled.  If  you  will  allow  me  to  recapit- 
ulate, the  affair  stands  thus :  When  you  separated,  you 
were  as  great,  as  magnanimous,  as  was  possible  to  be. 
You  granted  her  everything ....  her  freedom,  even  a 
divorce  if  she  wanted  one.  She  appreciated  it.  No, 
you  don't  think  so ;  but  she  appreciated  it  absolutely,  — 
to  such  a  degree  that,  at  first,  feeling  her  guilt  toward 
you,  she  did  not,  she  could  not,  reason  about  it  at  all. 
She  refused  everything.  But  the  reality  and  time  have 
shown  her  that  her  position  is  painful  and  intoler- 
able." 

"Anna  Arkadyevna's  life  cannot  interest  me,"  said 
Karenin,  raising  his  eyebrows. 

"  Permit  me  to  disbelieve  that,"  replied  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch,  gently.  "  Her  position  is  painful  to  her,  and 
without  any  escape  whatever.  She  deserves  it,  you  say. 
She  acknowledges  that,  and  does  not  complain.  She 
says  up  and  down  that  she  should  never  dare  to  ask 
anything  of  you.  But  I,  and  all  of  her  relatives,  all  who 
love  her,  beg  and  implore  you  to  have  pity  on  her. 
Why  should  she  suffer .-^     Whose  advantage  is  it.''" 


28o  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  Excuse  me ;  you  seem  to  accuse  me  of  being  to 
blame." .... 

"  Oh !  not  at  all,  not  at  all,  understand  me,"  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  touching  Karenin's  arm,  as  if  he 
believed  that  personal  contact  would  have  a  mollifying 
effect  on  his  brother-in-law.  "  I  merely  say  this.  Her 
position  is  painful ;  and  you  can  relieve  it,  and  it  will 
not  cost  you  anything.  I  will  so  arrange  the  matter 
that  you  shall  have  no  trouble  about  it.  Besides,  you 
have  promised." 

"  My  consent  has  been  already  given ;  and  I  had 
supposed  that  the  question  of  our  son  had  decided  the 
matter.  Besides,  I  hoped  that  Anna  Arkadyevna  would 
in  her  turn  have  the  generosity  to  understand  ...."  his 
trembling  lips  could  hardly  utter  the  words,  and  he 
turned  pale. 

"  She  leaves  all  to  your  magnanimity.  She  asks,  she 
implores,  for  only  one  thing  —  to  be  relieved  from  this 
unendurable  position  in  which  she  finds  herself.  She 
asks  for  her  son.  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  you  are  a 
good  man.  Just  enter  for  a  moment  into  her  feelings. 
The  question  of  the  divorce  is  for  her  a  matter  of  Hfe  or 
death.  If  you  had  not  given  your  promise,  she  would 
have  been  resigned  to  her  situation,  and  lived  in  the 
country.  But  you  did  give  your  promise ;  and  she 
wrote  you,  and  came  to  Moscow.  And  there  in  Mos- 
cow, where  every  familiar  face  was  a  knife  in  her  heart, 
she  has  been  living  for  six  months,  every  day  expect- 
ing an  answer.  Her  situation  is  that  of  a  condemned 
criminal,  who  for  months  has  had  the  rope  around  his 
neck,  and  does  not  know  whether  he  is  to  expect  par- 
don or  execution.  Pity  her ;  and,  besides,  I  will  take 
care  to  arrange  all....  vos  scrupicles.'"  .... 

"  I  am  not  speaking  of  that,  not  of  that .... "  said 
Alekse'f  Aleksandrovitch,  with  some  disgust ;  "  but  per- 
haps I  promised  more  than  I  had  the  right  to  promise." 

"  Then,  you  refuse  to  do  what  you  have  promised  }  "  .... 

"  I  never  refused  to  do  all  that  I  could ;  but  I  must 
have  time  to  consider  how  far  what  I  promised  is  per- 
missible." 


ANNA   KARENINA  281 

"  No,  Aleksel'  Aleksandrovitch,"  said  Oblonsky,  leap- 
ing to  his  feet,  "  I  do  not  wish  to  believe  this.  She  is 
as  unhappy  as  it  is  possible  for  a  woman  to  be ;  and 
you  cannot  refuse  such  ,..." 

"How  far  what  I  promised  is  permissible  ?  Vous 
professez  d'etre  un  libre  penseur;  but  I,  as  a  believer, 
cannot  defy  the  law  of  Christianity  in  a  matter  so 
important." 

"  But  in  Christian  communities,  and  here  in  Russia, 
divorce  is  permitted,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  "  Di- 
vorce is  permitted  by  our  Church,  and  we  see ...." 

"  Permitted,  but  not  in  this  sense." 

"  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  I  don't  know  you,"  said 
Oblonsky,  after  a  moment's  silence.  "  You  are  not  the 
same  man  you  were.  Did  you  not  forgive  all  .-•.... and  did 
we  not  appreciate  your  magnanimity ,-' ....  were  you  not 
moved  by  genuine  Christian  feeling.?  Weren't  you 
ready  to  sacrifice  everything .-'  You  yourself  said,  *  If 
any  man  will  take  away  thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak 
also.'     And  now...." 

"  I  beg  of  you,"  said  Karenin,  rising  suddenly,  and 
turning  pale,  and  with  a  trembling  jaw,  "  I  beg  of  you," 
he  said,  in  a  high-pitched  voice,  "to  cut  short,  to  cut 
short  this  conversation  !  " 

"  Oh,  well,  pardon  me,  pardon  me,  if  I  have  offended 
you !  "  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  in  confusion,  holding 
out  his  hand ;  "  but  I  had  to  fulfil  the  mission  I  was 
charged  with." 

Aleksei"  Aleksandrovitch  gave  him  his  hand,  and  said, 
after  a  moment's  reflection  :  — 

"  I  must  have  time  to  think  about  it,  and  seek  for 
light.  You  shall  have  my  final  answer  day  after  to- 
morrow." 

CHAPTER   XIX 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  was  going  out,  when  Kornef 
came  in,  and  announced,  "  Sergyeif  Alekseyevitch." 

"Who  is  Sergyei  Alekseyevitch.?"  Oblonsky  began 
to  ask,  but  in  an  instant  he  remembered. 


282  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Oh,  Serozha  ! "  he  exclaimed ;  "  and  here  was  I, 
thinking  it  was  some  direktor  of  a  department,"  he  said 
to  himself.     "  Anna  begged  me  to  see  him." 

And  he  recalled  the  sad,  timid  expression  with  which, 
as  he  left  her,  Anna  had  said  to  him,  "  You  will  see 
him,  and  can  find  out  what  he  is  doing,  and  where  he  is, 
and  who  is  taking  care  of  him.  And,  Stiva ....  if  possi- 
ble !     Would  it  be  possible  .''  "  .... 

He  knew  what  she  meant  by  the  words,  "  if  possible  "  ; 
if  it  were  possible  to  get  the  divorce,  so  as  to  have  her 
son.  But  now  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  knew  that  this  was 
out  of  the  question.  He  was  none  the  less  glad  to  see 
his  nephew  again. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  reminded  his  brother-in-law 
that  he  must  not  talk  to  him  of  his  mother,  and  begged 
him  not  even  by  a  word  to  remind  him  of  her. 

"  He  was  very  ill  after  that  interview  with  his  mother, 
which  we  were  not  prepared  for,"  said  Aleksei  Aleksan- 
drovitch, "  and  for  a  while  we  feared  for  his  life.  But 
sensible  medical  treatment  and  sea-bathing  in  the  sum- 
mer restored  him  to  health,  and  I  have  followed  the 
doctor's  advice,  and  sent  him  to  school.  Activity,  being 
with  companions  of  his  own  age,  have  had  a  happy  influ- 
ence on  him;  his  health  is  good,  and  he  is  studying 
well." 

"  Why,  he  's  become  quite  a  young  man !  he  is  no  longer 
Serozha;  he  is  full-grown  Sergyel  Alekseyevitch,"  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  with  a  smile,  as  a  handsome,  tall, 
robust  boy,  dressed  in  a  kurtotchka,  or  jacket,  and  long 
trousers,  came  in  briskly  and  without  constraint.  The  boy 
had  a  look  of  sound  health  and  good  spirits.  He  bowed 
to  his  uncle  as  to  a  stranger.  Then,  as  he  remembered 
him,  he  reddened,  and,  as  if  offended  and  angry  at  some- 
thing, turned  away,  and  handed  his  school  report  to  his 
father. 

"  Well,  that  is  excellent,"  said  Karenin ;  "  now  you 
may  go  and  play." 

"  He  has  grown  tall  and  slender,  and  lost  his  childish 
look  and  become  a  real  boy  ;  I  like  it,"  remarked  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch,  with  a  smile.     *'  Do  you  remember  rae  ? " 


ANNA   KARENINA  283 

The  boy  quickly  glanced  at  his  father. 

"  I  remember  you,  mononcle,''  answered  the  boy,  look- 
ing at  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  and  then  casting  down  his 
eyes. 

The  uncle  called  the  lad  to  him,  and  took  his  hand. 
"  Well,  how  are  you  .■* "  he  asked,  wanting  to  talk,  but 
not  knowing  what  to  say. 

The  boy,  blushing,  and  not  answering,  hastily  with- 
drew his  hand,  and,  as  soon  as  his  uncle  had  released  it, 
flew  away  like  a  bird  set  free. 

A  year  had  passed  since  Serozha  had  seen  his  mother 
for  the  last  time.  During  this  time  he  had  not  even 
heard  anything  about  her.  He  had  been  sent  to  school, 
and  had  become  acquainted  with  boys  of  his  own  age, 
and  learned  to  like  them.  His  dreams  and  recollections 
about  his  mother,  which  after  his  interview  with  her  had 
made  him  ill,  now  no  longer  occupied  his  mind.  When 
they  recurred  to  him  he  even  tried  to  get  rid  of  them, 
regarding  them  as  disgraceful  for  a  boy  and  fit  only 
for  girls ;  he  knew  that  his  parents  had  quarreled  and 
parted,  and  that  he  must  accustom  himself  to  the  idea  of 
remaining  with  his  father. 

The  sight  of  his  uncle,  who  looked  like  his  mother, 
was  unpleasant  to  him,  because  it  awakened  memories 
which  caused  him  shame ;  and  it  was  still  more  unpleas- 
ant, because,  from  certain  words  which  he  had  caught 
as  he  entered  the  door,  and  by  the  peculiar  expression 
of  his  father's  and  his  uncle's  faces,  he  knew  that  they 
were  talking  about  his  mother.  And  so  as  not  to  blame 
his  father,  with  whom  he  lived  and  on  whom  he  was 
dependent,  and  especially  so  as  not  to  give  way  to  a  sen- 
timent which  he  felt  was  too  degrading,  he  tried  not  to 
look  at  his  uncle,  who  had  come  to  disturb  his  tranquil- 
lity, and  not  to  think  of  the  past. 

But  when,  shortly  after,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  went 
out,  he  found  the  boy  on  the  stairs,  and  he  called  him  to 
him,  and  asked  him  how  he  spent  bis  spare  time,  now 
that  he  was  at  school.  Serozha,  out  of  his  father's  pres- 
ence, talked  freely. 

"We  have  a  railroad  now,"  he  said,  in  answer  to  his 


284  ANNA    KARENINA 

question.  "  Just  see !  These  two  are  sitting  on  the 
seat ;  they  are  passengers ;  and  there  is  one  man  trying 
to  stand  on  the  seat ;  and  they  are  all  going,  and  by 
means  of  our  arms  and  our  belts  we  go  through  the 
whole  length  of  the  hall,  and  the  doors  open  in  front. 
And  I  tell  you  it's  very  hard  here  for  the  conductor." 

"Is  that  the  one  standing.-*"  asked  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch,  amused. 

"Yes.  He  has  to  be  bold  and  skilful,  because  the 
train  comes  to  a  very  sudden  stop,  and  he  might  get 
thrown  over." 

"Well,  that  is  no  joke,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
sadly,  as  he  looked  at  the  boy's  bright  eyes,  which  were 
like  his  mother's,  and  which  had  already  lost  their  child- 
ish look  of  innocence.  And,  although  he  had  promised 
AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch  not  to  speak  of  Anna,  he  could 
not  resist. 

"  Do  you  remember  your  mother  ? "  he  asked  suddenly. 

"No,  I  do  not,"  Serozha  answered  quickly,  turning 
red  ;  and  his  uncle  could  not  make  him  talk  any  more. 

When  the  Russian  tutor  found  Serozha  on  the  stairs, 
half  an  hour  after,  he  could  not  make  out  whether  he 
was  crying  or  was  sulky. 

"  Did  you  hurt  yourself  when  you  fell  .■* "  he  asked. 
"  I  said  this  was  a  dangerous  game,  and  I  shall  have  to 
tell  your  father  .-^  " 

"  If  I  had,  no  one  should  find  it  out,"  answered  the  boy. 

"Well,  what 's  the  matter,  then  ? " 

"Let  me  alone !....  What  is  it  to  him  whether  I 
remember  or  not  .-*....  Why  did  he  remind  me  ? ....  Let  me 
be ...."  and  the  boy  seemed  to  defy  not  only  his  tutor, 
but  the  whole  world. 

CHAPTER   XX 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  as  usual,  did  not  waste  his 
time  at  Petersburg.  He  had  not  only  his  business  to 
attend  to  :  his  sister's  divorce  and  his  new  position  to 
look  after ;  but,  moreover,  as  he  said,  to  refresh  himself 
after  musty  Moscow. 


ANNA    KARENINA  285 

« 

For  Moscow,  in  spite  of  its  caf^s-c/iantants,  and  its 
omnibuses,  was  still  only  a  stagnant  marsh.  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  always  felt  that  this  was  so.  Living  in 
Moscow,  especially  in  proximity  to  his  family,  he  was 
conscious  that  his  spirit  flagged.  When  his  life  in 
Moscow  was  long  unbroken  by  a  trip  to  Petersburg, 
he  even  began  to  be  annoyed  by  his  wife's  bad  temper 
and  reproaches,  and  to  worry  over  his  health,  the  educa- 
tion of  his  children,  and  the  petty  details  of  the  house- 
hold. He  even  went  so  far  as  to  be  disturbed  about  his 
debts. 

As  soon  as  he  set  foot  in  Petersburg,  and  entered 
that  circle  where  life  was  really  life,  and  not  vegetat- 
ing, as  in  Moscow,  immediately  all  such  thoughts  dis- 
appeared like  wax  in  the  fire. 

His  wife.'' ....  He  had  just  been  talking  with  Prince 
Chetchensky.  Prince  Chetchensky  had  a  wife  and  fam- 
ily, —  grown-up  boys,  pages  now ;  and  he  had  another 
establishment,  outside  the  law,  and  in  this  also  there 
were  children.  But,  though  the  first  family  was  well 
enough  in  its  way.  Prince  Chetchensky  felt  happier 
with  his  second  family ;  and  he  had  introduced  his  old- 
est legitimate  son  into  his  other  family ;  he  told  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch  he  considered  it  a  good  way  to  train  him 
and  develop  him.  What  would  have  been  said  about 
that  in  Moscow .'' 

Children  .''  In  Petersburg,  fathers  did  n't  trouble  them- 
selves with  their  children.  Children  were  educated  in 
institutions,  and  there  was  no  sign  of  that  crazy  notion 
in  vogue  in  Moscow  —  Lvof  shared  in  it  —  that  children 
should  have  all  the  luxuries,  and  their  parents  nothing 
but  care  and  trouble. 

The  government  service }  The  service,  too,  was  not 
that  tiresome,  hopeless  treadmill  that  it  was  in  Mos- 
cow. Here  there  was  interest  in  the  service.  Meetings 
with  men  in  authority,  mutual  services,  opportune  words 
spoken,  the  knowledge  of  how  to  take  advantage  of 
chances  —  and  a  man  might  suddenly  find  himself  high 
in  his  career,  like  Brianzef,  whom  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
met  that  evening,  and  who  was  now  a  leading  dignitary 


?86  ANNA    KARENINA 

Yes,  there  was  something  interesting  in  the  service 
here. 

The  Petersburg  views  about  money  especially  ap- 
pealed to  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

Bartnyansky,  who  now  spent  at  least  fifty  thousand 
rubles,  judging  by  the  rate  at  which  he  was  living,  made 
a  remark  which  deeply  impressed  him.  Just  before 
dinner,  as  they  were  talking  together,  Stepan  Arkadye- 
vitch had  said :  — 

"  You  seem  to  have  some  connection  with  Mordvinsky. 
You  might  do  me  a  favor ;  please  say  a  little  word  to 
him  in  my  behalf.  It  is  a  place  which  I  should  like  to 
have,  member  of  the  commission."  .... 

"Well,  I  won't  forget Only  what  pleasure  can  you 

have  in  attending  to  this  railroad  business  with  the 
Jews .?....  Of  course,  if  you  want  it;  but  still  it's  a 
wretched  business." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  did  not  say  to  him  that  it  was 
"no  sinecure."  Bartnyansky  would  not  have  known 
what  he  meant. 

"  I  need  money ;  I  must  have  something  to  live  on." 

♦•  But  don't  you  live,  then  ? " 

"Yes,  but  in  debt." 

"  Much }  "  asked  Bartnyansky,  sympathetically. 

"Yes;  twenty  thousand  rubles." 

Bartnyansky  broke  out  into  a  gay  laugh. 

"  Oh,  happy  man  !  I  have  a  million  and  a  half  of 
debts,  and  not  a  ruble  ;  and,  as  you  see,  I  live  all  the  same." 

And  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  saw  that  this  was  not  mere 
words,  but  was  actually  true.  Zhivakhof  was  in  debt 
three  hundred  thousand,  and  had  not  a  kopek.  Petrov- 
sky  had  spent  five  millions,  and  yet  he  went  on  living 
just  as  before,  and  had  charge  of  the  finances,  and  had 
only  twenty  thousand  salary. 

Petersburg  had  a  delightful  physical  influence  on 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  It  made  him  feel  younger.  In 
Moscow  he  sometimes  detected  gray  hairs,  he  would 
fall  asleep  after  dinner,  it  made  him  breathe  hard  to  go 
up-stairs,  he  was  dull  in  the  company  of  young  women, 
he  no  longer,  danced  at  balls. 


ANNA    KARENINA  287 

At  Petersburg  he  experienced  what  the  sixty-year-old 
Prince  Piotr  Oblonsky,  who  had  just  returned  from 
abroad,  told  him  one  evening  :  — 

"We  don't  know  how  to  live  here,"  said  Piotr  Oblon- 
sky. "  For  example,  I  spent  the  summer  at  Baden, 
and  now,  honestly,  I  feel  like  a  new  man.  I  see  a 
young  woman,  and....  I  enjoy  my  dinner,  I  can  take  my 
wine ;  I  'm  well  and  vigorous.  When  I  come  back  to 
Russia,  I  have  to  see  my  wife,  have  even  to  go  into  the 
country.  You  wouldn't  believe  it,  but  in  a  couple  of 
weeks  I  am  in  my  dressing-gown.  Good-by  to  the 
young  beauties.  I  am  old,  think  only  of  the  salvation 
of  my  soul.     To  make  me  over,  I  go  to  Paris." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  felt  the  same  difference  as  Piotr 
Oblonsky  did.  In  Moscow  he  reached  such  a  low  ebb 
of  vitality  that  he  felt  sure  that,  if  he  ever  attained  the 
same  age,  he  too  should  be  driven  to  thinking  about  the 
salvation  of  his  soul ;  in  Petersburg  he  was  conscious  of 
being  a  well-regulated  man. 

Between  the  Princess  Betsy  Tversky  and  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch there  had  been  for  a  long  time  a  very  strange 
relationship.  He  always  jested  with  her,  and  he  always 
said  very  improper  things  by  way  of  jest,  knowing  that 
they  pleased  her  more  than  anything  else.  The  day 
after  his  interview  with  Karenin,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch 
went  to  see  her  ;  and,  feeling  particularly  young,  he  con- 
ducted himself  with  more  than  his  usual  levity  ;  and 
went  so  far  in  his  impropriety  that  he  could  not  retrieve 
his  steps,  and,  unfortunately,  he  felt  that  she  was  not 
only  displeased,  but  was  even  opposed  to  him.  Yet  this 
tone  had  been  established  because  it  generally  amused 
her.  So  he  was  glad  to  have  the  Princess  Miagkaya 
interrupt  their  tete-a-tete. 

"Ah,  here  you  are ! "  said  she,  when  she  saw  him.  "Well ! 
and  how  is  your  poor  sister }  Do  not  look  at  me  so.  Since 
women  who  are  a  thousand  times  worse  than  she  throw 
stones  at  her,  I  think  she  did  quite  right.  I  can't  forgive 
Vronsky  for  not  letting  me  know  that  she  was  in  Peters- 
burg. I  should  have  gone  to  see  her,  and  gone  with  her 
everywhere.    Give  her  my  love.    Now  tell  m$  about  her." 


288  ANNA    KARENINA 

"Well!  her  position  is  a  very  painful  one;  she...." 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch  began,  in  the  simplicity  of  his 
heart,  taking  the  princess's  words  as  genuine  money, 
when  she  said,  "  Tell  me  about  your  sister."  But  the 
princess,  in  her  usual  way,  interrupted  him,  and  began 
to  talk  herself.  "She  did  what  everybody  but  myself 
does  and  hides.  But  she  was  not  willing  to  lie,  and  she 
did  right ;  and  she  has  at  least  bettered  herself  in  having 
forsaken  that  imbecile,  —  I  beg  your  pardon,  —  your 
brother-in-law.  Everybody  said  he  was  a  genius.  A 
genius !  I  was  the  only  one  who  said  he  was  a  goose  ; 
and  people  have  come  to  be  of  my  opinion,  now  that  he 
has  taken  up  with  the  Countess  Lidia  and  Landau.  I 
should  like  not  to  agree  with  everybody ....  it's  stupid; 
but  this  time  I  can't  help  it." 

"  Now  please  explain  something  to  me,"  said  Stepan 
Arkadyevitch.  "  What  does  this  mean  ?  Yesterday  I 
was  at  his  house,  talking  of  the  divorce,  and  I  asked 
him  for  a  definite  answer ;  my  brother-in-law  said  to  me 
that  he  could  not  give  me  an  answer  without  reflection ; 
and  this  morning  I  received  an  invitation  from  Lidia 
Ivanovna  for  this  evening  instead  of  an  answer." 

"  Now !  That 's  just  it !  "  cried  the  princess,  delighted. 
"They  will  consult  Landau  as  to  what  to  say." 

"  Why  Landau .-'  who  is  Landau  ?  " 

"What!  you  don't  know  Jules  l^andau.... /e  fame  iix 
Jules  Landau,  /e  clairvoyant?  He  also  in  my  opinion 
is  an  imbecile,  but  on  him  depends  your  sister's  fate. 
That 's  what  comes  of  living  in  the  provinces.  Landau, 
you  must  know,  was  coinmis  of  a  mercantile  house  at 
Paris,  and  went  to  see  a  doctor.  He  fell  asleep  in  the 
waiting-room,  and,  while  he  was  asleep,  gave  advice  to 
all  the  sick ....  most  astonishing  advice.  Then  Yuri 
Melyedinsky's  wife — you  know  he  was  sick  —  called 
him  to  see  her  husband.  He  treated  her  husband.  In 
my  opinion,  he  did  n't  do  him  any  good,  for  Melyedinsky 
is  just  as  sick  as  he  was  before ;  but  his  wife  and  he 
believe  in  Landau.  They  took  him  into  their  house, 
and  they  brought  him  to  Russia.  Naturally,  people 
here  have  thrown  themselves  at  him.     He  treats  every- 


ANNA    KARENINA  289 

body.  He  cured  the  Countess  Bezzubof,  and  she  fell  so 
in  love  with  him  that  she  has  adopted  him." 

"How!  adopted  him .'' " 

"  Yes,  adopted  him.  He  is  n't  Landau  any  more,  but 
Count  Bezzubof.  But  Lidia  —  and  I  like  her  very  much, 
in  spite  of  her  crankiness  —  must  needs  be  smitten  with 
him  ;  and  nothing  that  she  and  Aleksei'  Aleksandrovitch 
take  up  is  decided  without  consulting  him.  Your  sister's 
fate  is,  therefore,  in  the  hands  of  this  Count  Bezzubof, 
alias  Landau." 


CHAPTER   XXI 

After  an  excellent  dinner  with  Bartnyansky,  and 
considerable  cognac,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  went  to  the 
Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna's  a  little  later  than  the  hour 
designated. 

"Who  is  with  the  countess.-'....  the  Frenchman.-'"  he 
asked  of  the  Swiss,  as  he  noticed  beside  Aleksei"  Alek- 
sandrovitch's  well-known  overcoat  a  curious  mantle  with 
clasps. 

"Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  Karenin  and  the  Count 
Bezzubof,"  answered  the  servant,  stolidly. 

"Princess  Miagkaya  was  right,"  thought  Oblonsky, 
as  he  went  up-stairs.  "  Strange !  it  would  be  a  good 
thing  to  cultivate  the  countess.  She  has  great  influ- 
ence. If  she  would  say  a  little  word  in  my  behalf  to 
Pomorsky,  it  would  be  just  the  thing." 

It  was  still  very  light  outdoors,  but  the  blinds  were 
drawn  in  the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna's  little  drawing- 
room,  and  the  lamps  were  lighted. 

At  a  round  table,  on  which  was  a  lamp,  the  countess 
and  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  were  sitting,  engaged  in  a 
confidential  talk.  A  short,  lean,  pale  man,  with  knock- 
kneed  legs  and  a  feminine  figure,  with  long  hair  falling 
over  his  coat-collar,  and  handsome,  glowing  eyes,  was 
examining  the  portraits  on  the  wall  at  the  other  end  of 
the  room. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  after  having  greeted  the  coun- 

VOL.  III. — 19 


1^  ANNA    KARENINA 

tess  and  AlekseT  Aleksandrovitch,  involuntarily  turned 
round  to  look  once  more  at  this  singular  personage. 

"Monsieur  Landau,"  said  the  countess,  gently,  and 
with  a  precaution  which  struck  Oblonsky.  The  intro- 
duction was  made. 

Landau  hastily  glanced  around,  and  coming  up,  placed 
his  moist,  unresponsive  hand  in  Oblonsky's,  and  im- 
mediately went  back  to  look  at  the  portraits.  Lidia 
Ivanovna  and  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  exchanged  sig- 
nificant glances. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you  to-day,"  said  the  countess 
to  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  motioning  him  to  a  chair. 
"You  noticed,"  added  she,  in  a  low  voice,  glancing  at 
the  Frenchman,  "  that  I  introduced  him  to  you  by  the 
name  of  Landau ;  but  his  name  is  really  Count  Bezzubof, 
as  you  probably  know.  Only  he  is  not  fond  of  the 
title." 

"  Yes,  I  heard  about  it,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch ; 
"  it  is  said  he  perfectly  cured  the  Countess  Bezzubof." 

"  She  came  to  see  me  to-day,"  said  the  countess,  ad- 
dressing Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch,  "and  it  was  sad  to 
see  her.  This  separation  is  terrible  for  her.  It  is  such 
a  blow  to  her." 

"  Then  he  is  positively  going  ?  " 

"Yes;  he  is  going  to  Paris.  Yesterday  he  heard  a 
voice,"  said  Lidia  Ivanovna,  looking  at  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch. 

"  Oh,  a  voice  ? "  repeated  he,  feeling  that  it  was  nec- 
essary to  use  great  prudence  among  these  people,  where 
things  occurred  or  might  occur,  without  his  being  able 
to  explain  them. 

A  moment's  silence  ensued,  at  the  end  of  which  the 
Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna,  as  if  accidentally  stumbling 
on  the  chief  topic  of  their  conversation,  said,  with  a 
sweet  smile,  addressing  Oblonsky  :  — 

"  I  have  known  of  you  for  a  long  time,  and  I  am  de- 
lighted to  make  your  acquaintance.  Les  amis  de  nos 
amis  sont  nos  amis.  But  to  be  truly  friends,  we  must 
know  what  is  passing  in  the  souls  of  those  we  love ;  and 
I  fear  you  do  not  with  regard  to  Aleksef  Aleksandro- 


ANNA   KARENINA  191 

vitch.     You  understand  what  I  mean,"  said  she,  rais- 
ing her  beautiful,  dreamy  eyes. 

"  I  understand  in  part  that  Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch's 
position  ...."  answered  Oblonsky,  not  understanding  very 
well  what  she  was  talking  about,  and  preferring  to  con- 
fine himself  to  generalities. 

"The  change  is  not  in  his  external  position,"  said  the 
countess,  solemnly,  and  at  the  same  time  looking  ten- 
derly at  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch,  who  had  risen  to  join 
Landau;  "it  is  his  heart  which  has  changed,  —  a  new 
heart  has  been  given  to  him,  —  and  I  very  much  fear 
that  you  do  not  realize  sufficiently  the  great  transforma- 
tion which  has  taken  place  in  him." 

"That  is  ....in  a  general  way,  I  can  perceive  the 
change  in  him.  We  have  always  been  friends,  and 
now...."  said  Oblonsky,  answering  the  deep  gaze  of 
the  countess  with  a  tender  one,  as  he  queried  with 
which  of  the  two  ministers  she  could  do  him  the  most 
effective  service. 

"  This  transformation  cannot  diminish  his  love  for  his 
neighbor ;  on  the  contrary,  the  change  which  has  taken 
place  must  increase  love.  But  I  fear  you  don't  under- 
stand me Will  you  not  have  some  tea .'' "  she  asked, 

looking  toward  a  lackey  who  entered  with  a  tea-tray. 

"  Not  altogether,  countess ;  of  course,  his  misfor- 
tune...." 

"  Yes,  he  underwent  a  misfortune,  but  it  became  the 
highest  happiness,  because  his  heart  was  renewed,"  said 
she,  raising  her  eyes  lovingly  to  Stepan  Arkadyevitch. 

"  I  believe  I  shall  have  to  get  her  to  speak  to  them 
both,"  thought  Oblonsky.  "Oh!  assuredly,  countess," 
said  he,  "but  I  think  that  these  changes  are  so  per- 
sonal 1  that  no  one  likes  to  speak  of  them,  even  to  his 
most  intimate  friends." 

"  On  the  contrary,  we  ought  to  speak,  and  to  help 
one  another." 

"  Yes,  without  doubt ;  but  there  are  such  differences 
of  conviction;  and,  moreover...."  and  Oblonsky  smiled 
unctuously. 

1  Intimui. 


292  ANNA   KARENINA 

"There  cannot  be  differences  in  regard  to  sacred 
truth." 

"Oh,  yes,  of  course,  but...." 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  grew  confused,  and  stopped 
speaking.  He  perceived  that  the  countess  was  talking 
about  religion. 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  he  's  going  to  sleep,"  said  Alek- 
self  Aleksandrovitch,  approaching  the  countess,  and 
speaking  in  a  significant  whisper. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  turned  round.  Landau  was 
seated  near  the  window,  with  his  elbow  leaning  on  the 
arm  and  back  of  a  chair,  and  his  head  bowed  as  he  saw 
the  looks  turned  toward  him.  He  raised  his  head  and 
smiled  in  a  naive  and  childlike  manner. 

"  Don't  pay  any  attention  to  him,"  said  the  countess, 
pushing  a  chair  toward  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch.  "  I 
have  noticed ...."  she  began,  but  was  interrupted  by  a 
lackey  bringing  her  a  letter.  She  read  it  through  with 
extraordinary  rapidity,  sent  a  reply,  and  resumed  the 
thread  of  her  discourse.  "  I  have  noticed  that  Musco- 
vites, the  men  especially,  are  very  indifferent  to  religion." 

"  Oh,  no,  countess !  I  think  that  Muscovites  have  the 
reputation  of  being  very  pious,"  replied  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch. 

"  But  as  far  as  I  have  observed,  you  yourself,"  said 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch,  with  his  weary  smile,  "  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  belong  to  the  category  of  the  indiffer- 
ents." 

"  Is  it  possible  to  be  indifferent } "  cried  Lidia 
Ivanovna. 

"  I  am  not  indifferent,  but  rather  in  the  attitude  of 
expectation,"  answered  Oblonsky,  with  his  most  agree- 
able smile.  "  I  do  not  think  that  the  time  for  me  to 
settle  such  questions  has  come  yet." 

Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  and  the  countess  exchanged 
glances. 

"We  can  never  know  whether  the  time  for  us  has 
come  or  not,"  said  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch,  sternly,  "we 
ought  not  even  to  think  whether  we  are  prepared  or  not. 
The  blessing  does  not  follow  human  calculations,  does 


ANNA   KARENINA  293 

not  always  light  upon  the  most  deserving,  but  comes  to 
those  who  are  unprepared ;  witness  Saul." 

"It  seems  that  it  isn't  to  be  now,"  murmured  the 
countess,  following  with  her  eyes  the  movements  of  the 
Frenchman.     Landau  got  up  and  joined  them. 

"  May  I  listen  ?  "  asked  he. 

"Oh,  yes!  I  did  not  wish  to  disturb  you,"  said  the 
countess,  tenderly.     "  Sit  down  with  us." 

"  The  essential  thing  is  not  to  close  one's  eyes  to  the 
light,"  continued  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch. 

"  Akh  !  if  you  knew  what  a  blessing  we  experience 
when  we  feel  His  constant  presence  in  our  souls,"  said 
the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna,  with  an  ecstatic  smile. 

"  But  a  man  may  feel  himself  incapable  of  rising  to 
such  a  height,"  said  Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  convinced 
that  the  heights  of  religion  were  not  his  fo7'te,  but  fear- 
ing to  offend  a  person  who,  by  one  word  to  Pomorsky, 
might  get  him  the  place  that  he  wanted. 

"  You  mean  that  sin  may  prevent  him  ?  "  asked  Lidia 
Ivanovna.  "  But  that  is  a  mistaken  view.  For  him 
who  believes,  there  is  no  more  sin.  Sin  is  already  re- 
deemed. Pardon,"  she  added,  as  the  lackey  brought 
ber  another  note.  She  read  it,  and  answered  verbally, 
"  Say  to-morrow  at  the  grand  duchess's;  "  then  she  con- 
tinued, "  For  the  believer  there  is  no  sin." 

"  Yes ;  but  '  faith  without  works  is  dead,'  "  said 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  recalling  this  phrase  of  his  cate- 
chism, with  a  smile  establishing  his  independence. 

"That  is  the  famous  passage  in  the  Epistle  of  St. 
James,"  said  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  in  a  reproachful 
tone,  looking  at  the  countess,  as  if  to  recall  frequent  dis- 
cussions on  the  subject,  "  How  much  harm  the  false 
interpretation  of  that  passage  has  done !  It  has  driven 
more  persons  from  the  faith  than  anything  else !  '  I 
have  no  works,  therefore  I  cannot  believe,'  is  the  logi- 
cal conclusion  from  it.     It  means  exactly  the  opposite." 

"  It  is  our  monks  who  claim  to  be  saved  by  works,  by 
their  fastings,  their  abstinences,"  said  the  countess,  with 
an  air  of  fastidious  scorn.  "  Our  way  is  far  better  and 
easier,"  she  added,  looking  at  Oblonsky  with  that  scorch- 


294  ANNA    KARENINA 

ing  smile  with  which,  at  court,  she  was  wont  to  wither 
young  maids  of  honor,  disconcerted  at  the  newness  of 
their  position. 

"  We  are  saved  by  Christ  who  suffered  for  us  ;  we  are 
saved  by  faith,"  resumed  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch. 

"  Vous  comprcnez  V anglais  ?  "  asked  Lidia  Ivanovna ; 
and,  receiving  an  affirmative  answer,  she  rose,  and  took 
a  small  book  from  a  side-table.  "  I  'm  going  to  read  to 
you,  '  Safe  and  Happy  ;  or,  Under  the  Wing,'  "  said  she, 
with  a  look  of  interrogation  at  Karenin.  "  It  is  very 
short,"  added  she,  resuming  her  seat  and  opening  the 
book.  "  Here  the  way  is  described  by  which  faith  is 
attained,  and  the  joy  which  is  higher  than  any  that 
earth  can  give,  which  fills  the  soul  of  the  believer.  Man 
who  believes  cannot  be  unhappy,  because  he  is  no  longer 
alone.  Yes,  and  here  you  see...."  She  was  about  to 
go  on  reading,  when  again  the  lackey  appeared.     "  From 

Borozdin  .?     Say  to-morrow,  at  two  o'clock Yes,"  she 

said,  with  a  sigh,  marking  the  place  in  the  book  with 
her  finger,  and  looking  up  with  her  pensive,  loving 
eyes.  "  This  is  the  way  true  faith  is  acquired.  Are 
you  acquainted  with  Marie  Sanina  .-*  You  have  heard 
of  her  great  affliction  .^  She  lost  her  only  son.  She 
was  in  despair.  Well,  how  is  it  now  .-*  She  found  this 
friend.  She  thanks  God  for  the  death  of  her  child. 
Such  is  the  happiness  faith  can  give !  " 

"Ah,  yes;  this  is  very...."  murmured  Stepan  Arka- 
dyevitch,  glad  to  be  able  to  keep  silent  during  this  read- 
ing, and  to  think  over  his  affairs  a  little.  "  I  shall  do 
better  not  to  ask  anything  to-day,"  thought  he ;  "  only  how 
can  I  get  out  of  this  without  compromising  myself  .■*  "    • 

"This  will  be  dull  for  you,"  said  the  countess  to  Lan- 
dau.    "  You  don't  understand  English ;  but  this  is  short." 

"Oh !  I  shall  understand,"  said  he,  with  a  smile;  and 
he  shut  his  eyes. 

Alekself  Aleksandrovitch  and  the  countess  significantly 
looked  at  one  another,  and  the  reading  began. 


ANNA   KARENINA  *95 


CHAPTER   XXII 

Stefan  Arkadyevitch  felt  perfectly  bewildered  by 
these  strange  and  to  him  unwonted  discourses  to  which 
he  had  been  listening.  After  the  stagnation  of  Moscow, 
the  complication  of  life  in  Petersburg  as  a  general  thing 
had  an  enlivening  effect  on  him  ;  but  he  liked  it  and  was 
at  home  in  it  when  he  was  among  those  whom  he  knew 
well.  In  this  unfamiliar  environment,  he  was  bewildered 
and  stupefied,  and  could  not  make  anything  out  of  it. 

As  he  hstened  to  the  reading,  and  saw  the  brilliant 
eyes  of  Laudau  —  naive  or  knavish,  he  could  not  tell 
which  —  fixed  on  him,  he  felt  a  peculiar  heaviness  in  his 
head.  The  most  heterogeneous  thoughts  went  whirling 
through  his  brain. 

"  Marie  Sanina  is  happy  in  having  lost  her  son 

It  would  be  good  if  I  could  only  smoke  ! ....  To  be  saved, 
one  needs  only  to  believe The  monks  do  not  under- 
stand about  this,  but  the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna 
does.  What  makes  my  head  feel  so  heavy .''  Is  it  the 
brandy,  or  the  strangeness  of  all  this  ?  I  have  done 
nothing  out  of  the  way  as  yet ;  but  I  shan't  venture  to 
ask  anything  to-day.  It  is  said  they  make  you  say  your 
prayers.  Suppose  they  should  make  me  say  mine ! 
That  would  be  too  nonsensical.  What  stuff  that  is  she 
is  reading !  But  she  reads  well.  Landau  Bezzubof .... 
why  is  he  Bezzubof .''  " 

Suddenly  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  felt  that  his  lower 
jaw  was  irresistibly  beginning  to  accomplish  a  yawn. 
He  smoothed  his  whiskers  to  conceal  the  yawn,  and 
shook  himself ;  but  the  next  moment  he  felt  sure  that 
he  was  asleep,  and  even  beginning  to  snore.  The  voice 
of  the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna  waked  him,  saying :  — 

"  He 's  asleep. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  waked  with  a  start,  feeling  a 
consciousness  of  guilt.  But  instantly  he  was  relieved 
to  find  that  the  words,  *'  He  's  asleep,"  had  reference, 
not  to  himself,  but  to  Landau.  The  Frenchman  was  as 
sound  asleep  as  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  been.     But 


2^6  ANNA   KARENINA 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch's  nap  would  have  offended  them, 
—  he  did  not  think  of  this  at  the  time,  so  strange  did 
everything  seem,  —  but  Landau's  rejoiced  them  exceed- 
ingly, and  especially  the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna. 

"  Mon  ami,"  said  the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna,  cau- 
tiously, so  as  not  to  disturb  him  ;  and,  picking  up  the 
folds  of  her  silk  gown,  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the  moment, 
calling  Karenin,  not  AlekseY  Aleksandrovitch,  but,  "  Mon 
ami,  donnez  liii  la  main  !  vous  voyez  ?  Sh-h  !  "  said  she 
to  the  lackey,  who  once  more  entered  the  parlor  with 
a  message.     "  I  can't  receive  it  now." 

The  Frenchman  slept,  or  pretended  to  sleep,  leaning 
his  head  on  the  back  of  his  arm-chair,  and  resting  his 
hand  on  his  knee,  but  making  feeble  gestures,  as  if  he 
were  trying  to  catch  something. 

Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch  got  up,  and  cautiously, 
though  he  tripped  over  a  table  as  he  did  so,  stepped  over 
to  the  chair,  and  put  his  hand  into  the  Frenchman's 
hand.  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  also  got  up,  and  opening 
his  eyes  wide,  and  trying  to  decide  whether  he  were 
asleep  or  not,  looked  from  one  to  the  other,  and  felt  his 
ideas  growing  more  and  more  confused. 

"  Que  la  personne  qui  est  arrivie  la  deniihe,  celle  qui 
demande,  qii  elle  ....sorte.  Qu'elle  sorte,"  ^  murmured  the 
Frenchman,  without  opening  his  eyes. 

"  Vous  m'excuseres,  mais  vous  voyez  —  revenez  vers 
dix  heures,  encore  m.ieux  demain."  ^ 

"  Qiielle  sorte, '^  repeated  the  Frenchman,  impatiently. 

'' Cest  mot,  n'est  ce  pas?"  asked  Oblonsky,  and  at 
an  affirmative  sign,  forgetting  what  he  was  going  to  ask 
Lidia  Ivanovna,  forgetting  his  sister's  affairs,  with  one 
single  desire  to  escape  as  soon  as  possible,  hastened  out 
on  his  tiptoes  and  rushed  down  into  the  street,  as  if  he 
were  fleeing  from  a  pest-house,  and  for  a  long  time 
talked  and  jested  with  his  driver,  so  as  to  bring  back 
his  spirits. 

^  The  person  who  came  in  last ....  the  one  who  is  questioning ....  let  him 
go  away. 

2  You  will  excuse  me,  but  you  understand ....  come  back  at  ten  o'clock, 
or,  still  better,  to-morrow. 


ANNA   KARENINA  297 

At  the  French  Theater,  which  he  reached  in  time  for 
the  last  act,  and  afterward  over  his  champagne  at  the 
the  Tartars',  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  gradually  began  to 
breathe  more  freely  in  the  familiar  atmosphere.  Never- 
theless, all  that  evening  he  was  very  far  from  being 
himself. 

When  he  returned  to  the  house  of  Piotr  Oblonsky, 
where  he  made  his  home  in  Petersburg,  he  found  a  note 
from  Betsy.  She  wrote  him  that  she  was  very  desirous 
of  finishing  their  talk,  and  urged  him  to  call  the  next 
day.  He  had  hardly  finished  reading  this  note  and 
making  up  a  face  at  it,  when  heavy  shuffling  steps  were 
heard  down-stairs  as  of  men  lifting  some  heavy  object. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  went  out  to  see  what  it  was.  It 
was  the  rejuvenated  Piotr  Oblonsky,  who  was  so  tipsy  that 
he  could  not  walk  up-stairs  ;  but  when  he  caught  sight  of 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  he  ordered  his  attendants  to  put 
him  on  his  feet,  and,  clinging  to  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's 
arm,  he  managed  to  reach  his  room,  where  he  began  to 
relate  how  he  had  spent  the  evening,  till  he  fell  asleep. 

Stepan  Arkadyevitch  himself  was  in  such  a  weak 
state  of  mind,  that,  contrary  to  his  custom,  he  did  not 
fall  asleep  quickly.  What  he  had  heard  and  seen  dur- 
ing the  day  was  disgusting.  But  more  disgusting  than 
anything  else  was  the  recollection  of  the  evening  at  the 
Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna's. 

The  next  day  he  received  from  Aleksei  Aleksandro- 
vitch  a  flat  refusal  in  the  matter  of  the  divorce,  and 
knew  that  this  decision  was  based  on  the  words  which 
the  Frenchman  had  uttered  during  his  slumber,  real  or 
feigned. 

CHAPTER   XXni 

In  order  that  anything  may  be  accomplished  in  family 
life,  it  is  requisite  that  between  the  husband  and  wife 
there  should  be  either  absolute  discord  or  loving  har- 
mony. But  when  the  relations  between  the  two  are 
uncertain,  and  there  is  neither  the  one  nor  the  other, 
nothing  can  be  accomplished. 


298  ANNA   KARENINA 

Many  families  remain  for  years  in  places  of  which  the 
husband  and  wife  both  are  tired  and  disgusted,  simply 
because  there  is  neither  full  discord  nor  full  concord. 

Unendurable  to  Vronsky  and  Anna  was  their  Hfe  in 
Moscow,  in  the  heat  and  dust,  when  the  sun  shone,  not 
now  with  its  springtime  beauty,  but  with  summer  fervor, 
and  ail  the  trees  along  the  boulevards  had  been  long  in 
leaf,  and  the  leaves  were  already  thick  with  dust.  Though 
they  had  long  before  decided  to  remove  to  Vozdvizhen- 
skoye,  still  they  continued  to  live  in  Moscow,  which  was 
detestable  to  them  both,  and  the  reason  for  this  was  that 
of  late  there  had  been  no  harmony  between  them. 

The  exasperation  which  tended  to  keep  them  apart 
had  no  tangible  cause,  and  all  attempts  at  an  explanation, 
instead  of  closing  the  chasm,  only  widened  it.  It  was 
an  internal  irritation  which,  as  far  as  she  was  concerned, 
had  for  its  source  the  diminution  of  his  love  for  her,  and 
on  his  part  his  annoyance  because,  thanks  to  her,  he 
found  himself  placed  in  an  embarrassing  position,  which 
she,  instead  of  trying  to  relieve,  made  still  more  difficult. 
Neither  he  nor  she  formulated  any  definite  complaints, 
but  each  considered  the  other  in  the  wrong,  and  at  every 
opportunity  tried  to  make  this  evident. 

She  considered  that  he,  with  ail  his  habits,  ideas, 
desires,  with  all  his  spiritual  and  physical  tendencies, 
had  one  distinguishing  quality,  —  the  power  of  loving 
women ;  and  this  love,  she  felt,  ought  by  good  rights  to 
be  wholly  concentrated  on  her.  This  love  had  diminished ; 
consequently,  in  her  opinion,  a  part  of  this  love  must 
necessarily  be  transferred  to  others  or  to  some  other 
woman,  and  —  she  was  jealous.  She  was  jealous,  not  of 
any  definite  woman,  but  of  his  diminished  love  for  her. 

Having  as  yet  no  definite  object  for  her  jealousy  to  rest 
on,  she  was  on  the  watch  for  one.  On  the  slightest  pre- 
text she  would  transfer  her  jealousy  from  one  person  to 
another.  Sometimes  she  suspected  him  of  low  amours, 
which  he  might  enter  into  as  an  unmarried  man  about 
town ;  sometimes  she  distrusted  ladies  whom  he  might 
meet  in  society ;  then  again,  with  the  imaginary  young 
lady  whom  he  would  be  likely  to  marry  in  case  he  broke 


ANNA    KARENINA  299 

with  her.  This  form  of  jealousy  especially  tormented 
her,  for  the  reason  that  he  himself  had  carelessly,  in  a 
moment  of  confidence  one  day,  spoken  of  his  mother's 
lack  of  tact  in  having  ventured  to  propose  to  him  to 
marry  the  young  Princess  Sorokin. 

And  being  thus  jealous,  Anna  felt  indignant  with  him 
and  kept  finding  reasons  for  her  indignation.  For  all 
the  painfulness  of  her  position  she  blamed  him.  She 
considered  him  responsible  for  her  painful  state  of 
expectancy  which  she  was  enduring  in  Moscow,  as  it 
were  suspended  between  heaven  and  earth,  for  the 
uncertainty  in  which  she  lived,  for  Aleksei'  Aleksandro- 
vitch's  delay  and  indecision,  and  for  her  loneliness.  If 
he  loved  her,  he  would  understand  the  difficulty  of  her 
position,  and  save  her  from  it.  He  was  to  blame  because 
she  was  living  in  Moscow  and  not  in  the  country.  He 
could  not  live  in  the  country,  as  she  wanted  to  do.  He 
wanted  society,  and  so  condemned  her  to  this  horrible 
position,  the  trials  of  which  he  could  not  comprehend, 
And,  again,  he  was  responsible  for  depriving  her  forever 
of  her  son.  Even  those  rare  moments  of  tenderness 
which  they  occasionally  enjoyed  did  not  appease  her; 
she  now  detected  in  his  tenderness  a  shade  of  calmness, 
of  assurance,  which  he  had  never  before  shown,  and 
which  exasperated  her. 

It  was  getting  dark.  Vronsky  was  at  a  gentlemen's 
dinner;  and  Anna,  while  waiting  for  him,  had  taken 
refuge  in  his  library,  where  the  noise  of  the  street  was 
less  oppressive  than  in  the  rest  of  the  house.  She 
walked  up  and  down,  going  over  in  memory  their  last 
altercation. 

As  she  recalled  in  memory  the  insulting  words  that 
had  been  spoken,  and  tried  to  think  what  had  led  to  it, 
she  at  last  remembered  how  the  quarrel  had  begun.  For 
some  time  she  found  it  impossible  to  believe  that  any 
dissension  could  have  arisen  from  such  an  inoffensive 
conversation,  from  a  subject  which  was  so  unimportant 
to  any  one.  But  such  was  the  fact.  It  all  began  from 
his  having  made  sport  of  women's  gymnasia,  declaring 
them  unnecessary,  and  she  had  taken  up  the  cudgels  in 


300  ANNA    KARENINA 

their  defense.  He  had  disrespectfully  attacked  the 
education  of  women  in  general,  and  had  said  that  Han- 
nah, Anna's  English  prot^gie,  had  not  the  slightest  need 
of  knowing  anything  about  physics. 

That  had  irritated  Anna.  She  saw  in  it  a  derogatory 
reference  to  her  own  occupations,  and  she  conjured  up 
and  uttered  a  phrase  which  was  meant  to  repay  him  for 
the  pain  he  inflicted  on  her. 

"  I  did  not  expect  that  you  would  comprehend  me  and 
my  feelings  as  a  man  who  really  loved  would,  but  I  ex- 
pected at  least  some  delicacy,"  said  she. 

And  in  reality  he  had  reddened  with  vexation  and 
made  some  unpleasant  remark.  She  did  not  remem- 
ber what  retort  she  then  made,  but,  whatever  it  was, 
he  had  said  with  the  manifest  intention  of  hurting  her 
feelings :  — 

"  I  confess  your  devotion  to  that  girl  does  not  interest 
me,  because  I  can  see  in  it  nothing  but  an  affecta- 
tion." 

This  cruelty  of  his,  with  which  he  demolished  the 
fabric  which  she  had  with  such  labor  erected  so  as  to 
endure  the  trials  of  her  life,  this  injustice  of  his  in  accus- 
ing her  of  pretense  and  affectation,  drove  her  frantic. 

"  It  is  very  unfortunate  that  only  what  is  low  and 
material  is  comprehensible  to  you,"  she  had  retorted, 
and  she  left  the  room. 

When,  in  the  evening,  he  came  to  see  her,  the  discus- 
sion was  not  resumed,  but  they  both  felt  that  it  was  not 
forgotten. 

All  this  day  he  had  not  been  at  home ;  and  she  was 
so  lonely  and  wretched,  as  she  thought  of  their  quarrels, 
that  she  resolved  to  forget  everything,  to  ask  his  forgive- 
ness, and  to  take  the  blame  on  herself,  so  as  to  bring 
about  a  reconciliation  at  any  cost. 

"  I  am  to  blame ;  I  am  irritable  ;  I  am  absurdly  jeal- 
ous. I  will  make  it  up  with  him,  and  we  will  leave  for  the 
country,  and  there  I  shall  be  calmer,"  she  thought. 

"  Affectation  !  "  —  nenaturalno.  She  suddenly  remem- 
bered the  word  which  had  so  affronted  her,  above  all  in 
his  intention  of  causing  her  pain  by  it. 


ANNA    KARENINA  301 

"  I  know  what  he  meant.  He  meant  by  affected  that 
I  did  not  love  my  daughter,  but  loved  another's  child. 
What  does  he  know  of  the  love  a  child  can  inspire .-' 
Has  he  the  least  idea  what  I  sacrificed  for  him  in  giving 
up  Serozha .-'  But  this  desire  to  wound  me !  No,  he 
loves  another  woman  ;  it  must  be  so." 

And  seeing  that,  even  while  she  wanted  to  calm  her- 
self she  was  once  more  going  over  the  circle  she  had 
so  many  times  traversed,  and  was  once  more  returning 
to  the  same  state  of  irritation,  she  was  horror-struck. 

"  Is  it  wholly  out  of  the  question  ?  Can  I  not  attach 
him  to  myself  .''  "  she  queried,  and  then  she  began  at  the 
beginning  again.  "  He  is  true,  he  is  honorable,  he  loves 
me.  I  love  him ;  in  a  day  or  two  dissension  will  be 
ended.  What  is  necessary  ?  Calmness,  gentleness,  and 
I  shall  bring  him  back  to  me.  Yes ;  now,  when  he 
comes,  I  will  tell  him  that  I  was  to  blame ....  although 
I  was  not  to  blame ; ....  and  we  will  go  off." 

And,  in  order  not  to  think  any  more,  and  not  to  give 
way  to  her  irritation,  she  gave  orders  to  bring  down  her 
trunks,  to  begin  preparations  for  departure. 

At  ten  o'clock  Vronsky  came  in. 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

"Well,  did  you  have  a  gay  time  .-'"  asked  Anna,  going 
to  meet  him  with  an  apologetic  and  affectionate  look  on 
her  face. 

"As  such  things  usually  are,"  answered  he,  noticing 
at  once  by  her  face  that  she  was  in  one  of  her  best 
moods.  He  was  already  accustomed  to  such  metamor- 
phoses, and  this  time  he  was  particularly  glad,  because 
he  himself  was  in  his  happiest  frame  of  mind.  "  What 
do  I  see .''  This  is  good,"  he  added,  pointing  to  the 
trunks  in  the  entry. 

"  Yes,  we  must  go.  I  went  out  to  walk  to-day,  and  it 
was  so  good  that  I  longed  to  get  back  to  the  country. 
There  's  nothing  to  keep  you  here,  is  there  ? " 


302  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  I  should  like  nothing  better I  will  be  back  imme- 
diately, and  we  will  talk  it  over ;  all  I  want  is  to  change 
my  coat.     Have  the  tea  brought." 

There  was  something  irritating  in  the  tone  in  which 
he  said,  "This  is  good,"  as  one  speaks  to  a  child  which 
has  ceased  to  be  capricious,  and  still  more  irritating  was 
the  discrepancy  between  her  apologetic  and  his  self- 
confident  tone,  and  for  a  moment  she  felt  rising  within 
her  the  desire  to  be  pugnacious.  But  making  an  effort 
to  restrain  herself,  she  relinquished  it,  and  met  Vronsky 
as  gayly  as  before. 

When  he  came  in,  she  told  him  calmly  the  incidents 
of  the  day,  and  her  plans  for  departure,  using  in  part 
the  very  words  she  had  thought  over. 

"  Do  you  know,  it  came  over  me  like  an  inspiration," 
said  she,  —  "  why  wait  here  for  the  divorce .-'  Will  it  not 
be  all  the  same  when  we  are  in  the  country  ?  I  cannot 
wait  longer.  I  want  to  stop  hoping  about  the  divorce. 
I  don't  want  to  hear  anything  more  about  it.  I  think 
it  won't  have  any  more  effect  on  my  life.  Don't  you 
agree  with  me  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes ! "  said  he,  looking  with  disquietude  at 
Anna's  excited  face. 

**  Come,  tell  me  what  you  did ;  who  were  there .-' " 
said  she,  after  a  moment's  silence. 

Vronsky  named  over  the  guests. 

"The  dinner  was  excellent.  And  we  had  a  boat-race, 
and  it  was  all  very  jolly.  But  in  Moscow  nothing  can 
be  done  sans  ridicule.  Some  woman,  the  swimming- 
teacher  of  the  queen  of  Sweden,  gave  us  an  exhibition 
of  her  art." 

"  What !  Did  she  swim  for  you  ?  "  demanded  Anna, 
frowning. 

"  Yes,  in  an  ugly  red"  costume  de  natation.  She  was 
old  and  hideous What  day  do  we  go  }  " 

"  What  an  inane  idea !  Was  there  anything  extraor- 
dinary about  her  method  of  swimming?"  asked  Anna, 
not  replying  to  his  question. 

"  Not  at  all.  I  tell  you  it  was  horribly  stupid.  When 
have  you  decided  to  go  ?  " 


I 


ANNA   KARENINA  303 

Anna  tossed  her  head  as  if  to  get  rid  of  a  disagree- 
able thought. 

"  When  shall  we  go  ?  The  sooner  the  better.  To- 
morrow we  can't,  but  the  day  after," 

"  Yes ....  no  ....  wait !  Day  after  to-morrow  is  Monday. 
I  shall  have  to  go  to  maman^'  said  Vronsky,  somewhat 
confused ;  because,  as  he  mentioned  his  mother's  name, 
he  saw  Anna's  eyes  fixed  with  a  look  of  suspicion  on 
him,  and  his  confusion  increased  her  distrust.  She  for- 
got the  queen  of  Sweden's  swimming-teacher  in  her 
alarm  about  the  Princess  Sorokin,  who  was  living  at  a 
country  seat  in  the  suburbs  of  Moscow  with  the  old 
countess. 

"  Can't  you  go  there  to-morrow  ? " 

"  Why,  no !  That 's  impossible.  There  is  some  busi- 
ness that  I  must  attend  to,  —  a  power  of  attorney ;  and 
the  money  will  not  be  ready  to-morrow." 

"  If  that  is  so,  we  won't  go  at  all." 

"But  why  not.?" 

"  I  won't  go  if  it  is  put  off  later.     Sunday  or  never !  " 

"Why  so .'' "  cried  Vronsky,  in  astonishment.  "There 's 
no  sense  in  that." 

"  It  has  no  sense  for  you,  because  you  never  take  me 
into  account  at  all.  You  can't  understand  my  life. 
The  only  thing  that  interests  me  here  is  Hannah.  You 
say  that  it  is  hypocrisy.  You  said  last  evening  that 
I  did  not  love  my  daughter,  but  that  I  pretended  to  love 
this  English  girl,  that  this  was  affectation.  I  should 
like  to  know  what  can  be  natural  in  the  life  I  lead 
here  ? " 

For  an  instant  she  came  to  herself,  and  was  fright- 
ened because  she  had  broken  her  vow.  But,  though 
she  knew  that  she  was  dashing  to  destruction,  she  could 
not  resist  the  temptation  of  proving  to  him  that  he  was 
in  the  wrong,  she  could  not  help  heaping  insults  on  him. 

"  I  never  said  that :  I  said  that  I  did  not  sympathize 
with  this  sudden  tenderness  for  her." 

"  Why  do  you,  who  boast  of  being  straightf orwai  d, 
tell  me  a  lie .?  " 

"  I  never  boast,  and  I  never  tell  lies,"  said  he,  re- 


304  ANNA    KARENINA 

pressing  the  anger  which  was  rising  within  him  ;  "  and 
I  am  very  sorry  if  you  do  not  respect...." 

"  Respect !  That  was  invented  to  cover  up  the  lack 
of  love.  If  you  don't  love  me  any  more,  it  would  be 
better  and  more  honorable  to  say  so." 

"  No !  this  is  becoming  intolerable,"  cried  the  count, 
suddenly  leaping  from  his  chair ;  and,  standing  in  front 
of  her,  speaking  in  measured  tones  :  "  Anna,"  he  asked, 
"  why  do  you  try  my  patience  so  ? "  and  she  could  see 
how  he  was  holding  back  the  bitter  words  that  were 
ready  to  escape  him.     "  It  has  its  limits." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  "  she  cried,  looking 
with  terror  at  the  unconcealed  expression  of  hate  on  his 
whole  face,  and  especially  in  his  fierce,  cruel  eyes. 

"  I  mean...."  he  began.  Then  he  stopped.  "I  have 
a  right  to  demand  what  you  wish  of  me." 

"  What  can  I  wish  .-'  I  can  only  wish  that  you  do  not 
abandon  me,  as  you  are  thinking  of  doing,"  she  said, 
comprehending  all  that  he  left  unsaid.  "  Everything 
else  is  secondary.  I  wish  to  be  loved ;  but  love  is  gone. 
All  is  over." 

She  turned  toward  the  door. 

"  Stop  !  sto-op  !  "  said  Vronsky,  still  darkly  frowning, 
but  holding  her  by  the  arm.  "  What  is  the  trouble  .''  I 
said  that  it  is  necessary  to  postpone  our  starting  for 
three  days,  and  you  answer  by  saying  that  I  lie  and  am 
dishonorable." 

"  Yes ;  and  I  repeat  it  that  a  man  who  throws  it  into 
my  face  that  he  has  sacrificed  everything  for  me,"  said 
she,  alluding  to  a  former  quarrel,  "  is  worse  than  dis- 
honorable :  he  is  heartless." 

"  That  settles  it ;  my  patience  is  at  an  end,"  cried 
Vronsky,  quickly  dropping  her  hand. 

"  He  hates  me;  that  is  certain,"  she  thought,  as  she 
went  from  the  room  in  silence  with  tottering  steps. 
"  He  loves  some  other  woman ;  that  is  more  certain 
still,"  she  said  to  herself,  as  she  reached  her  room.  "  I 
wish  to  be  loved,  but  love  is  gone.  All  is  over."  She 
repeated  the  words  that  she  had  said,  —  "I  must  put  an 
end  to  it." 


ANNA    KARENINA  305 

"But  how?"  she  asked  herself,  sinking  into  a  chair 
before  her  mirror. 

The  most  heterogeneous  thoughts  crowded  upon  her. 
Where  should  she  go .''  To  her  aunt,  who  had  brought 
her  up .''  To  Dolly  .''  or  simply  go  abroad  alone  by  her- 
self .''  What  was  he  doing  alone  in  his  study  ?  Would 
the  rupture  be  final,  or  was  there  a  possibility  of  recon- 
ciliation .''  How  would  Alekseif  Aleksandrovitch  look 
upon  it  ?  and  what  would  her  former  acquaintances  in 
Petersburg  say  ?  Many  other  ideas  of  what  would  hap- 
pen came  into  her  mind,  but  she  could  not  take  any 
satisfactory  account  of  them.  A  vague  idea  came  into 
her  mind,  and  awakened  some  interest,  but  she  could 
not  express  it.  Thinking  once  more  of  Alekseif  Alek- 
sandrovitch, she  recalled  a  phrase  which  she  had  used 
after  her  illness,  and  the  feeling  that  clung  to  her, — 
"  Why  did  n't  I  die  .'' "  and  immediately  the  words  awoke 
the  feeling  which  they  had  at  that  time  expressed.  Yes, 
that  was  the  idea  which  alone  settled  everything. 

"  Death,  yes,  that  is  the  only  way  of  escape.  My 
terrible  shame,  and  the  dishonor  which  I  have  brought 
on  Aleksei  Aleksandrovitch  and  Serozha,  all  will  be 
wiped  away  by  my  death.  If  I  die,  he  will  repent  for 
me  then  ;  he  will  be  sorry,  he  will  love  me,  he  will  suffer 
for  me." 

A  smile  of  pity  for  herself  came  over  her  face  as  she 
kept  mechanically  taking  off  and  putting  on  the  rings 
of  her  left  hand,  and  with  vivid  imagination  she  pictured 
how  he  would  feel  after  she  was  dead. 

Approaching  steps  —  his  steps  —  caught  her  ears. 
She  affected  to  be  busily  engaged  in  taking  off  her 
rings,  and  did  not  turn  her  head. 

He  came  to  her,  and,  taking  her  hand,  said  tenderly : 
"  Anna,  we  will  go  day  after  to-morrow  if  you  wish.  I 
am  ready  for  anything Well .''  "  said  he,  waiting. 

She  did  not  speak. 

"  What  do  you  say  .-'  "  he  asked. 

"  You  yourself  know,"  said  she ;  and  then,  unable 
to  control  herself  longer,  she  burst  into  tears.  "  Leave 
me,  leave  me,"  she  murmured  through  her  sobs.     "  I 

VOL.  III.  —  20 


3o6  ANNA   KARENINA 

am  going  away  to-morrow I  will  do  more.     What  am 

I  ?  A  lost  woman,  a  millstone  about  your  neck.  I 
don't  want  to  torment  you.  I  will  set  you  free.  You 
do  not  love  me;  you  love  another." 

Vronsky  begged  her  to  be  calm.  He  swore  there 
was  not  the  slightest  ground  for  her  jealousy,  and  that 
he  had  never  ceased  and  never  should  cease  to  love  her ; 
that  he  loved  her  more  than  ever. 

"  Anna,  why  torture  yourself  and  me  so  ? "  he  asked, 
as  he  kissed  her  hand.  His  face  expressed  the  deepest 
tenderness ;  and  it  seemed  to  her  that  her  ears  caught 
the  sound  of  tears  in  his  voice,  and  that  she  felt  their 
moisture  on  her  hand. 

Passing  suddenly  from  jealousy  to  the  most  passionate 
tenderness,  she  covered  his  head,  his  neck,  his  hands, 
with  kisses. 


CHAPTER   XXV 

Feeling  that  their  reconciliation  was  complete,  Anna 
the  next  morning  eagerly  made  her  preparations  for 
departure.  Although  it  was  not  yet  definitely  decided 
whether  they  should  start  on  Monday  or  Tuesday,  since 
Doth  days  had  certain  contingencies,  Anna  was  busily 
making  her  preparations  for  the  journey,  feeling  now 
perfectly  indifferent  whether  they  went  a  little  sooner 
or  a  little  later.  She  was  engaged  in  her  room  taking 
various  articles  from  an  open  trunk,  when  Vronsky, 
already  dressed,  came  to  her  earlier  than  usual. 

"  I  am  going  now  to  mnnian.  Perhaps  she  can  get 
me  the  money  through  Yegerof,  and  then  I  shall  be 
ready  to  go  to-morrow,"  he  said. 

She  was  feeling  particularly  cheerful,  but  his  reference 
to  his  visit  to  his  mother's  datcha  was  like  a  stitch  in  the 
side. 

"  No  ;  I  shall  not  be  ready  myself  ;  "  and  immediately 
she  thought,  "  So  then  it  was  possible  to  arrange  it  so  as 
to  do  as  I  wished."  —  "  No ;  do  just  as  you  intended  to. 
And  now  go  to  the  dining-room,  and  I  will  join  you  as 


ANNA    KARENINA  307 

soon  as  I  have  taken  out  these  unnecessary  things,"  she 
added,  giving  something  more  to  Annushka,  whose  arms 
were  already  laden  with  a  heap  of  articles. 

Vronsky  was  eating  his  beefsteak  when  she  entered 
the  dining-room. 

"  You  can't  realize  how  odious  these  apartments  have 
become  to  me,"  she  said,  as  she  sat  down  by  him. 
"  Nothing  is  more  detestable  than  these  chambres 
garni es.  There  is  no  individuality  in  them,  no  soul. 
The  clock,  the  curtains,  and  especially  the  wall-papers  — 
they  are  a  caucliemar.  I  think  of  Vozdvizhenskoye  as  of 
the  promised  land.  Shall  you  not  send  on  the  horses  in 
advance  .-*  " 

"  No,  they  will  follow  us.  But  were  you  going  any- 
where.-*" 

"  I  wanted  to  go  to  the  Wilsons' ;  I  must  get  a  gown. 
So  it  is  decided  that  we  go  to-morrow,  is  it  .'*  "  she  added, 
in  a  joyous  tone.  But  suddenly  her  face  changed. 
Vronsky's  valet  came  in,  and  asked  him  to  sign  a  receipt 
foradespatch  from  Petersburg.  Still  there  was  nothing  re- 
markable in  Vronsky's  receiving  a  telegram,  but  he  acted 
as  if  he  wanted  to  conceal  something  from  her ;  and,  saying 
that  he  would  sign  it  in  his  Ubrary,  he  turned  to  her :  — 

"  To-morrow  without  fail  I  shall  have  finished  every- 
thing." 

"  From  whom  is  the  despatch  ? "  she  asked,  not  hear- 
ing him. 

"  From  Stiva,"  answered  the  count,  reluctantly. 

"  Why  did  n't  you  show  it  to  me  "i  What  secret  can 
there  be  between  Stiva  and  me .-' " 

Vronsky  called  the  valet  back,  and  ordered  him  to 
bring  in  the  telegram. 

"  I  did  not  care  to  show  it  because  Stiva  has  a  pas- 
sion for  telegraphing.  Why  need  he  send  me  a  despatch 
to  tell  me  that  nothing  was  decided.'* " 

"About  the  divorce  .^  " 

"Yes.  He  maintains  that  he  cannot  get  a  definite 
answer.     Here,  see  for  yourself." 

Anna  took  the  despatch  with  a  trembling  hand.  It 
read  as  Vronsky  had  told  her.     At  the  end  it  said :  — 


3o8  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Little  hcpe ;  but  I  shall  do  everything  possible  and 
impossible." 

"  I  told  you  yesterday  that  it  was  absolutely  immaterial 
to  me  when  I  received  the  divorce,  or  whether  I  get  it 
at  all,"  said  she,  flushing,  "so  it  is  perfectly  useless  to 
hide  anything  from  me.  In  the  same  way,  he  can  hide 
from  me  his  correspondence  with  women,"  thought  she. 

"Yashvin  wanted  to  come  this  morning  with  Voftof," 
said  Vronsky.  "  It  seems  that  he  has  been  gambling 
again,  and  has  won  from  Pyebtsof  all  he  has  and  more 
than  he  can  pay....  about  sixty  thousand  rubles." 

"  No,"  said  she,  vexed  because  by  this  change  in  the 
conversation  he  so  evidently  insinuated  that  she  was 
vexed.  "  Why  do  you  think  that  this  news  interests  me 
so  much  that  you  must  hide  it  from  me .''  I  told  you 
that  I  did  not  want  to  think  about  it,  and  I  should  wish 
that  you  had  as  little  interest  in  it  as  I." 

"  It  interests  me  because  I  like  clearness." 

"  Clearness  !  But  in  love,  not  in  mere  outside  show," 
she  said,  getting  more  and  more  angry,  not  at  his  words, 
but  at  the  tone  of  cool  calmness  in  which  he  spoke. 
"  Why  do  you  want  a  divorce  .-*  " 

"  Bozhe  mo'i !  Always  '  love,'  "  thought  Vronsky, 
frowning.  "  You  know  very  well  why ;  it  is  for  your 
sake  and  for  the  children  we  may  have." 

"There  will  not  be  any  more  children." 

"  I  am  sorry  for  that." 

"  You  feel  the  need  of  it,  because  of  the  children  ;  but 
don't  you  have  some  thought  of  me .'' "  said  she,  forget- 
ting that  he  had  just  said  "for  your  sake  and  the 
children's." 

The  question  of  the  possibility  of  having  children  had 
been  long  vexatious  and  trying  to  her.  She  took  his 
desire  to  have  children  as  a  proof  of  indifference  toward 
her  beauty. 

"  Akh  !  I  said  for  your  sake  ....  more  than  all  for  your 
sake ;  for  I  am  convinced  that  your  irritability  comes 
largely  from  the  uncertainty  of  your  position,"  he  an- 
swered, scowling  with  annoyance. 

"  Yes,  now  he  has  ceased  to  pretend,  and  all  his  cold 


ANNA    KARENINA  309 

hatred  of  me  is  plain  to  be  seen,"  she  said  to  herself, 
not  hearing  his  words,  but  gazing  with  horror  at  a  cold 
and  cruel  judge  who  looked  out  of  his  eyes,  and  mocked 
her. 

"  That  is  not  the  cause,"  said  she ;  "  and  I  do  not 
understand  how  my  irritability,  as  you  call  it,  can  be 
caused  by  the  fact  that  I  have  come  absolutely  into  your 
power.  How  is  my  position  indefinite .''  It  seems  to 
me  the  contrary." 

"  I  am  sorry  that  you  are  not  willing  to  understand," 
he  replied,  obstinately  determined  to  express  his  thought. 
"  Its  uncertainty  comes  from  this,  —  that  you  think  that 
I  am  free." 

"  Oh  !  as  far  as  that  goes,  you  can  be  perfectly  easy," 
she  said,  turning  from  him,  and  beginning  to  drink  her 
coffee.  She  took  the  cup,  raising  her  little  finger,  and 
put  it  to  her  lips ;  and  as  she  drank  she  looked  at  him, 
and  by  the  expression  of  his  face  saw  clearly  that  her 
motions  and  the  sounds  that  she  made  in  swallowing 
were  repulsive  to  him. 

"  It  is  absolutely  indifferent  to  me  what  your  mother 
thinks,  and  how  she  intends  to  marry  you  off,"  said  she, 
putting  down  the  cup  with  trembling  hand. 

"We  will  not  talk  of  that." 

"  Yes,  we  will  too ;  and  I  assure  you  that  a  heartless 
woman,  whether  young  or  old,  —  your  mother  or  any- 
body else,  —  does  not  interest  me ;  and  I  don't  want  to 
know  her." 

"  Anna,  I  beg  you  not  to  speak  disrespectfully  of  my 
mother." 

"  A  woman  who  has  no  conception  of  what  the  honor 
and  happiness  of  her  son  consist  in,  has  no  heart." 

"  I  repeat  my  request  that  you  will  not  speak  disre- 
spectfully of  my  mother,  whom  I  respect,"  reiterated  the 
count,  raising  his  voice,  and  looking  severely  at  Anna. 

She  did  not  reply,  but  looked  attentively  at  his  face 
and  his  hands,  and  recalled  with  all  its  details,  the  scene 
of    the   evening   before,    and   his    passionate    caresses 
"Just  such  caresses  he  has  lavished,  and  will  still  con 
tinue  to  lavish,  on  other  women,"  she  thought. 


3IO  ANNA    KARENINA 

"You  don't  love  your  mother.  Those  are  simple 
words,  words,  words ! "  she  said,  looking  at  him  with 
eyes  full  of  hatred. 

"  If  that  is  the  case,  it  is  necessary  ...." 

"  It  is  necessary  to  decide ;  and  I  have  decided,"  said 
she,  and  was  preparing  to  leave  the  room,  when  the 
door  opened,  and  Yashvin  entered. 

She  stopped  immediately,  and  bade  him  good-morning. 

Why,  when  her  soul  was  full  of  bitterness ;  when  she 
felt  that  she  was  at  the  turning-point  of  her  life,  which 
might  take  a  terrible  direction,  —  why,  at  this  moment, 
she  had  to  dissimulate  before  a  stranger,  who  sooner  or 
later  would  know  all,  she  could  not  tell ;  but,  calming 
the  inner  tumult  of  her  feelings,  she  sat  down  again, 
and  began  to  talk  with  the  guest, 

"  Well,  how  are  your  affairs .''  Have  they  paid  you 
your  debt .''  "  she  asked. 

"  No ;  not  yet.  Probably  I  shall  not  get  it  all.  And 
I  've  got  to  leave  Wednesday,"  said  Yashvin,  awkwardly, 
glancing  at  Vronsky,  and  evidently  suspecting  that  a 
quarrel  was  in  progress.     "  When  do  you  leave  ?  " 

"Day  after  to-morrow,  I  think,"  said  Vronsky. 

"  You  have  taken  long  to  make  up  your  minds." 

"  But  now  it  is  all  decided,"  said  Anna,  looking  straight 
into  Vronsky's  eyes  with  a  look  that  told  him  how  im- 
possible it  was  to  think  of  reconcihation. 

"  Did  n't  you  feel  sorry  for  that  unlucky  Pyebtsof .-'  " 
asked  Anna,  addressing  Yashvin. 

"  I  have  never  asked  myself  whether  I  pitied  a  mai 
or  not,  Anna  Arkadyevna.  My  whole  fortune  is  here,' 
said  he,  pointing  to  his  pocket.  "  Now  I  am  a  rich 
man,  but  I  may  come  out  of  the  club  this  evening  a 
beggar.  Whoever  plays  with  me  would  gladly  leave 
me  without  a  shirt,  and  I  him.  Well !  We  engage  in 
war,  and  that  makes  the  fun." 

"  Well,  but  if  you  were  married,  how  would  it  be  foi 
your  wife .-' " 

Yashvin  laughed. 

"  But  I  am  not  married,  and  I  don't  expect  to  marry.' 

"  But  how  about  Helsingfors  ?  "  suggested  Vronsky 


ANNA    KARENINA  311 

joining  in  the  conversation,  and  looking  at  Anna's 
smiling  face.  But  as  she  met  his  glance  her  face 
suddenly  assumed  a  set  and  cold  expression,  as  much 
as  to  say  to  him  :  "  I  have  not  forgotten.  It 's  still  the 
same." 

"  And  have  n't  you  ever  been  in  love  .-' "  she  asked  of 
Yashvin. 

"  Oh,  Lord  !  plenty  of  times.  Only  remember,  one 
may  sit  down  to  cards,  but  must  be  able  to  get  up  when 
the  time  comes  for  a  rendezvous ;  but  I  interest  myself 
in  love-affairs  in  such  a  way  that  I  need  not  be  late  to 
play  my  hand  in  the  evening.  And  so  I  always  arrange 
matters." 

"  You  misunderstand ;  I  did  not  ask  about  that,  but 
about  actual...."  She  wanted  to  say  He Isingfors,  hut 
she  did  not  like  to  use  a  word  which  Vronsky  had  just 
spoken. 

Voitof  came  at  this  moment  to  see  about  a  horse 
which  he  had  bought ;  Anna  got  up  and  left  the  room. 

Before  he  left  the  house,  Vronsky  went  to  her  room. 
She  pretended  to  look  for  something  on  the  table,  but 
then,  being  ashamed  of  this  dissimulation,  she  looked 
him  straight  in  the  face.  She  asked  him  coolly  in 
French,  "  What  do  you  want .? " 

"The  certificate  for  Gambetta;  I  have  sold  him,"  an- 
swered Vronsky,  in  a  tone  which  said  louder  than  words, 
"  I  have  not  time  for  explanations,  nor  would  they  lead 
to  anything." 

**  I  'm  not  to  blame,"  thought  he ;  "if  she  wants  to 
punish  herself,  tant pis  pour  elle ." 

However,  as  he  left  the  room  he  thought  she  said 
something  to  him,  and  his  heart  was  suddenly  touched 
with  compassion  for  her, 

"  What  is  it,  Anna .?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  said  nothing,"  she  answered  coldly  and  calmly. 

"Nothing!  tant pis,"  he  said  again  to  himself.  On 
his  way  out,  as  he  passed  a  mirror,  he  caught  sight  in 
it  of  her  pale  face  and  trembling  lips.  He  was  tempted 
to  go  back  and  say  some  comforting  words  to  her,  but 
he  was    already  too  far  on  his  way.     He   passed  the 


312  ANNA   KARENINA 

entire  day  outside  the  house ;  and  when  he  came  home 
the  maid  informed  him  that  Anna  Arkadyevna  had  a 
headache,  and  begged  him  not  to  disturb  her. 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

Never  before  had  they  let  a  day  end  with  a  quarrel 
unsettled.  This  was  the  first  time.  This  was  not  a 
mere  quarrel ;  it  was  evidently  the  avowal  of  permanent 
coldness.  How  was  it  possible  for  him  to  look  at  her 
as  he  had  done  when  he  came  into  her  room  after  his 
document.''  how  could  he  look  at  her,  and  see  that  her 
heart  was  full  of  despair,  and  then  go  out  with  a  calm,  in- 
different face  ?  He  had  not  only  grown  cold  to  her,  but 
he  hated  her,  because  he  loved  some  other  woman. 
This  was  clear.  And,  as  she  recalled  all  the  cruel 
words  which  he  had  said  to  her,  Anna  began  to  imagine 
also  the  words  which  she  was  certain  he  would  like  to 
say  to  her  and  might  say,  and  she  grew  more  and  more 
irritated. 

"  I  will  not  keep  you,"  she  imagined  him  saying. 
"You  may  go  wherever  you  please.  As  you  don't  care 
to  be  divorced  from  your  husband,  you  probably  intend 
to  go  back  to  him.  If  you  want  money,  I  will  give  it 
to  you.     How  many  rubles  do  you  want .-'  " 

All  these  insulting  words  which  the  cruel  man  might 
say  were  said  merely  in  her  imagination,  but  she  could 
not  forgive  him  any  more  than  if  he  had  really  said 
them. 

"  But  did  he  not  swear  to  me  only  yesterday  that  he 
loved  me  .''  Is  he  not  a  sincere  and  honest  man  ?  "  she 
said  to  herself  a  moment  afterward.  "  Have  I  not  been 
in  despair  several  times  before,  all  for  nothing.?  " 

She  passed  the  entire  day,  except  two  hours  during 
which  she  made  a  visit  to  her  prot/j^/s,  the  Wilsons,  in 
alternate  doubt  and  hope.  Was  all  at  an  end.-*  Was 
there  any  chance  of  a  reconciliation  ?  Should  she  leave 
him  then  and  there,  or  should  she  wait  and  see  him  once 
again .?     She  waited  for  him  all  day ;  and  in  the  eve- 


ANNA    KARENINA  313 

ning  she  went  to  her  room,  telling  Annushka  to  say  that 
she  had  a  headache. 

"  If  he  comes  in  spite  of  that,  it  will  show  that  he 
loves  me  still ;  if  not,  it  is  over,  and  I  shall  make  up  my 
mind  what  there  is  for  me  to  do.".... 

Late  in  the  evening  she  heard  his  carriage-wheels  on 
the  pavement,  his  ring,  and  his  steps,  and  his  colloquy 
with  the  maid ;  he  believed  what  he  was  told,  he  did  not 
care  to  make  any  further  inquiries,  and  he  went  to  his 
room.  Evidently  all  was  at  an  end.  And  Death  as  the 
only  means  of  establishing  a  love  for  her  in  his  heart,  of 
punishing  him,  and  of  winning  the  victory  in  the  struggle 
which  the  evil  spirit  that  had  possession  of  her  soul  was 
waging  with  him,  clearly,  vividly,  presented  itself  before 
her. 

Now  everything  was  a  matter  of  indifference  — 
whether  they  went  to  the  country  or  not,  whether  she 
procured  the  divorce  or  not  —  it  was  unnecessary ;  the 
one  essential  thing  was  to  punish  him. 

When  she  poured  out  her  usual  dose  of  opium,  and 
it  came  over  her  that  if  she  swallowed  all  that  was  in 
the  vial  she  would  die,  it  seemed  so  easy  and  simple 
that  she  felt  a  real  joy  in  imagining  how  he  would 
mourn,  repent,  and  love  her  when  it  was  too  late.  She 
lay  on  her  bed  with  open  eyes,  and  watched  the  dying 
candle-light  on  the  molded  cornice  of  the  ceiling  mingle 
with  the  shadow  of  the  screen  which  divided  the  room ; 
she  vividly  pictured  to  herself  how  he  would  think  when 
she  was  no  more,  when  she  was  only  a  memory.  "  How 
could  I  speak  to  her  such  cruel  words .''"  he  would  say 
to  himself.  "  How  could  I  leave  her  without  saying 
anything  at  all  ?  and  now  she  is  no  more ;  she  has  left 
us  forever !     She  is  there  ...." 

Suddenly  the  shadow  of  the  screen  seemed  to  waver 
and  cover  the  whole  cornice,  the  whole  ceiling ;  other 
shadows  from  the  other  sides  joined  in  with  it ;  for  an 
instant  they  seemed  to  be  running,  then  with  new  rapid- 
ity they  trembled,  melted  together,  and  all  became  dark. 

"  Death !  "  thought  she ;  and  such  a  great  terror  seized 
upon  her,  that  for  a  long  time  she  did  not  know  where 


314  ANNA    KARENINA 

she  was ;  and  it  was  long  before  her  trembling  hands 
could  find  the  matches,  in  order  to  light  another  candle 
in  place  of  the  one  that  had  burned  down  and  gone  out. 

"  No,  no  !  anything ....  only  to  live  !  I  love  him,  and 
he  loves  me;  these  dreadful  days  will  go  by !"  she  said 
to  herself,  feeling  that  tears  of  joy  poured  down  her 
cheeks  at  her  return  to  life.  And  to  escape  her  terror 
she  fled  to  Vronsky's  library. 

He  was  in  his  library,  soundly  sleeping.  She  went  to 
him,  and,  holding  the  candle  above  his  face,  looked  at 
him  a  long  time.  Now,  as  he  slept,  she  felt  such  love 
for  him,  that  at  the  sight  of  him  she  could  not  refrain 
from  tears  of  tenderness;  but  she  knew  that,  if  he  woke 
he  would  look  at  her  with  a  cold,  self-justifying  look, 
and  that  before  she  spoke  a  word  of  her  love  she  would 
not  be  able  to  resist  the  temptation  of  proving  to  him 
how  wrong  he  was. 

Without  waking  him  she  went  back  to  her  room ;  and, 
after  a  second  dose  of  opium,  she  fell  into"a  heavy  sleep 
which  lasted  till  morning,  and  all  the  time  she  was  con- 
scious of  herself. 

Toward  morning  she  had  the  frightful  nightmare 
which  she  had  experienced  several  times  even  before 
her  liaison  with  Vronsky.  She  saw  a  little  old  man, 
with  unkempt  beard,  doing  something,  bending  over  a 
gourd,  and  muttering  unintelligible  French  words ;  and, 
as  always  when  she  had  this  nightmare,  and  therein 
lay  the  horror  of  the  dream,  she  felt  that  the  little  old 
man  paid  no  heed  to  her,  but  did  this  horrible  some- 
thing in  the  gourd  over  her  head.  She  awoke  in  a  cold 
perspiration. 

When  she  got  up,  the  events  of  the  day  before  seemed 
enveloped  in  mist. 

"There  was  a  quarrel.  It  has  happened  several 
times  before.  I  said  I  had  a  headache,  and  he  didn't 
come  to  see  me.  That  is  all.  To-morrow  we  shall  go 
away.  I  must  see  him,  and  get  ready  for  our  depar- 
ture," she  said  to  herself ;  and,  knowing  that  he  was  in 
his  library,  she  started  to  go  to  him. 
.   But,  in  crossing  the  drawing-room,  her  attention  was 


ANNA    KARENINA  315 

arrested  by  the  sound  of  a  carriage  stopping,  and  she 
looked  out  of  the  window  and  saw  a  carriage,  from  the 
window  of  which  a  young  girl  in  a  light  hat  was  putting 
out  her  head,  and  giving  orders  to  the  footman,  who 
was  at  the  door-bell.  After  a  colloquy  in  the  vestibule, 
some  one  came  up-stairs,  and  Anna  heard  Vronsky's 
steps  in  the  room  next  the  drawing-room.  Then  he  ran 
swiftly  down-stairs.  Anna  looked  out  again,  and  saw 
him  go  out  to  the  door-steps  bare-headed,  and  approach 
the  carriage.  The  young  girl  in  the  lilac-colored  hat 
handed  him  a  package.  Vronsky  smiled  as  he  spoke 
to  her.  The  carriage  drove  away,  and  Vronsky  came 
quickly  up-stairs  again. 

The  mist  which  enwrapped  everything  in  Anna's  soul 
suddenly  cleared  away.  The  feehngs  of  the  day  before 
tore  her  anguished  heart  more  cruelly  than  ever.  She 
now  could  not  understand  how  she  could  have  so  far 
debased  herself  as  to  stay  a  single  day  under  his  roof. 
She  went  to  his  library,  to  acquaint  him  with  the  resolu- 
tion that  she  had  taken. 

"  The  Princess  Sorokin  and  her  daughter  have  brought 
me  the  money  and  papers  from  maman.  I  could  not 
get  them  yesterday.  How  is  your  headache  .-^  better  }  " 
he  said  quietly,  seeming  not  to  notice  the  gloomy  and 
solemn  expression  of  Anna's  face. 

She  did  not  reply ;  but,  standing  in  the  middle  of  the 
room,  she  looked  fixedly  at  him.  He  glanced  at  her 
for  an  instant,  his  brows  contracted,  and  he  continued  to 
read  his  letter.  Without  speaking,  Anna  turned  slowly 
about,  and  left  the  room.  He  might  yet  detain  her  ;  but 
she  had  reached  the  door.  He  said  not  a  word,  the  only 
sound  heard  was  the  rustling  of  the  sheet  of  paper. 

"  Oh !  by  the  way,"  he  exclaimed,  just  as  she  was  on 
the  threshold,  "do  we  really  go  to-morrow  ?  " 

"  You,  but  not  I,"  answered  she,  turning  round  on  him. 

"Anna,  it  is  impossible  to  live  in  this  way." 

"You,  not  I,"  she  repeated. 

"  It 's  becoming  intolerable  !  " 

"  You  ....  you  will  be  sorry  for  this,"  said  she  ;  and  she 
went  out. 


3i6  ANNA   KARENINA 

Frightened  at  the  despairing  tone  with  which  she 
spoke  those  last  words,  he  sprang  up  and  started  to 
follow  her ;  but,  on  reflection,  he  seated  himself  again, 
and,  firmly  clenching  his  teeth,  he  frowned.  That  unbe- 
coming threat,  as  he  termed  it,  irritated  him.  "  I  have  tried 
every  means,"  he  said  to  himself  :  "  the  only  thing  left  is 
to  pay  no  attention  ;  "  and  he  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to 
the  city  and  to  his  mother's  again,  to  have  her  sign  a  deed, 

Anna  heard  the  sound  of  his  steps  in  his  library  and 
the  dining-room.  He  stopped  at  the  drawing-room. 
But  he  did  not  come  to  her :  he  only  gave  some  direc- 
tions about  sending  the  stallion  to  Voitof.  Then  she 
heard  the  calash  drive  to  the  entrance,  a  door  opened 
and  Vronsky  went  out.  Then  he  came  back  into  the 
vestibule  again  and  some  one  ran  up-stairs.  It  was  his 
valet,  who  was  sent  to  get  a  pair  of  forgotten  gloves. 
She  went  to  the  window,  and  saw  Vronsky  take  his 
gloves,  then  touch  the  coachman's  back,  and  say  some 
words  to  him  ;  and  then,  without  glancing  at  the  window, 
he  sat  down  as  usual,  in  the  carriage,  crossing  one  leg 
over  the  other.  And,  putting  on  the  gloves,  he  turned 
the  corner,  and  disappeared  from  Anna's  sight. 


CHAPTER   XXVII 

"  He  is  gone.  It 's  all  over,"  said  Anna  to  herself,  as 
she  stood  at  the  window ;  and  the  impression  of  black- 
ness which  she  had  felt  in  the  night  at  the  dying  candle 
and  that  of  the  nightmare  blending  in  one,  filled  her 
heart  with  chill  horror.  "  No,  I  cannot  endure  this,"  she 
cried,  and,  crossing  the  room,  she  rang  the  bell  violently. 
She  was  so  afraid  to  stay  alone,  that,  without  waiting, 
she  went  to  meet  the  servant. 

"  Find  out  where  the  count  has  gone." 

The  man  replied  that  he  had  gone  to  the  stables. 
"  He  left  word  that  the  carriage  would  return  immedi- 
ately if  you  wished  to  go  out." 

"  Very  well.  Wait,  I  am  going  to  write  a  note,  send 
Mikhail  with  it  to  the  stables.     Have  him  hurry." 


ANNA   KARENINA  31J 

She  sat  down  and  wrote  :  — 

1  am  to  blame.  Come  back.  We  must  explain  things. 
For  Heaven's  sake,  come  !     I  am  frightened. 

She  sealed  the  note,  and  gave  it  to  the  servant ;  and, 
in  her  fear  of  being  alone,  she  went  to  the  nursery. 

"  Why,  he  is  not  the  same  as  he  was.  Where  are  his 
blue  eyes,  and  his  pretty,  timid  smile .-' "  was  her  first 
thought  when  she  saw  the  plump  and  rosy  little  girl,  with 
her  dark  curly  hair,  instead  of  Serozha,  whom,  in  the 
confusion  of  her  thoughts,  she  had  expected  to  see. 

The  little  girl  was  seated  at  the  table,  noisily  tapping 
on  it  with  a  glass  stopper.  She  looked  unintelligently  at 
her  mother  with  two  dark,  currant-colored  eyes.  Answer- 
ing the  English  nurse  that  she  was  well,  and  expected  to 
go  to  the  country  the  next  day,  Anna  sat  down  beside 
the  little  girl,  and  began  to  spin  the  stopper  from  the 
carafe  in  front  of  her.  The  motion  of  the  child's  brows 
and  her  hearty  laugh  recalled  Vronsky  so  vividly  that 
Anna,  choking  down  her  sobs,  rose  suddenly,  and  hur- 
ried from  the  room. 

"  Is  it  possible  that  all  is  over  ?  No,  it  cannot  be," 
thought  she.  "  He  will  return.  But  how  can  he  explain 
that  smile  of  his  and  his  animation,  after  he  spoke  with 
/lerf  But  even  if  he  doesn't  explain  it,  I  shall  believe 
him ;  if  I  do  not  believe,  there  is  only  one  thing  left, 
and  that  I  do  not  want." 

She  looked  at  her  watch.    Twelve  minutes  had  gone  by. 

"  Now  he  must  have  received  my  note,  and  must  come 
back  in  ten  minutes.  And  what  if  he  should  n't  come 
back."*  No,  but  that's  impossible.  He  must  not  find 
me  with  red  eyes ;  I  '11  go  and  bathe  my  face.  There, 
there!  Have  I  brushed  my  hair  yet.-"'  She  could  not 
remember.  She  put  her  hands  to  her  head.  "  Yes,  I 
brushed  my  hair,  but  I  really  don't  remember  when  it 
was."  She  actually  did  not  believe  that  her  hands  told 
her  truly,  and  she  went  to  the  pier-glass  to  see.  Her 
hair  was  properly  arranged,  but  she  could  not  remember 
anything  about  it. 

"  Who  is  this  .''  "  she  asked  herself,  as  she  caught  sight 


jf^.  ANNA    KARENINA 

of  a  glowing  face  and  strangely  brilliant  eyes  gazing  at 
her  from  the  mirror.  "  Yes,  it  is  I."  And  she  suddenly 
seemed  to  feel  his  kisses ;  and  she  shivered,  and  shrugged 
her  shoulders.  Then  she  put  her  hand  to  her  lips,  and 
kissed  it.  "  It  must  be  that  I  am  going  out  of  my 
mind ; "  and  she  fled  to  her  room,  which  Annushka  was 
putting  in  order. 

"  Annushka,"  she  said,  as  she  stood  before  the  maid, 
not  knowing  what  to  say. 

"  Will  you  go  to  Darya  Aleksandrovna's .-' "  said  the 
maid,  as  if  reading  her  thoughts. 

'•  To  Darya  Aleksandrovna's  ?  Yes,  I  will  go  there. 
Fifteen  minutes  to  go,  fifteen  to  come  back.  He  ought 
to  be  here."  She  looked  at  her  watch.  "  Oh !  how 
could  he  leave  me  in  such  a  condition  .-*  How  can  he 
live,  and  not  be  at  peace  with  me  .'' "  She  went  to  the 
window,  and  looked  out  into  the  street ;  perhaps  she 
had  made  a  mistake  in  calculating,  and  she  began  over 
again  to  count  the  minutes  since  he  left. 

Just  as  she  was  about  going  to  consult  the  great  clock, 
so  as  to  verify  hers,  a  carriage  stopped  before  the  door. 
It  was  the  count's  calash,  but  no  one  came  up-stairs,  and 
she  heard  voices  in  the  vestibule.  It  was  the  messenger, 
who  came  back  in  the  calash.     She  hurrie^l  down  to  him. 

"  They  were  too  late  for  the  count.  He  had  gone  to 
the  Nizhegorodsky  railway  station." 

"  What  is  the  matter .?  what  is  it  ?  "  she  asked,  address- 
ing the  ruddy,  jolly  Mikhafl,  who  handed  her  back  the 
note.     Oh,  yes ;  he  did  not  receive  it,  she  remembered. 

"  Go  with  this  note  to  the  Countess  Vronsky's  in  the 
country,  you  understand  ?  and  bring  an  answer  back  to 
me  immediately  1 " 

"  But  what  shall  I  do.?"  she  thought  "Yes,  I  will 
go  to  see  Dolly,  to  be  sure,  or  else  I  shall  go  out  of  my 
mind.  Ah  !  I  might  telegraph  !  "  And  she  wrote  the 
following  despatch :  — 

I  absolutely  must  speak  to  you.     Come  back  immediately. 

Having  sent  the  telegram,  she  went  and  dressed ;  and 
then,  with  her  hat  on,  she  again  looked  at  the  stout, 


ANNA    KARENINA  j^tj 

good-natured  Annushka,  whose  little,  gentle  gray  eyes 
were  full  of  sympathy. 

*'  Annushka,  my  dear,  what  am  I  to  do  ?  "  murmured 
she,  dropping  into  an  arm-chair  with  a  sob. 

"You  mustn't  excite  yourself  so,  Anna  Arkady evna. 
Go  out  for  a  drive ;  that  will  divert  you.  These  things 
will  happen,"  said  the  maid. 

"  Yes,  I  am  going  out,"  said  Anna,  collecting  her 
thoughts,  and  rising.  "  If  a  despatch  comes  while  I  am 
gone,  send  it  to  Darya  Aleksandrovna's.  Or  ....no,  I 
will  come  back  —  I  must  keep  from  thinking.  I  must 
do  something,  and  go  out,  and,  above  all,  get  out  of  this 
house,"  thought  she,  listening,  with  alarm,  to  the  wild 
beating  of  her  heart.  She  hastened  out  and  got  into  the 
calash. 

"  Where  do  you  wish  to  go  .''  "  asked  Piotr,  just  before 
he  took  his  seat  on  the  box. 

"To  Znamenko,  to  the  Oblonskys'." 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

The  weather  was  clear.  A  fine,  thick  rain  had  fallen 
all  the  morning,  but  now  it  had  just  cleared  off.  The 
roofs  and  flagstones  and  harnesses  and  the  metal-work 
of  the  carriages  glittered  in  the  May  sunshine.  It  was 
three  o'clock,  the  liveliest  time  in  the  streets. 

Sitting  in  the  corner  of  the  comfortable  calash,  which 
swung  easily  on  its  elastic  springs  as  it  rolled  swiftly 
along,  drawn  by  a  pair  of  grays,  Anna,  soothed  by  the 
monotonous  rumble  of  the  wheels  and  the  hurrying  im- 
pressions that  she  received  in  the  fresh,  pure  air,  reviewed 
the  events  of  the  past  few  days,  and  her  situation  seemed 
entirely  different  from  what  it  had  been  at  home.  Now, 
the  idea  of  death  did  not  frighten  her  so  much,  and  death 
itself  did  not  seem  to  her  so  inevitable.  Now  she  blamed 
herself  for  the  humiliation  to  which  she  had  stooped. 

"  I  begged  hinl  to  forgive  me.  I  bent  before  him.  I 
accused  myself.  Why  did  I  ?  Can't  I  live  without 
him?" 


320  ANNA   KARENINA 

And,  leaving  this  question  unanswered,  she  began  to 
read  the  sign-boards  mechanically. 

"  Kontor  i  sklad.  Ziibnoi  Vratch}  —  Yes,  I  will  tell 
Dolly  all  about  it.  She  does  not  love  Vronsky.  It  will 
be  hard,  shameful, ....  but  I  will  confess  everything.  She 
loves  me.  I  will  follow  her  advice.  I  will  not  allow 
him  to  treat  me  like  a  child.  Philoppof — KalatcJii ; 
they  say  they  send  those  loaves  as  far  as  Petersburg. 
The  water  at  Moscow  is  so  good ;  ah !  the  wells  of 
Muitishchensky  ! " 

And  she  remembered  how  long,  long  ago,  when  she 
was  seventeen,  she  had  gone  with  her  aunt  to  the 
monastery  of  Troitsa.^ 

"They  traveled  with  horses  in  those  days.  Was  it 
really  I,  with  the  red  hands }  How  many  things  which 
seemed  then  beautiful  and  unattainable  are  worthless  to 
me  now !  What  I  was  then,  is  passed  forever  beyond 
recall !  And  ages  could  not  bring  me  back.  Would  I 
have  believed  then  that  I  could  have  fallen  into  such 
debasement  .-* ....  How  proud  and  self-satisfied  he  will  be 

when  he  reads  my  note!     But  I  will  tell  him How 

disagreeable  this  paint  smells !  Why  are  they  always 
painting  and  building  1  Modui  i  uborui.  Fashionable 
Dressmaker,"  she  read. 

A  man  bowed  to  her ;  it  was  Annushka's  husband. 

"  Our  parasites,  as  Vronsky  says.  Ours }  Why  otirs  ? 
Ah,  if  one  could  tear  out  the  past  by  the  roots !  But 
that's  impossible;  one  can  only  avoid  thinking  about  it. 
And  I  do  that." 

And  yet,  here  she  recalled  her  past  with  Aleksel 
Aleksandrovitch,  and  how  she  had  driven  him  out  of  her 
memory. 

"  Dolly  will  think  that  I  am  leaving  the  second  hus- 
band, and  that  I  am,  therefore,  really  bad.  Do  I  want 
to  be  good  .-*     I  cannot."  ....  And  she  felt  the  tears  com- 

*  Office  and  warehouse.    Surgeon-Dentist. 

2  The  Troitskata  Lavra,  or  Trinity  Laura,  near  Moscow,  founded  by 
St.  Sergius  in  the  fourteenth  century  in  the  time  of  the  Grand  Prince 
Simeon;  the  richest  and  most  famous  institution  of  its  kind  in  Russia.  At 
one  time  it  had  700  monks  and  1 10,000  iouh,  or  male  serfs. 


ANNA    KARENINA  321 

ing.  And,  seeing  two  happy  young  girls  going  by,  she 
fell  to  wondering  why  they  were  smiling  at  each  other. 
"  Probably    about   love.       They   don't    know    how    sad 

and  wretched  it  is The  boulevards  and  the  children  ! 

There  are  three  little  boys,  playing  horse.  Serozha ! 
my  little  Serozha.     I  shall  lose  all.     I  shall  never  have 

him  again Well,    if  he  does  not   come   back,  all   is 

indeed  lost.  Perhaps  he  missed  the  train,  and  has 
already  reached  home.  Do  I  wish  to  humiliate  myself 
still  more.-*"  she  said,  reproaching  herself  for  her  weak- 
ness. "  No,  I  'm  going  to  Dolly's.  I  shall  say  to  her, 
'  I  am  unhappy,  I  am  suffering ;  I  deserve  it ;  but  I  am 
so  unhappy,  help  me !  *  Oh,  these  horses,  this  calash  ! 
how  I  hate  to  use  them  !  they  are  his.  I  will  never  see 
them  again ! " 

While  thinking  over  what  she  should  say  to  Dolly,  and 
deliberately  torturing  her  heart,  she  reached  the  house, 
and  went  up  the  steps. 

"  Is  there  any  one  here  } "  she  asked,  in  the  anteroom. 

"  Katerina  Aleksandrovna  Levina,"  answered  the 
servant. 

**  Kitty,  the  same  Kitty  with  whom  Vronsky  was  once 
in  love,"  thought  Anna ;  "  and  he  thinks  of  her  with 
love,  and  is  sorry  that  he  did  not  marry  her;  and  he 
thinks  of  me  with  hate,  and  is  sorry  that  he  ever  met 
me. 

When  Anna  arrived,  the  two  sisters  were  talking  over 
the  subject  of  feeding  babies.  Dolly  went  alone  to  the 
drawing-room  to  receive  the  guest  that  had  come  to 
disturb  their  conversation. 

"  You  have  n't  gone  away  yet  ?  I  was  just  going  to 
your  house,"  said  Dolly,  "  I  have  a  letter  from  Stiva 
to-day." 

"We  had  a  despatch,"  answered  Anna,  glancing  round 
to  see  if  Kitty  was  coming. 

"He  writes  that  he  does  not  understand  what  AlekseK 
Aleksandrovitch  requires,  but  that  he  will  not  come  away 
till  he  has  a  definite  answer." 

"  I  thought  you  had  company.  May  I  read  the 
letter .? " 

VOL.  III.  —  21 


321  ANNA    KARENINA 

"Yes, ....  Kitty,"  said  Dolly,  confused;  "she  is  in  the 
nursery.     You  know  she  has  been  very  ill." 

"  I  heard  so.     May  I  read  the  letter .-'  " 

"  Certainly  ;  I  '11  go  and  get  it.  AlekseY  Aleksandro- 
vitch  does  not  refuse ;  on  the  contrary,  Stiva  is  quite 
hopeful,"  said  Dolly,  stopping  at  the  door. 

"  I  neither  hope  nor  want  anything,"  said  Anna. 

"  Does  Kitty  think  it  humiliating  to  meet  me } " 
thought  Anna,  when  she  was  left  alone.  "  Perhaps  she 
is  right ;  but  she  who  once  loved  Vronsky  has  no  right 
to  thrust  it  in  my  face,  even  if  she  is  right.  I  know 
that  a  virtuous  woman  cannot  receive  me  in  my  present 
position.  I  have  given  up  everything  for  him,  and  this 
is  my  reward !  Ah,  how  I  hate  him  !  Why  did  I  come 
here  ?     I  am  more  wretched  here  than  at  home." 

She  heard  the  voices  of  the  two  sisters  in  an  adjoin- 
ing room. 

"  And  what  am  I  to  say  to  Dolly  ?  Delight  Kitty  with 
the  spectacle  of  my  misery .''  Submit  to  her  condescen- 
sion .''  Never !  Even  Dolly  would  n't  understand.  I 
will  not  say  anything  to  her.  All  I  should  want  to  see 
Kitty  for  would  be  to  show  her  that  I  am  indifferent,  — 
that  I  scorn  every  one  and  everything." 

Dolly  came  in  with  the  letter ;  Anna  silently  looked 
it  through,  and  returned  it. 

"I  knew  all  that,"  said  she;  "but  it  doesn't  interest 
me  at  all." 

"  Now,  why  not  ?  I  have  good  hopes,"  said  Dolly,  look- 
ing critically  at  Anna.  She  had  never  seen  her  in 
such  a  strange  state  of  irritation.  "When  do  you  go 
away?" 

Anna  half  closed  her  eyes,  and  looked  before  her  with- 
out answering. 

"Is  Kitty  afraid  of  me.-*"  she  asked,  after  a  moment, 
glancing  toward  the  door,  with  heightened  color. 

"  Akh,  what  nonsense  !     But  she  is  nursing  the  baby 

....  it  does  not  go  very  well  yet I  have  been  giving 

her  some  advice....  she  will  be  delighted,  and  is  coming 
directly,"  answered  Dolly,  awkwardly,  not  knowing  how 
to  tell  a  fib.     "  Oh,  there  she  is  now. " 


ANNA    KARENINA      f  323 

When  Kitty  heard  that  Anna  was  there,  she  had  not 
wished  to  appear ;  but  Dolly  had  persuaded  her.  Con- 
trolling her  repugnance,  she  went  to  the  parlor,  and, 
blushing  as  she  approached  Anna,  she  held  out  her 
hand. 

"  I  am  very  glad,"  said  she,  in  a  trembling  voice. 

Kitty  was  confused  by  the  struggle  between  her  dis- 
like of  this  wicked"  woman  and  her  desire  to  be  polite 
to  her ;  but,  as  soon  as  she  saw  Anna's  beautiful,  attrac- 
tive face,  all  her  unfriendliness  vanished. 

"  I  should  not  have  been  surprised  if  you  had  refused 
to  see  me;  I  am  used  to  everything,"  said  Anna.  "You 
have  been  very  ill;  yes,  you  have  changed." 

Kitty  felt  that  Anna  looked  at  her  with  dislike,  and 
she  attributed  her  unfriendliness  to  the  awkward  position 
in  which  she  stood  in  regard  to  herself,  having  once  been 
her  especial  favorite.  Her  heart  was  filled  with  com- 
passion. 

They  talked  of  Kitty's  illness,  about  her  baby,  and  of 
Stiva ;  but  evidently  nothing  interested  Anna. 

"  I  came  to  bid  you  good-by,"  she  said  to  Dolly,  as 
she  rose. 

"  When  do  you  go  .? " 

But,  without  answering  her,  Anna  turned  to  Kitty. 

"Well,  I  am  very  glad  to  have  seen  you  again,"  said 
she,  with  a  smile.  "  I  've  heard  so  much  about  you  from 
every  one,  and  especially  from  your  husband.  He  came 
to  see  me,  and  I  liked  him  very  much,"  she  added,  with 
a  wicked  emphasis.     "  Where  is  he  ?  " 

"  He  has  gone  to  the  country,"  answered  Kitty, 
blushing. 

"  Give  my  love  to  him ;  now  don't  forget !  " 

"  I  will  do  it,  certainly,"  said  Kitty,  simply,  with  a  com- 
passionate look. 

"  So,  prashchai,  Dolly,  good-by,"  said  Anna,  kissing 
her ;  and,  shaking  hands  with  Kitty,  she  hastened  away. 

"  She  is  as  fascinating  as  ever,"  remarked  Kitty,  to 
her  sister,  when  Dolly  rejoined  Kitty.  "And  how 
beautiful  she  is !  But  there  is  something  very  painful 
about  her....  terribly  painful." 


324  1     ANNA    KARENINA 

"  She  does  n't  seem  to  be  in  her  usual  state  to-day.  1 
thought  she  came  near  bursting  into  tears,  when  I  accom- 
panied her  into  the  anteroom." 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

Anna  took  her  seat  in  her  carriage  in  an  even  unhap- 
pier  state  of  mind  than  she  had  been  when  she  left  her 
house.  In  addition  to  her  former  sufferings,  she  now 
felt  the  humiliation  and  sense  of  moral  degeneracy  which 
her  meeting  with  Kitty  had  clearly  made  evident. 

"  Where  would  you  wish  to  go  now  .-'  Home .-'  "  asked 
Piotr. 

"  Yes,  home,"  she  replied,  now  not  thinking  at  all 
where  she  was  going. 

"  They  looked  on  me  as  some  strange,  incomprehen- 
sible curiosity.  —  What  can  that  man  be  saying  so 
eagerly  to  the  other  .-•  "  thought  she,  seeing  two  passers- 
by  talking  together.  "  Is  it  possible  to  say  what  one 
really  feels  ?  I  wanted  to  confess  to  Dolly,  and  I  am 
glad  that  I  kept  still.  How  she  would  have  rejoiced  at 
my  unhappiness !  She  would  have  tried  to  hide  it,  but 
at  heart  she  would  have  been  glad ;  she  would  have 
thought  it  just  that  I  should  be  punished  for  that  happi- 
ness which  she  begrudged  me.  And  Kitty  would  have 
been  still  more  pleased.  How  I  read  her  through  and 
through !  She  knows  her  husband  liked  me  uncommonly 
well,  and  she  is  jealous,  and  hates  me;  and,  what 's  more, 
she  despises  me.  In  her  eyes,  I  am  an  immoral  woman. 
If  I  had  been  an  immoral  woman  I  might  have  made 
/tim  fall  in  love  with  me,  if  I  had  wanted  to !  I  confess 
I  thought  of  it.  —  There  goes  a  man  who  is  delighted 
with  his  own  looks,"  she  said  to  herself,  as  a  tall,  florid 
man  went  by,  and,  mistaking  her  for  an  acquaintance, 
lifted  his  shiny  hat  from  his  shiny  bald  head,  and 
instantly  recognized  his  mistake. 

"  He  thought  he  knew  me  !  He  knows  me  quite  as 
well  as  any  one  in  the  world  knows  me.  I  don't  know 
myself ;  I  only  know  my  appetites^  as  the  French  say.  — 


ANNA    KARENINA  32^ 

They  covet  some  of  that  bad  ice-cream,"  she  said  to 
herself,  as  she  watched  two  Httle  street  children  stand- 
ing in  front  of  a  vender,  who  had  just  set  down  from 
his  head  his  tub  of  ice-cream,  and  was  wiping  his  face 
with  a  corner  of  his  coat. 

"  We  all  want  our  sweet  delicacies ;  if  not  sugar- 
plums, then  bad  ice-cream,  just  like  Kitty,  who,  not 
catching  Vronsky,  took  Levin.  She  envies  me,  she 
hates  me ;  and  we  all  hate  one  another,  I  Kitty,  and 
Kitty  me.     That  is  a  fact. —  Tiiitkin  coiffeur — Je  inefais 

coiffer  par    Tiutkin I    will    tell   him   this    nonsense 

when  he  comes,"  thought  she,  and  smiled,  and  then 
instantly  remembered  that  there  was  no  one  now  to 
whom  she  could  tell  amusing  things.  "There  is  noth- 
ing amusing,  nothing  gay;  it  is  all  disgusting.  The 
vesper-bell  is  ringing,  and  that  storekeeper  is  crossing 
himself  so  quickly  that  one  would  think  he  was  afraid 
of  losing  the  chance. 

"Why  these  churches,  these  bells,  these  lies.-'  Just 
to  hide  the  fact  that  we  all  hate  one  another,  like  those 
izvoshchiks  who  are  swearing  at  each  other  so  angrily. 
Yashvin  was  right  when  he  said,  '  He  is  after  my  shirt, 
and  I  am  after  his.'     That  is  a  fact." 

She  was  so  engrossed  by  these  thoughts  that  she  for- 
got her  grief  for  a  while,  and  was  surprised  when  the 
carriage  stopped  in  front  of  her  house.  The  sight  of 
the  Swiss,  coming  to  meet  her,  rerninded  her  that  she 
had  sent  a  letter  and  a  telegram. 

"  Is  there  an  answer  yet  .-•  " 

"I  will  go  and  see,"  said  the  Swiss;  and,  looking  on 
the  secretary,  he  came  back  in  a  moment  with  a  tele- 
gram in  a  thin,  square  envelop.     Anna  read  :  — 

I  cannot  be  back  before  ten  o  'clock.     Vronsky. 

"  And  has  the  messenger  come  back.? " 

"  Not  yet,"  replied  the  Swiss. 

"  Ah !  if  that  is  so,  then  I  know  what  I  must  do ; " 
and,  feeling  a  vague  sense  of  anger  and  a  desire  for 
vengeance  arising  in  her  soul,  she  ran  up-stairs. 

"  I    myself   will    go    and   find   him,"    thought    she. 


S26  ANNA   KARENINA 

"  Before  I  go  away  forever,  I  will  tell  him  all.  I  never 
hated  any  one  as  I  hate  this  man  !  " 

And  when  she  caught  sight  of  Vronsky's  hat  hanging 
on  the  peg,  she  shivered  with  aversion.  She  did  not 
reflect  that  the  despatch  was  in  answer  to  her  telegram, 
and  that  he  could  not  as  yet  have  received  her  note. 
She  imagined  him  now  chatting  gayly  with  his  mother 
and  the  Princess  Sorokin,  without  a  thought  of  her 
suffering. 

"  Yes,  I  must  go  as  quickly  as  possible,"  she  said,  not 
knowing  at  all  whither  she  should  go. 

She  felt  that  she  must  fly  from  the  thoughts  that 
oppressed  her  in  this  terrible  house.  The  servants,  the 
walls,  the  furniture,  everything  about  it,  filled  her  with 
disgust  and  pain,  and  crushed  her  with  a  terrible 
weight. 

"  Yes,  I  must  go  to  the  railroad  station,  and  if  not 
there,  then  somewhere  else,  to  punish  him." 

She  looked  at  the  time-table  in  the  newspaper.  The 
evening  train  went  at  two  minutes  past  eight. 

"  Yes,  I  shall  have  plenty  of  time." 

She  ordered  the  two  other  horses  to  be  harnessed,  and 
she  had  transferred  from  her  trunk  to  her  traveling-bag 
things  enough  to  last  for  several  days.  She  knew  that 
she  should  never  come  back  again.  She  revolved  a 
thousand  plans  in  her  head,  and  determined  that  when 
she  had  done  what  she  had  in  mind  to  do,  either  at  the 
countess's  country  seat,  or  at  the  station,  she  would  go 
to  the  first  city  on  the  Nizhni  Novgorod  Railway  and 
stay  there. 

Dinner  was  on  the  table.  She  went  to  it,  smelt  the 
bread  and  cheese,  and  persuading  herself  that  the  odor 
of  the  victuals  was  repugnant  to  her,  she  ordered 
the  carriage  again,  and  went  out.  The  house  was 
already  casting  a  shadow  across  the  wide  street ;  but 
the  sky  was  clear,  and  it  was  warm  in  the  sun.  An- 
nushka,  who  brought  her  things,  and  Piotr,  who  carried 
them  to  the  carriage,  and  the  coachman,  who  was  evi- 
dently angry,  all  were  disagreeable  to  her,  and  vexed 
her  with  their  words  and  motions. 


ANNA    KARENINA  327 

"  I  do  not  need  you,  Piotr." 

"  Who  will  get  your  ticket  ? " 

"  Well,  go  if  you  wish  ;  it  makes  no  difference  to  me," 
she  said  pettishly. 

Piotr  nimbly  mounted  the  box,  and,  folding  his  arms, 
ordered  the  coachman  to  drive  to  the  station. 


CHAPTER   XXX 

"  Now  I  am  myself  again.  Now  I  remember  it  all," 
said  Anna  to  herself,  as  soon  as  the  calash  started,  and, 
rocking  a  little,  rattled  along  over  the  cobble-stones  of 
the  pavement ;  and  once  more  her  impressions  began  to 
go  whirling  through  her  mind. 

"  Yes,  what  was  that  good  thing  that  I  was  thinking 
about  last.''  Tiutkin,  the  coiffeur?  Oh,  no;  not  that. 
Oh,  yes ;  what  Yashvin  said  about  the  struggle  for 
existence,  and  hatred,  the  only  thing  that  unites  men. 
No  ;  we  go  at  haphazard." 

She  saw  in  a  carriage  drawn  by  four  horses  a  party 
of  merrymakers,  who  had  evidently  come  to  the  city  for 
a  pleasure-trip. 

"And  the  dog  which  you  take  with  you  does  not  help 
you  at  all.  You  can't  get  out  of  yourself."  Glancing 
in  the  direction  where  Piotr  was  turning,  she  saw  a 
working-man  almost  dead  drunk,  who,  with  a  flopping 
head,  was  being  led  by  a  policeman.  She  added  :  "  That 
man's  way  is  quicker.  Count  Vronsky  and  I  did  not 
reach  this  pleasure,  though  we  expected  much." 

And  now  for  the  first  time  Anna  turned  this  bright 
light,  all-revealing,  upon  her  relations  with  the  count; 
hitherto  she  had  steadfastly  refused  to  do  so. 

"  What  did  he  seek  in  me .''  A  satisfaction  for  his 
vanity,  rather  than  for  his  love !  " 

She  remembered  Vronsky's  words,  and  the  expression 
of  his  face,  which  reminded  her  of  a  submissive  dog, 
when  they  first  met  and  loved.  Everything  seemed  a 
confirmation  of  this  thought. 

"  Yes ;    he  cared  for  the  triumph  of   success   above 


328  ANNA    KARENINA 

everything.  Of  course,  he  loved  me,  but  chiefly  from 
vanity.  Now  that  he  is  not  proud  of  me  any  more,  it  is 
over.  He  is  ashamed  of  me.  He  has  taken  from  me 
all  that  he  could  take,  and  now  I  am  of  no  use  to  him. 
I  weigh  upon  him,  and  he  does  not  want  to  be  in  dis- 
honorable relationship  with  me.  He  said,  yesterday,  he 
wanted  the  divorce  and  to  marry  me  so  as  to  burn  his 
ships.  Perhaps  he  loves  me  still, — but  how  .-•  The 
zest  is  gone,"  she  said  in  EngUsh.  —  "  That  man  likes 
to  show  off,  and  he  is  mighty  proud  of  himself,"  she 
added,  as  she  looked  at  a  ruddy-faced  man  riding  by  on 
a  hired  horse. 

"  There  is  nothing  about  me  any  longer  to  his  taste. 
If  I  leave  him,  he  will  rejoice  in  the  bottom  of  his  heart." 

This  was  not  mere  hypothesis ;  she  saw  this  clearly, 
in  that  penetrating  light  which  now  revealed  to  her  the 
meaning  of  life  and  of  her  false  relations. 

"  My  love  has  been  growing  more  and  more  passion- 
ate and  selfish  ;  his  has  been  growing  fainter  and  fainter. 
That  is  why  we  cannot  get  on  together."  She  went  on 
thinking.  "  There  can't  be  any  help  for  it.  He  is  all  in 
all  to  me.  I  struggle  to  draw  him  closer  and  closer  to 
me,  and  he  wants  to  fly  from  me.  Up  to  the  time  of 
our  union,  we  flew  to  meet  each  other ;  but  now  we  move 
irresistibly  apart.  This  cannot  be  altered.  He  accuses 
me  of  being  absurdly  jealous,  —  and  I  am ;  I  confess 
that  I  am  absurdly  jealous,  and  yet  I  am  not  either.  I  am 
not  jealous,  but  my  love  is  no  longer  satisfied.  But ....  " 
she  opened  her  mouth  to  speak,  and,  in  the  excitement 
caused  by  the  stress  of  her  thoughts,  she  changed  her 
place  in  the  carriage. 

"  If  I  could  only  be  something  else  than  a  passionate 
mistress,  but  I  cannot,  and  I  do  not  wish  to  be ;  and  by 
this  very  wish  I  awake  his  dislike  of  me,  while  he  stirs 
up  all  my  evil  passions,  and  this  cannot  be  otherwise. 

"  Don't  I  know  that  he  would  not  deceive  me,  that  he 
is  no  longer  in  love  with  Kitty,  that  he  has  no  intention 
of  marrying  Sorokina  ?  I  know  it  well,  but  it  is  none 
the  easier  for  me.  If  now  that  he  no  longer  loves  me, 
he  is  kind,  affectionate  to  me,  merely  from  a  sense  of 


ANNA    KARENINA  329 

duty,  but  cannot  be  what  I  must  have,  that  would  be  a 
thousand  times  worse  than  to  have  him  angry  with  me. 
That  would  be  —  hell!  And  so  it  is.  He  has  long 
ceased  to  love  me.  When  love  ceases,  hate  begins.  —  I 
don't  know  these  streets  at  all.  What  hosts  of  houses  ! 
in  them,  people,  people,  —  no  end  of  them !  and  they 
all  hate  one  another  ! 

"  Well !  let  me  think  what  could  happen  to  me  now 
that  would  give  me  happiness  again .-'  Suppose  that 
Aleksel  Aleksandrovitch  should  consent  to  the  divorce, 
and  would  give  me  back  Serozha,  and  that  I  should  marry 
Vronsky.?" 

And  as  she  thought  of  Aleksef  Aleksandrovitch,  Anna 
could  see  him  with  extraordinary  vividness  before  her, 
as  if  alive,  with  his  dull,  lifeless,  faded  eyes,  his  white, 
blue-veined  hands,  and  his  cracking  joints,  and  the  in- 
tonations of  his  voice,  and,  as  she  recalled  their  relation 
to  each  other,  which  had  been  called  love,  she  shuddered 
with  aversion. 

"  Well !  Suppose  I  got  the  divorce,  and  were  married 
to  Vronsky,  would  not  Kitty  still  look  at  me  as  she 
looked  at  me  to-day }  She  certainly  would.  Would 
not  Serozha  ask  and  wonder  why  I  had  two  husbands .-' 
But  between  me  and  Vronsky  what  new  feeling  could  I 
imagine .''  Is  it  possible  that  our  relations  might  be,  if 
not  pleasanter,  at  least  not  so  tormenting  as  they  are 
now  }  No,  and  no  !  "  she  rephed,  without  the  least  hesi- 
tation. "  Impossible  !  We  are  growing  apart ;  and  I 
make  him  unhappy ;  he  makes  me  unhappy,  and  I  can- 
not change  him  ;  every  means  has  been  tried.  The  screw 
has  been  turned  for  the  last  time 

"  Now,  there  's  a  beggar  with  a  child.  She  thinks 
she  inspires  pity.  Were  we  not  thrown  into  the  world 
to  hate  one  another,  and  to  torment  ourselves  and  every- 
body else  .-•  Here  come  the  schoolboys  out  to  play ! 
Serozha } " 

It  reminded  her  of  her  son. 

"  I  used  to  think  that  I  loved  him,  and  I  was  touched 
by  his  gentleness.  I  have  Hved  without  him,  I  have 
given  him  up  for  my  love,  and  was  not  sorry  for  the 


330  ANNA    KARENINA 

change,  as  long  as  I  was  contented  with  him  whom  I 
loved." 

And  she  remembered  with  disgust  what  she  called 
that  love.  And  the  clearness  with  which  she  now  saw 
her  own  life,  as  well  as  the  lives  of  others,  deUghted 
her. 

"Thus  am  I,  and  Piotr  and  the  coachman,  Feodor, 
and  that  merchant,  and  all  people  from  here  to  the 
Volga,  wherever  these  remarks  are  applicable ....  and 
everywhere  and  always,"  she  thought,  as  the  carriage 
stopped  in  front  of  the  low-roofed  station  of  the  Nizhni 
Novgorod  Railway,  and  the  porters  came  hurrying  out 
to  meet  her. 

"  Shall  I  book  you  for  Obiralovka  ? "  asked  Piotr. 

She  had  entirely  forgotten  why  she  had  come,  and 
only  by  a  great  effort  could  she  understand  what  he 
meant. 

*'  Yes,"  she  said,  handing  him  her  purse ;  and,  taking 
her  little  red  bag,  she  got  out  of  the  carriage.  As  she 
entered  the  waiting-room  for  the  first-class  passengers 
with  the  throng,  she  reviewed  all  the  details  of  her  situ- 
ation and  the  plans  between  which  she  was  halting. 
And  again  hope  and  despair  in  alternation  irritated  the 
wounds  in  her  tortured,  cruelly  palpitating  heart.  As 
she  sat  on  the  stelliform  divan  waiting  for  the  train,  she 
looked  with  aversion  on  the  people  going  and  coming, — 
they  were  all  her  enemies,  —  and  thought  now  of  how, 
when  she  reached  the  station,  she  would  write  to  him, 
and  what  she  would  write,  and  then  how  at  this  very 
moment  he  —  not  thinking  of  her  suffering  —  was  com- 
plaining to  his  mother  of  his  position,  and  how  she 
would  go  to  his  room,  and  what  she  would  say  to  him. 

The  thought  that  she  might  yet  live  happily  crossed 
her  brain ;  and  how  hard  it  was  to  love  and  hate  him  at 
the  same  time  1  And,  above  all,  how  frightfully  her 
heart  was  beating ! 


ANNA    KARENINA  331 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

A  BELL  sounded,  and  some  impudent  young  men,  ugly 
and  vulgar,  and  yet  mindful  of  the  impression  they  pro- 
duced, hurried  before  her.  Then  Piotr,  in  his  livery 
and  top-boots,  with  his  dull,  good-natured  face,  crossed 
the  waiting-room,  and  came  up  to  escort  her  to  the  car- 
riage. The  noisy  men  about  the  door  stopped  talking 
while  she  passed  out  on  the  platform  ;  then  one  of  them 
whispered  to  his  neighbor  some  remark,  which  was  ap- 
parently impudent.  Anna  mounted  the  high  steps,  and 
sat  down  alone  in  the  compartment  on  the  dirty  sofa 
which  once  had  been  white,  and  laid  her  bag  beside  her 
on  the  springy  seat.  Piotr,  at  the  window,  raised  his 
gold-laced  hat,  with  an  inane  smile,  for  a  farewell,  and 
departed.  The  saucy  conductor  shut  the  door.  A 
woman,  deformed,  and  ridiculously  dressed  up,  followed 
by  a  little  girl  laughmg  affectedly,  passed  below  the  car- 
window.  Anna  looked  at  her  with  disgust.  "  Katerina 
Andreyevna  has  everything,  ma  tante,''  screamed  the  little 
girl. 

"  That  child,  even  she  is  grotesque  and  makes  gri- 
maces," thought  Anna;  and  she  seated  herself  at  the 
opposite  window  of  the  empty  apartment,  to  avoid  seeing 
the  people. 

A  dirty  hunchback  muzhik  passed  close  to  the  win- 
dow, and  examined  the  car-wheels ;  he  wore  a  cap, 
from  beneath  which  could  be  seen  tufts  of  disheveled 
hair. 

"  There  is  something  familiar  about  that  humpbacked 
muzhik,"  thought  Anna ;  and  suddenly  she  remembered 
her  nightmare,  and  drew  back,  trembling  with  fright, 
toward  the  carriage-door,  which  the  conductor  was  just 
opening  to  admit  a  lady  and  gentleman. 

"  Do  you  want  to  get  out .''  " 

Anna  did  not  answer ;  under  her  veil  the  conductor  and 
the  passengers  did  not  see  the  horror  in  her  face.  She 
returned  to  her  corner  and  sat  down  again.  The  couple 
took  seats  opposite  her,  and  cast  stealthy  but  curious 


332  ANNA   KARENINA 

glances  at  her  gown.  The  husband  and  wife  were  ob 
noxious  to  her.  The  husband  asked  her  if  she  objected 
to  smoking,  —  evidently  not  for  the  sake  of  smoking, 
but  as  an  excuse  for  entering  into  conversation  with 
her.  Having  obtained  her  permission,  he  remarked  to 
his  wife  in  French  that  he  felt  even  more  inclined  to 
talk  than  to  smoke.  They  exchanged  stupid  remarks, 
with  the  hope  of  attracting  Anna's  attention. 

Anna  clearly  saw  how  they  bored  each  other,  how 
they  hated  each  other.  It  was  impossible  not  to  hate 
such  painful  monstrosities. 

The  second  gong  sounded,  and  was  followed  by  the 
rumble  of  baggage,  noise,  shouts,  laughter.  Anna  saw 
so  clearly  that  there  was  nothing  to  rejoice  at,  that  this 
laughter  roused  her  indignation,  and  she  longed  to  stop 
her  ears  so  as  not  to  hear  it. 

At  last  the  third  signal  was  given,  the  locomotive 
whistled,  there  was  a  sound  of  escaping  steam,  the  train 
started,  and  the  gentleman  crossed  himself. 

"It  would  be  interesting  to  ask  him  what  he  meant  by 
that,"  thought  Anna,  looking  at  him  angrily.  Then  she 
looked  past  the  woman's  head,  out  of  the  car-window, 
at  the  people  apparently  moving  backward  even  while 
they  were  standing  and  walking  on  the  platform.  The 
carriage  in  which  Anna  sat  moved  past  the  stone  walls 
of  the  station,  the  switches,  the  other  carriages.  The 
wheels  with  a  ringing  sound  moved  more  easily  and 
smoothly  over  the  rails  ;  the  rays  of  the  setting  sun 
slanted  into  the  car-window,  and  a  light  breeze  played 
through  the  slats  of  the  blinds  in  the  carriages,  and 
Anna  forgot  her  neighbors,  breathed  in  the  fresh  air, 
and  took  up  again  the  course  of  her  thoughts. 

"  There !  What  was  I  thinkmg  about .-'  Oh,  yes,  I 
was  just  deciding  that  I  could  not  imagine  any  situa- 
tion in  which  my  life  could  be  anything  but  one  long 
misery.  We  are  all  dedicated  to  unhappiness;  we  all 
know  it,  and  only  seek  for  ways  to  deceive  ourselves. 
But  when  we  see  the  truth,  what  is  to  be  done  ? " 

'■  Reason  was  given  to  man,  that  he  might  avoid  what 
annoys  him,"  remarked  the  woman,  in  French,  appar- 


ANNA   KARENINA  333 

ently  delighted  with  her  sentence,  and  putting  out  hei 
tongue. 

The  words  fitted  in  with  Anna's  thought. 

"To  avoid  what  annoys  him,"  she  repeated,  and  a 
glance  at  the  red-faced  man,  and  his  thin  companion, 
showed  her  that  the  woman  looked  on  herself  as  a  mis- 
understood creature,  and  that  her  stout  husband  did  not 
contradict  this  opinion,  and  took  advantage  of  it  to  de- 
ceive her.  Anna,  as  it  were,  read  their  history,  and 
looked  into  the  most  secret  depths  of  their  hearts ;  but 
it  was  not  interesting,  and  she  went  on  with  her 
reflections. 

"  Yes,  it  annoys  me  very  much,  and  reason  was  given 
to  avoid  it ;  therefore  it  must  be  done.  Why  not  extin- 
guish the  light  when  it  shines  on  things  disgusting  to 
see  ?  But  how  ?  Why  does  the  conductor  keep  hurry- 
ing through  the  car }  Why  do  the  young  people  in  this 
carriage  scream  so  loud  ?  Why  do  they  speak  ?  What 
are  they  laughing  at .''  It  is  all  false,  all  a  lie,  all  decep- 
tion, all  vanity  and  vexation." 

When  the  train  reached  the  station,  Anna  went  out 
with  the  other  passengers,  and,  with  the  idea  of  avoiding 
too  rude  a  contact  with  the  bustling  crowd,  she  hesitated 
on  the  platform,  trying  to  recollect  why  she  had  come, 
and  what  she  meant  to  do.  All  that  seemed  to  her  pos- 
sible before  to  do,  now  seemed  to  her  difficult  to  exe- 
cute, especially  amid  this  noisy  crowd,  which  would  not 
leave  her  in  peace.  Now  the  porters  came  to  her,  to 
offer  her  their  services ;  now  some  young  men,  clattering 
with  their  heels  up  and  down  the  platform,  and  talking 
loud,  observed  her  curiously ;  now  hurrying  passengers 
pushed  her  aside. 

Finally,  remembering  that  she  was  proposing  to  go 
farther  if  there  was  no  answer  from  Vronsky,  she 
stopped  an  official,  and  asked  him  'f  a  coachman  had 
not  been  there  with  a  letter  for  Count  Vronsky. 

"  Count  Vronsky  ?  Just  now  some  one  was  here. 
Princess  Sorokin  and  her  daughter  met  him.  What 
kind  of  a  looking  man  is  this  coachman .-'" 

Even  while  she  was  talking  with  the  official,  the  coach* 


334  ANNA    KARENINA 

man  Mikhail,  rosy  and  gay  in  his  elegant  blue  livery  and 
watch-chain,  immensely  proud  that  he  had  fulfilled  his 
commission  so  well,  came  to  her  and  handed  her  a 
note. 

Anna  broke  the  seal,  and  her  heart  stood  still  even 
before  she  had  read  the  carelessly  written  lines :  — 

I  am  very  sorry  that  your  note  did  not  find  me  in  Moscow. 
I  shall  return  at  ten  o'clock. 

"Yes,  that  is  what  I  expected,"  she  said  to  herself, 
with  an  angry  grimace. 

"  Very  good,  you  may  go  home,"  she  said  to  Mikhalfl. 
'  She  spoke  the  words  slowly  and  gently,  because  the 
tumultuous  beating  of  her  heart  almost  prevented  her 
from  breathing. 

"  No,  I  will  not  let  you  make  me  suffer  so,"  thought 
she,  addressing,  with  a  threat,  neither  Vronsky  nor  her 
own  self,  so  much  as  the  thought  that  was  torturing  her ; 
and  she  moved  along  the  platform,  past  the  station. 
Two  chambermaids  walking  on  the  platform  turned  to 
look  at  her,  and  made  audible  remarks  about  her  toilet. 
"  She  has  genuine  lace,"  they  said.  The  young  men 
would  not  leave  her  in  peace.  They  stared  at  her,  and 
passed  her  again  and  again,  joking  and  talking  with  loud 
voices.  The  station-master  came  to  her,  and  asked  if 
she  was  going  to  take  the  train.  A  lad  selling  kvas  did 
not  take  his  eyes  from  her. 

^' Boske  mo'i!  where  shall  I  go.-*"  she  said  to  her- 
self, as  she  walked  farther  and  farther  along  the  plat- 
form. 

When  she  reached  the  end  of  it,  she  stopped.  Some 
women  and  children,  who  had  come  to  the  station  to 
meet  a  man  in  spectacles,  were  talking  and  laughing. 
They  too  stopped  talking,  and  turned  to  see  Anna  pass 
by.  She  hastened  her  steps,  and  reached  the  very  limit 
of  the  platform.  A  freight-train  was  coming.  The  plat- 
form shook,  and  made  her  feel  4s  i^  she  were  on  a  mov- 
ing train.  i\    fur>; 

Suddenly  she  remembered  the  man  who  was  run  over 
on  the  day  when  she  met  Vronsky  for  the  first  time,  and 


ANNA    KARENINA  J35 

she  knew  then  what  was  left  for  her  to  do.  With  light 
and  swift  steps  she  descended  the  stairway  which  led 
from  the  water-tank  at  the  end  of  the  platform  down  to 
the  rails,  and  stood  very  near  the  train,  which  was  slowly 
passing  by.  She  looked  under  the  cars,  at  the  chains 
and  the  brake,  and  at  the  high  iron  wheels  of  the  first 
car,  and  she  tried  to  estimate  with  her  eye  the  distance 
between  the  fore  and  back  wheels,  and  the  moment  when 
the  middle  would  be  in  front  of  her. 

"There,"  she  said,  looking  at  the  shadow  of  the  car 
thrown  upon  the  black  coal-dust  which  covered  the 
sleepers,  "  there,  in  the  center ;  he  will  be  punished, 
and  I  shall  be  delivered  from  it  all ....  and  from  my- 
self." 

She  was  going  to  throw  herself  under  the  first  car  as 
its  center  came  opposite  where  she  stood.  Her  little  red 
traveling-bag  caused  her  to  lose  the  moment ;  she  could 
not  detach  it  from  her  arm.  She  awaited  the  second. 
A  feeling  Hke  that  she  had  experienced  once,  just  before 
taking  a  dive  in  the  river,  came  over  her,  and  she  made 
the  sign  of  the  cross.  This  familiar  gesture  called  back 
to  her  soul  a  whole  series  of  memories  of  her  youth  and 
childhood  ;  and  suddenly  the  darkness  which  hid  every- 
thing from  her  was  torn  asunder.  Life,  with  its  elusive 
joys,  glowed  for  an  instant  before  her.  But  she  did  not 
take  her  eyes  from  the  car;  and  when  the  center,  be- 
tween the  two  wheels,  appeared,  she  threw  away  her 
red  bag,  drawing  her  head  between  her  shoulders,  and, 
with  outstretched  hands,  threw  herself  on  her  knees 
under  the  car.  For  a  second  she  was  horror-struck  at 
what  she  was  doing. 

"  Where  am  I  ?     What  am  I  doing  ?     Why  ?  " 

She  tried  to  get  up,  to  draw  back ;  but  something 
monstrous,  inflexible,  struck  her  head,  and  threw  her  on 
her  back. 

"  Lord,  forgive  me  all !  "  she  murmured,  feeling  the 
struggle  to  be  in  vain. 

A  little  muzhik  was  working  on  the  railroad,  mumbling 
in  his  beard. 

And  the   candle   by  which  she  had   read  the  book 


336  ANNA   KARENINA 

that  was  filled  with  fears,  with  deceptions,  with  anguish, 
and  with  evil,  flared  up  with  greater  brightness  than  she 
had  ever  known,  revealing  to  her  all  that  before  was 
in  darkness,  then  flickered,  grew  faint,  and  went  out 
forever. 


PART   EIGHTH 


CHAPTER   I 

ALMOST  two  months  had  passed  by,  half  the  hot 
summer  was  gone,  but  Sergyei"  Ivanovitch  had  only 
just  made  up  his  mind  to  leave  Moscow.  An  important 
event  for  him  had  just  occurred.  The  year  before  he 
had  finished  his  book,  entitled,  "  An  Essay  on  the  Prin- 
ciples and  the  Forms  of  Government  in  Europe  and  in 
Russia,"  the  fruit  of  six  years  of  labor.  The  introduc- 
tion, as  well  as  some  fragments  from  the  book,  had 
already  appeared  in  the  reviews,  and  certain  parts  had 
been  read  by  the  author  to  the  people  of  his  circle,  so 
that  the  ideas  contained  in  this  treatise  could  not  be  a 
perfect  novelty  for  the  public;  but  nevertheless  Sergyei 
Ivanovitch  expected  that  the  book  on  its  appearance 
would  attract  serious  attention,  and  produce,  if  not  a 
revolution  in  science,  at  least  a  powerful  sensation  in 
the  learned  world. 

This  book,  after  careful  revision,  had  been  published 
the  year  before,  and  distributed  among  the  booksellers. 

Though  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  answered  reluctantly  and 
with  pretended  indifference  the  questions  of  his  friends 
who  asked  how  the  book  was  going,  and  though  he 
refrained  from  inquiring  of  the  booksellers  how  it 
was  selling,  nevertheless  he  followed  eagerly  and  with 
strained  attention  every  sign  of  the  impression  which 
his  book  was  producing  on  society  and  literature. 

But  a  week  passed,  a  second,  a  third,  and  there  was 
not  a  sign  of  any  impression.  His  friends,  specialists 
and  savants,  evidently  out  of  politeness,  spoke  to  him 
about  it ;  but  the  rest  of  his  acquaintances,  not  being 
interested  in  a  book  of  scientific  purport,  did  not  speak 
about  it  at  all.  Society,  also,  which  just  at  that  time 
VOL.  m.  —  22  337 


338  ANNA   KARENINA 

was  preoccupied  with  entirely  different  matters,  showed 
utter  unconcern.  In  literary  circles,  also,  during  the 
lapse  of  a  month,  there  was  not  a  word  about  his  book. 
Sergyei  Ivanovitch  carefully  calculated  the  time  neces- 
sary for  preparing  critical  reviews,  but  months  passed 
by  and  there  also  was  absolute  silence. 

Only  in  the  Northern  Beetle,  in  a  facetious  feuilleton 
regarding  the  singer  Drabanti,  who  had  lost  his  voice, 
a  few  scornful  words  were  said  in  regard  to  Koznuishef  s 
book,  showing  that  it  had  already  been  criticized  by 
all,  and  was  given  over  to  universal  ridicule.  At  length, 
after  three  months,  a  critical  article  appeared  in  a  journal 
of  importance.  SergyeY  Ivanovitch  knew  who  the  author 
was.     He  had  met  him  once  at  Golubtsof  s. 

He  was  a  very  young  and  feeble  critic,  very  clever  as 
a  writer,  but  perfectly  uneducated,  and  cowardly  in  his 
private  relations. 

Notwithstanding  Sergyer  Ivanovitch's  contempt  of 
the  author,  he  began  to  read  the  article  with  extraordi- 
nary interest.     It  proved  to  be  abominable. 

Evidently,  the  critic  understood  the  whole  book  just 
exactly  as  he  should  not  have  understood  it.  But  he 
had  so  cleverly  put  together  a  selection  of  extracts,  that 
for  those  who  had  not  read  the  book  —  and  apparently 
almost  no  one  had  read  it  —  it  was  perfectly  clear  that 
the  entire  book,  in  spite  of  its  high  pretensions,  was 
nothing  but  a  tissue  of  pompous  phrases,  and  these  not 
always  intelligible,  as  the  critic's  frequent  interrogation 
points  testified,  and  that  the  author  of  the  work  was  a 
perfect  ignoramus ;  and  it  was  done  in  such  a  witty  way 
that  SergyeV  Ivanovitch  himself  could  not  deny  the  wit 
of  it ;  but,  after  all,  it  was  abominable. 

SergyeY  Ivanovitch,  in  spite  of  the  unusual  conscien- 
tiousness with  which  he  examined  into  the  justice  of 
these  remarks,  did  not  for  a  moment  think  of  answer- 
ing the  ridiculous  errors  and  blunders ;  but  he  could  not 
help  instantly  remembering  all  the  least  details  of  his 
meeting  and  conversation  with  the  author  of  the  article. 
"  Did  I  say  anything  to  affront  him  ? "  said  Sergyei 
Ivanovitch. 


ANNA   KARENINA  339 

And  remembering  how,  when  he  met  the  young 
author  of  the  article,  he  had  shown  up  his  ignorance 
in  conversation,  he,  therefore,  understood  the  animus  of 
the  criticism. 

The  appearance  of  this  article  was  followed  by  a 
silence,  unbroken  by  either  voice  or  journal,  and  Ser- 
gyei  Ivanovitch  saw  that  his  six  years'  labor,  into  which 
he  had  put  so  much  of  his  heart  and  soul,  had  been 
wasted. 

And  his  position  was  made  all  the  more  trying  be- 
cause, now  that  his  book  was  off  his  hands,  he  had 
nothing  especial  to  occupy  the  larger  part  of  his  time. 

He  was  bright,  well  educated,  in  perfect  health,  and 
very  active ;  and  he  did  not  know  how  to  employ  his 
industry.  Conversations  with  callers,  visits  to  the  club, 
and  the  meetings  of  committees,  where  there  was  a 
chance  for  him  to  talk,  took  some  of  his  time ;  but  he, 
a  man  long  wonted  to  life  in  the  city,  did  not  permit 
himself  to  talk  with  every  one,  as  his  inexperienced 
brother  did  when  he  was  in  Moscow ;  so  that  he  had 
much  leisure  and  a  superfluity  of  intellectual  energy. 

To  his  joy,  just  at  this  time,  which  was  so  trying  to 
him  because  of  the  failure  of  his  book,  and  after  his 
interest  in  dissenters,  American  subjects,  the  famine  in 
Samara,  expositions,  spiritualism,  was  exhausted,  the 
Slavic  question  began  to  engross  public  attention ;  and 
Sergyei'  Ivanovitch,  who  had  been  one  of  its  earliest 
advocates,  gave  himself  up  to  it  with  enthusiasm. 

Among  Sergyei'  Ivanovitch's  friends  nothing  else  was 
thought  about  or  talked  about  except  the  Serbian  war. 
All  the  things  that  lazy  people  are  accustomed  to  do 
was  done  for  the  help  of  these  brother  Slavs.  Balls, 
concerts,  dinners,  matches,  ladies'  finery,  beer,  drinking- 
saloons,  —  everything  bore  witness  of  sympathy  for  the 
Slavs. 

With  much  that  was  said  and  written  on  this  subject, 
Sergyei'  Ivanovitch  could  not  agree.  He  saw  that  the 
Slav  question  was  one  of  those  fashionable  movements 
that  always  carry  people  to  extremes.  He  saw  that 
many  people  with    petty  personal   ends  in  view  took 


340  ANNA   KARENINA 

part  in  it.  He  recognized  that  the  newspapers  made 
many  useless  and  exaggerated  statements,  in  order  to 
attract  attention  to  themselves,  and  belittle  their  rivals. 
He  saw  that  in  this  common  impulse  of  society,  upstarts 
put  themselves  forward,  and  outdid  one  another  in  mak- 
ing a  noise, — commanders-in-chief  without  an  army, 
ministers  without  a  ministry,  journaHsts  without  a  jour- 
nal, party-leaders  without  partizans.  He  saw  much  that 
was  childish  and  absurd ;  but  he  also  saw  and  admired 
the  enthusiasm  which  united  all  classes,  and  which  it 
was  impossible  not  to  share. 

The  massacre  of  the  Serbians,  who  professed  the  same 
faith,  and  spoke  almost  the  same  language,  aroused  sym- 
pathy for  their  sufferings,  and  indignation  against  their 
persecutors ;  and  the  heroism  of  the  Serbs  and  Mon- 
tenegrins, who  were  fighting  for  a  great  cause,  aroused 
a  universal  desire  to  help  their  brethren,  not  only  in 
word,  but  in  deed. 

But  there  was  another  phenomenon  which  delighted 
Sergyei  Ivanovitch  especially.  This  was  the  manifesta- 
tion of  public  opinion.  Society  actually  spoke  out  its 
desires.  "The  national  soul  received  expression,"  as 
Sergyef  Ivanovitch  expressed  it;  and  the  more  he  studied 
this  movement  as  a  whole,  the  more  evidently  it  seemed 
to  him  that  it  was  destined  to  grow  to  enormous  propor- 
tions and  to  constitute  an  epoch. 

He  devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  this  great  cause, 
and  forgot  to  think  about  his  book. 

All  his  time  was  now  so  occupied  that  he  could 
scarcely  reply  to  the  letters  and  demands  made  upon 
him. 

He  had  worked  all  the  spring  and  a  part  of  the  sum- 
mer, and  only  in  the  month  of  July  could  he  tear  himself 
away  to  go  to  his  brother  in  the  country. 

He  went  for  a  fortnight's  vacation,  and  rejoiced  to 
find  even  in  the  depths  of  the  country,  in  the  very 
holy  of  holies  of  the  peasantry,  the  same  awakening  of 
the  national  spirit  in  which  he  himself  and  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  capital  and  the  large  cities  of  the 
empire  firmly  believed. 


ANNA    KARENINA  341 

Katavasof  seized  the  opportunity  to  fulfil  a  promise 
he  had  made  to  visit  Levin,  and  the  two  friends  left 
town  together. 


CHAPTER   II 

Sergyei  Ivanovitch  and  Katavasof  had  just  reached 
the  station  of  the  Kursk  Railway,  which  was  especially 
crowded  that  day,  and,  leaving  their  carriage,  they  were 
looking  at  a  lackey  who  had  followed  them  laden  with 
various  articles,  when  four  cabs  filled  with  volunteers 
also  drove  up.  Ladies  carrying  bouquets  met  them,  and 
accompanied  by  a  crowd  they  entered  the  station. 

One  of  the  ladies  who  had  come  to  meet  the  volun- 
teers came  out  of  the  waiting-room  and  addressed  Sergyei 
Ivanovitch. 

"  Did  you  also  come  to  see  them  off  .-*  "  she  asked, 
speaking  in  French. 

"  No ;  I  am  going  myself,  princess,  to  have  a  little 
rest  at  my  brother's.  But  are  you  still  on  escort  duty  .-*  " 
he  added,  with  a  scarcely  perceptible  smile  of  amusement. 

"  I  have  to  be,"  replied  the  princess.  "  But  tell  me,  is 
it  true  that  we  have  sent  off  eight  hundred  already  ? 
Malvinsky  told  me  so." 

"  More  than  eight  hundred.  We  've  sent  off  more  than 
a  thousand,  if  we  count  those  not  immediately  from 
Moscow,"  said  Sergyei'  Ivanovitch. 

"There,  I  said  so  !  "  cried  the  lady,  delighted.  "  And 
is  it  true  that  the  subscriptions  amount  to  nearly  a 
million  .-* " 

"  More  than  that,  princess." 

"  Have  you  read  the  news  .-•  They  have  beaten  the 
Turks  again." 

"  Yes,  I  read  about  it,"  replied  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch. 
She  referred  to  a  recent  despatch,  which  confirmed  the 
report  that  three  days  before  the  Turks  had  been  beaten 
at  every  point,  and  had  fled,  and  that  the  next  day  a 
decisive  battle  was  expected. 

"Oh,  by  the  way,  do   you  know  a   splendid  young 


342  ANNA    KARENINA 

fellow  is  petitioning  to  go  ?  I  don't  see  why  they  put 
obstacles  in  his  way.  I  wanted  to  ask  you  to  put  your 
signature  on  his  petition.  I  know  him.  He  comes 
from  the  Countess   Lidia  Ivanovna." 

After  asking  some  particulars  in  regard  to  the  young 
man,  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  went  into  the  waiting-room, 
affixed  his  signature  to  the  document,  and  handed  it 
back  to  the  princess. 

"  Do  you  know  Count  Vronsky,  the  famous,  is  going 
on  this  train  }"  said  the  princess,  with  a  triumphant  and 
significant  smile,  as  he  rejoined  her  and  handed  her  the 
petition. 

"I  heard  that  he  was  going;  but  I  did  not  know 
when.     On  this  train  .''  " 

"  I  just  saw  him.  He  is  here.  His  mother  is  the  only 
one  with  him.  All  things  considered,  I  do  not  think  he 
could  do  anything  better." 

"Oh,  yes!     Of  course." 

During  this  conversation  the  crowd  had  rushed  into 
the  restaurant  of  the  station,  where  a  man  with  a  glass 
in  his  hand  was  making  an  address  to  the  volunteers :  — 

"  For  the  service  of  our  faith  and  humanity  and  our 
brethren,"  he  said,  raising  his  voice,  ''  Matnshka  Moskva 
—  Mother  Moscow  —  gives  you  her  blessing  in  this  noble 
cause.  May  it  prosper  !  "  he  concluded,  with  tears  in  his 
eyes.  The  crowd  responded  with  cheers,  and  a  fresh 
throng  poured  into  the  waiting-room,  nearly  overwhelm- 
ing the  princess. 

"  Ah,  princess !  What  do  you  say  to  this  ? "  cried 
Stepan  Arkadyevitch,  who,  with  a  radiant  smile  of  joy, 
suddenly  appeared  in  the  midst  of  the  throng.  "  Did  n't 
he  speak  gloriously  .-'  Bravo  !  And  here  's  Sergyeif 
Ivanovitch.  You  ought  to  speak  just  a  few  words,  you 
know,  of  encouragement,  you  do  it  so  well,"  added  Ob- 
lonsky,  touching  Koznuishef's  arm,  with  an  expression 
of  suave,  flattering  deference. 

"  Oh,  no ;  I  am  leaving  immediately." 

•'  Where .? " 

"  To  the  country  —  to  my  brother's,"  replied  Sergyei 
Ivanovitch.  ;>!  iio'{ 


ANNA    KARENINA  :i^3 

"  Then  you  '11  see  my  wife.  I  have  written  her,  but 
you  '11  see  her  before  she  gets  my  letter.  Please  tell  her 
that  you  met  me,  and  everything  is  a//  rigJit,  she  will 
understand ;  and  be  so  good  as  to  tell  her,  too,  that  I  got 
my  place  as  member  of  the  Commission  of ....  Well,  she 
knows  what  that  is,  you  know,  les  p elites  mis^res  de  la 
vie  hiimaine,''  said  he,  turning  to  the  princess,  as  if  in 
apology.  "  Miagkai'a,  not  Liza,  but  Bibiche,  sends  a 
thousand  guns  and  twelve  hospital  nurses.  Did  I  tell 
you } " 

"  Yes  ;  I  heard  about  it,"  answered  Koznuishef,  coldly. 

"  But  what  a  pity  you  are  going  away,"  replied  Ste- 
pan  Arkadyevitch.  "  We  give  a  farewell  dinner  to-mor- 
row to  two  volunteers,  —  at  Dimer's,  —  Bartnyansky  of 
Petersburg,  and  our  Veslovsky — Grisha.  Both  are 
going.  Veslovsky  is  just  married.  He 's  a  fine  lad. 
Isn't  it  so, princess  .?  "  he  added,  addressing  the  lady. 

The  princess  did  not  reply,  but  looked  at  Koznuishef. 
The  fact  that  the  princess  and  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  evi- 
dently wanted  to  get  rid  of  him  did  not  in  the  least  dis- 
concert Stepan  Arkadyevitch.  Smiling,  he  glanced  now 
at  the  princess's  hat  plume,  now  off  to  one  side  or  the 
other  as  if  searching  for  a  new  subject ;  and,  as  he  saw 
a  lady  going  by  with  a  subscription-box,  he  beckoned 
to  her,  and  handed  her  a  five-ruble  note. 

"  I  can't  bear  to  see  these  subscription-boxes  pass  by 
me,  now  that  I  have  ready  money,"  he  said.  "What 
splendid  news  there  is  !     Hurrah  for  the  Montenegrins !  " 

"  What 's  that  you  say  ?  "  he  cried,  when  the  princess 
told  him  that  Vronsky  was  going  by  the  first  train.  For 
an  instant  Stepan  Arkadyevitch's  face  grew  sad,  but  the 
next  moment,  slightly  limping  with  both  feet,  and  stroking 
his  side-whiskers,  he  went  off  to  the  room  where  Vronsky 
was.  He  had  already  entirely  forgotten  the  tears  he  had 
shed  over  his  sister's  grave,  and  saw  in  Vronsky  only  a 
hero  and  an  old  friend. 

"One  must  do  him  justice,  in  spite  of  his  faults,"  said 
the  princess  to  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  when  Oblonsky  was 
gone.  "  He  has  the  true  Russian,  the  Slavic,  nature. 
But  I  am  afraid  it  will  be  disagreeable   to   the   count 


344  ANNA    KARENINA 

to  see  him.  Whatever  people  may  say,  I  pity  that 
unhappy  man.  Try  to  talk  a  little  with  him  on  the 
journey,"  said  the  princess. 

"  Certainly,  if  I  have  a  chance." 

"  I  never  liked  him,  but  what  he  is  doing  now  makes 
up  for  much.  He  is  not  only  going  himself,  but  he  's 
taking  out  a  squadron  of  cavalry  at  his  own  expense." 

"  Yes,  so  I  have  heard." 

The  bell  rang,  and  the  crowd  pressed  toward  the  doors. 

"  There  he  is,"  said  the  princess,  pointing  out  Vronsky, 
who  was  dressed  in  a  long  coat  and  a  broad-brimmed 
black  hat.  His  mother  was  leaning  on  his  arm.  Ob- 
lonsky  followed  them,  talking  vivaciously. 

Vronsky  was  frowning,  and  looked  straight  ahead,  as 
if  not  listening  to  what  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  said. 

Apparently  at  Oblonsky's  suggestion,  he  looked  in 
the  direction  where  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  and  the  princess 
were  standing,  and  raised  his  hat  silently. 

His  face,  which  had  grown  old  and  worn,  was  like 
stone.  Going  out  on  the  platform,  Vronsky,  silently 
quitting  his  mother's  side,  vanished  from  sight  in  his 
compartment. 

On  the  platform,  men  were  singing  the  national 
hymn.i  Then  hurrahs  and  vivas  resounded.  One  of 
the  volunteers,  a  tall,  very  young  man,  with  stooping 
shoulders,  ostentatiously  responded  to  the  pubUc,  wav- 
ing above  his  head  a  felt  hat  and  a  bouquet ;  while 
behind  him  two  officers,  and  an  elderly  man  with  a  full 
beard  and  a  greasy  cap,  put  out  their  heads,  also  bowing. 


CHAPTER   III 

After  SergyeY  Ivanovitch  had  taken  leave  of  the 
princess,  he  and  Katavasof,  who  had  joined  him,  entered 
their  carriage,  which  was  packed,  and  the  train  started. 

When  the  train  rolled  into  the  station  at  Tsaritsuino 
it  was  met  by  a  chorus  of  young  men  singing  the 
"  Slav'sa."     Again  the  volunteers  put  out  their  heads 

1  Bozfu  Tsar  a  Khrani,  "  God  bless  the  Tsar." 


ANNA    KARENINA  345 

and  bowed,  but  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  paid  no  attention  to 
them ;  he  had  had  so  much  to  do  with  volunteers  that 
he  already  knew  this  general  type,  and  it  did  not  inter- 
est him.  But  Katavasof,  who  on  account  of  his  peda- 
gogical occupations  had  not  enjoyed  any  opportunity  to 
observe  the  men  who  volunteered,  was  very  much  inter- 
ested, and  asked  his  friend  about  them. 

Sergyelf  Ivanovitch  advised  him  to  look  into  their 
carriage  and  talk  with  some  of  them. 

At  the  next  station,  Katavasof  followed  this  advice. 
As  soon  as  the  train  stopped,  he  went  into  the  second- 
class  carriage,  and  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  vol- 
unteers. 

Some  of  them  were  seated  in  a  corner  of  the  carriage, 
talking  noisily,  aware  that  they  were  attracting  the  at- 
tention of  the  other  passengers  and  of  Katavasof,  whom 
they  saw  come  in.  The  tall,  sunken-chested  young  man 
was  talking  louder  than  the  others.  He  was  evidently 
tipsy,  and  was  telling  the  story  of  something  which  had 
happened  in  their  establishment. 

Opposite  him  sat  an  old  officer  in  the  Austrian  mili- 
tary jacket  of  the  Guard  uniform.  He  was  listening 
with  a  smile  to  the  narrator,  and  occasionally  prompting 
him.  A  third  volunteer,  in  an  artillery  uniform,  was 
sitting  on  a  box  near  them.     A  fourth  was  asleep. 

Katavasof  entered  into  conversation  with  the  youth, 
and  learned  that  he  had  been  a  rich  merchant  in  Mos- 
cow, who,  before  he  was  twenty-two  years  old,  had 
succeeded  in  squandering  a  considerable  fortune.  Ka- 
tavasof did  not  like  him,  because  he  was  effeminate, 
conceited,  and  sickly.  He  evidently  felt,  especially  now 
that  he  was  drunk,  that  he  was  doing  a  heroic  deed; 
and  he  boasted  in  the  most  disagreeable  manner. 

The  second,  a  retired  officer,  also  impressed  Kata- 
vasof unpleasantly ;  he  was  a  man  who  had  apparently 
tried  his  hand  at  everything ;  he  had  worked  on  a  rail- 
way, and  had  been  director  of  an  estate,  and  had  estab- 
lished a  factory ;  and  he  talked  of  everything  without 
any  necessity  of  doing  so,  and  often  used  words  which 
showed  his  ignorance. 


346  ANNA   KARENINA 

The  third,  the  artilleryman,  on  the  contrary,  pleased 
Katavasof  very  much.  He  was  a  modest  gentleman. 
He  was  evidently  disgusted  by  the  affected  knowledge 
of  the  retired  officer  and  the  young  merchant's  boasted 
heroism,  and  he  would  say  nothing  about  himself. 
When  Katavasof  asked  him  what  induced  him  to  go  to 
Serbia,  he  answered  modestly:  — 

"  I  am  going  because  every  one  else  is  going.  We 
must  help  the  Serbians.     It  is  too  bad." 

"  They  have  very  few  of  our  artillerymen,  I  believe." 

"  My  service  in  the  artillery  was  very  short.  I  may 
be  assigned  to  the  infantry  or  the  cavalry." 

"  Why  in  the  infantry,  when  they  need  artillerymen 
more  than  all } "  asked  Katavasof,  gathering  from  the 
artillerist's  age  that  he  must  have  already  reached  a 
considerable  rank. 

"  I  did  not  serve  very  long  in  the  artillery,  but  left 
the  service  when  I  was  only  a  yunker." 

And  he  began  to  explain  why  he  had  not  passed  his 
examination. 

All  this  together  produced  on  Katavasof  a  generally 
unpleasant  impression,  and  when  the  volunteers  rushed 
out  into  one  of  the  stations  to  get  something  to  drink, 
Katavasof  felt  the  desire  to  talk  with  some  one  so  as  to 
confirm  his  unfavorable  impression. 

One  of  his  fellow-travelers,  a  little  old  man  in  a  mili- 
tary paletot,  had  been  listening  all  the  time  to  Kata- 
vasof's  talk  with  the  volunteers.  As  the  two  were  left 
alone  together  in  the  carriage,  Katavasof  addressed 
him :  — 

"  What  a  diversity  in  the  condition  of  all  these  men 
that  are  going  south,"  said  Katavasof,  vaguely,  wishing 
to  express  his  opinions  and  at  the  same  time  draw  out 
the  old  man's  views. 

The  old  man  was  a  soldier  who  had  fought  in  two 
campaigns,  and  he  knew  what  it  meant  to  go  to  war ; 
and  in  the  actions  and  words  of  these  gentlemen,  the 
bravery  with  which  they  kept  applying  themselves  to 
the  flask,  he  read  their  inferiority  as  soldiers.  More- 
over, his  residence  was  in  a  district  city,  and  he  wanted 


ANNA    KARENINA  347 

to  relate  how  from  that  place  a  good-for-nothing  fellow, 
a  drunkard  and  thief  whom  no  one  would  hire  as  a 
workman,  had  gone  as  a  soldier.  But,  knowing  by  ex- 
perience that  in  the  present  state  of  excitement  under 
which  society  was  laboring,  it  was  dangerous  to  express 
himself  frankly  against  the  general  sentiment,  and  espe- 
cially to  criticize  the  volunteers,  he  merely  looked  at 
Katavasof. 

*'  Well,  men  are  needed  there,"  said  he,  smiling  with 
his  eyes. 

And  they  began  to  talk  over  the  latest  war  news,  and 
each  of  them  concealed  from  the  other  his  doubt  whether 
a  battle  was  to  be  expected  on  the  next  day,  since,  ac- 
cording to  the  latest  report,  the  Turks  had  been  defeated 
at  all  points.  And  so  they  parted  without  either  of 
them  having  expressed  what  he  really  thought. 

When  Katavasof  returned  to  his  own  carriage,  he 
told  Sergyei  Ivanovitch,  with  some  twinges  of  con- 
science, that  he  enjoyed  talking  with  the  volunteers,  and 
he  declared  that  they  were  excellent  lads. 

In  the  great  station  where  they  next  stopped,  the 
chorus,  the  cheers,  the  bouquets,  and  the  beggars  again 
appeared,  and  again  the  ladies  with  bouquets  conducted 
the  volunteers  into  the  restaurant ;  but  there  was  much 
less  enthusiasm  than  there  had  been  at  Moscow. 


CHAPTER   IV 

While  the  train  stopped  at  a  certain  government 
capital,  SergyeY  Ivanovitch  did  not  go  to  the  restaurant, 
but  walked  up  and  down  the  platform. 

The  first  time  he  passed  Vronsky's  compartment,  he 
noticed  that  the  window  was  shaded.  But,  when  he 
passed  the  second  time,  he  saw  the  old  countess  at  the 
window.     She  called  him  to  her. 

"  You  see,  I  am  going  as  far  as  Kursk  with  him." 

"Yes,  I  heard  he  was  going,"  answered  Koznuishef, 
stopping   at  the  window,  and   looking  in.      "What  a 


348  ANNA   KARENINA 

noble  action  on  his  part !  "  he  added,  seeing  that  Vron- 
sky  was  not  in  the  carriage. 

"Well !     What  could  he  do  after  his  misfortune  ? " 

"What  a  horrible  thing  it  was  !  "  said  Sergyef  Ivano- 
vitch. 

"  Akh  !  What  have  I  not  been  through  !  —  Yes,  do 
come  in. — Akh!  What  have  I  not  been  through!" 
she  repeated,  as  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  came  in  and  sat 
down  on  the  seat  beside  her.  "  You  could  not  imagine 
it.  For  six  weeks  he  never  said  a  word  to  any  one,  and 
he  only  ate  when  I  begged  him  to  do  so.  We  dared  not 
leave  him  alone  a  single  instant ;  we  took  away  every- 
thing which  he  might  kill  himself  with.  We  lived  on 
the  first  floor,  but  we  had  to  be  on  the  watch  all  the 
same.  You  know  he  shot  himself  once  before,  for  her 
sake,"  said  the  old  countess,  her  face  clouding  at  this 
remembrance;  "yes,  she  died  as  was  fit  for  such  a 
woman  to  die.  Even  the  death  she  chose  was  low  and 
wretched." 

"  It  is  not  for  us  to  judge  her,  countess,"  replied 
Sergyeif  Ivanovitch,  with  a  sigh.  "  But  I  can  imagine 
what  you  have  suffered." 

"  Akh  !  Don't  speak  of  it !  My  son  was  with  me  at 
my  country  place.  A  note  was  brought  him.  He  an- 
swered immediately.  We  did  not  know  at  all  that  she 
was  at  the  station.  That  evening  I  had  just  gone  to  my 
room,  and  my  Mary  told  me  that  a  lady  had  thrown  her- 
self under  the  train.  I  felt  something  like  a  shock.  I 
understood  instantly  what  had  happened;  I  knew  it  was 
she.  My  first  words  were,  '  Let  no  one  tell  the  count.' 
But  they  had  just  told  him.  His  coachman  was  at  the 
station  when  it  happened,  and  saw  it  all.  I  ran  to  my 
son's  room.  He  was  beside  himself ;  it  was  terrible  to 
see  him.  Without  speaking  one  word,  he  left  the 
house ;  and  what  he  found,  I  do  not  know ;  but  they 
brought  him  back  like  one  dead.  I  should  never  have 
known    him.     ^Prostration   complete,'   the   doctor   said. 

Then  he  became  almost  insane Akh  !  What  can  be 

said  .'*  "  cried  the  countess,  waving  her  hands.  "  It  was 
a  terrible  time.     No;   let  people  say  what  they  will, 


J 


ANNA    KARENINA  349 

she  was  a  bad  woman.  Think  !  What  a  desperate  pas- 
sion she  was  in !  She  did  it  to  make  an  extraordinary 
sensation,  and  she  succeeded !  She  has  done  irrepara- 
ble injury  to  the  Hves  of  two  men  of  rare  merit,  —  her 
husband  and  my  son,  —  and  ruined  herself." 

"  How  about  her  husband  ?  " 

"  He  has  taken  her  little  girl.  At  first  Alyosha  con- 
sented to  everything ;  now  he  is  awfully  sorry,  having 
given  up  his  daughter  to  a  stranger,  but  he  could  not 
take  back  his  word.  Karenin  went  to  the  funeral ;  we 
succeeded  in  preventing  a  meeting  between  him  and 
Alyosha.  For  him,  —  that  is,  her  husband,  —  this  death 
is  a  deliverance ;  but  my  poor  son  gave  up  everything 
for  her,  sacrificed  everything,  —  me,  his  position,  his 
career, — and  she  was  not  contented  with  that,  but 
wanted  to  ruin  him  besides.  No !  whatever  you  may 
say,  her  death  is  the  death  of  a  bad  woman,  a  woman 
without  religion.  May  God  forgive  me !  but  when  I 
think  of  the  harm  she  has  done  my  son,  I  cannot  help 
cursing  her  memory." 

"  How  is  he  now  ?  " 

"This  Serbian  war  is  our  salvation.  I  am  old,  and 
don't  understand  much  about  it ;  but  God  sent  it  for 
him.  Of  course,  to  me,  as  his  mother,  it  is  painful ; 
and  besides,  they  say  ce  n'est  pas  trh  Men  vu  a  Peters- 
burg, but  what  can  be  done  about  it  ^  This  is  the  only 
thing  that  could  save  him.  Yashvin,  his  friend,  gambled 
away  all  he  had,  and  enlisted.  He  came  to  Alyosha, 
and  persuaded  him  to  go  to  Serbia  with  him.  Now  this 
is  occupying  him.  Do  talk  with  him,  I  beg  of  you,  he 
is  so  sad.  And  then,  besides  his  other  troubles,  he  has 
a  toothache.  But  he  will  be  glad  to  see  you.  Please 
talk  with  him.  He  is  walking  up  and  down  on  the 
other  side  of  the  track." 

Sergyei  Ivanovitch  said  that  he  would  be  very  glad  to 
talk  with  the  count,  and  went  over  to  the  side  where 
Vronsky  was. 


350  ANNA   KARENINA 

CHAPTER   V 

10  In  the  oblique  evening  shadow  cast  by  a  heap  of 
baggage  piled  on  the  platform,  Vronsky,  in  his  long 
paletot  and  slouch  hat,  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets, 
was  walking,  like  a  wild  beast  in  a  cage,  up  and  down 
a  narrow  space  where  he  could  not  take  more  than  a 
score  of  steps.  It  seemed  to  SergyeY  Ivanovitch,  as  he 
drew  near,  that  Vronsky  saw  him,  but  pretended  not  to 
recognize  him.  But  to  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  this  was  all 
the  same.     He  was  above  any  petty  susceptibility. 

At  this  moment,  Vronsky,  in  his  eyes,  was  an  im- 
portant actor  in  a  grand  event,  and  deserved  to  be 
sustained  and  encouraged.     He  approached  the  count. 

Vronsky  stopped,  looked  at  him,  recognized  him,  and, 
taking  a  few  steps  to  meet  him,  cordially  held  out  his  hand. 

"  Perhaps  you  would  prefer  not  to  see  me,"  said 
Sergyel  Ivanovitch;  "but  can  I  be  of  any  service  to 
you  .-' " 

"  No  one  could  be  less  unpleasant  for  me  to  meet 
than  you,"  answered  Vronsky.  "  Pardon  me.  There 
is  nothing  pleasant  for  me  in  life." 

"  I  understand,  and  I  want  to  offer  you  my  services," 
said  Koznuishef,  struck  by  the  deep  suffering  that  was 
apparent  in  the  count's  face.  "  Might  not  a  letter  to 
Ristitch  or  Milan  be  of  some  use  to  you .-' " 
,^  *' Oh,  no!"  answered  Vronsky,  making  an  effort  to 
understand.  "  If  it  is  all  the  same  to  you,  we  will  walk 
a  little.  It  is  so  stifling  in  the  train  !  A  letter  ?  No, 
thank  you.  One  needs  no  letter  of  introduction  to  get 
killed.  In  this  case,  one  to  the  Turks,  perhaps,"  added 
he,  with  a  smile  at  the  corners  of  his  mouth.  His  eyes 
kept  the  same  expression  of  bitter  sadness. 
oj  "  Well !  It  would  make  it  easier  for  you  to  come  into 
fslaticns  with  men  prepared  for  action.  Still,  as  you 
please ;  but  I  was  very  glad  to  learn  of  your  decision. 
The  very  fact  that  a  man  of  your  standing  has  joined 
the  volunteers  will  raise  them  above  all  cavil  in  the 
public  estimation." 


ANNA    KARENINA  ||l 

*'  My  sole  merit,"  replied  Vronsky,  "  is  that  life  is  of 
no  value  to  me.  As  to  physical  energy,  I  know  it  will 
not  be  wanting  for  any  purpose ;  and  I  am  glad  enough 
to  give  my  life,  which  is  not  only  useless  to  me,  but 
disgusting,  to  be  useful  to  somebody;"  and  he  made 
an  impatient  motion  with  his  jaw,  caused  by  his  un- 
ceasing toothache,  which  prevented  him  from  talking 
with  the  expression  he  desired. 

"You  will  be  regenerated,  is  my  prediction,"  said 
Sergyei'  Ivanovitch,  feeling  touched.  "  The  deliverance 
of  one's  oppressed  brethren  is  an  aim  for  which  one 
might  as  well  live  as  die.  May  God  grant  you  full 
success,  and  fill  your  soul  with  peace!"  he  added,  and 
held  out  his  hand. 

Vronsky  pressed  his  hand  cordially. 

"As  a  field-piece,  I  may  be  of  use But  as  a  man, 

....  I  am  only  a  ruin,"  murmured  the  count,  with  intervals 
between  the  phrases.  The  throbbing  pain  in  his  tooth, 
which  filled  his  mouth  with  saliva,  made  it  an  effort  for 
him  to  speak.  He  stopped,  and  fixed  his  eyes  mechan- 
ically on  the  engine-wheels,  which  advanced,  revolving 
slowly  and  smoothly  on  the  rails. 

And  suddenly  a  sense  of  intense  spiritual  anguish 
caused  him  for  a  moment  to  forget  his  toothache.  At 
the  sight  of  the  engine  and  the  rails,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  his  talk  with  an  acquaintance  whom  he  had 
not  seen  since  his  misfortune,  she  suddenly  appeared  to 
him,  or,  at  least,  that  which  remained  of  her,  as,  when  he 
rushed  like  a  madman  into  the  barracks  near  the  station, 
where  they  had  carried  her,  he  saw,  lying  on  a  table, 
shamelessly  exposed  to  the  sight  of  all,  her  bleeding 
body,  which  had  so  lately  been  full  of  life.  Her  head, 
uninjured,  with  its  heavy  braids,  and  its  light  curls 
clustering  about  the  temples,  was  leaning  back,  wilBlhc" 
eyes  half  closed ;  and  in  the  lovely  face  hovered  still 
a  strange,  wild  expression,  while  her  rosy  lips,  slightly 
opened,  seemed  prepared  to  utter  once  again  that  terri- 
ble menace,  and  predict  to  him,  as  she  had  in  their  dis- 
pute, that  he  "would  repent." 

And  he  tried  to  remember  how  she  looked  when  he 


3S2  ANNA    KARENINA 

first  met  her,  also  at  a  railroad  station,  with  that  myste- 
rious, poetic,  charming  beauty,  overflowing  with  life  and 
gayety,  demanding  and  bestowing  happiness,  and  not 
bitterly  revengeful  as  he  remembered  her  at  their  last 
interview.  He  tried  to  remember  the  happy  moments 
he  had  spent  with  her,  but  these  moments  were  forever 
spoiled  for  him.  He  remembered  only  her  face,  haughtily 
expressing  her  threat  of  unnecessary,  but  implacable, 
vengeance.  He  ceased  to  be  conscious  of  his  toothache, 
and  sobs  convulsed  his  face. 

After  walking  up  and  down  by  the  baggage  once  or 
twice,  the  count  controlled  himself,  and  spoke  calmly 
with  Sergyef  Ivanovitch. 

"  Have  you  seen  the  latest  telegrams  .-•  Yes  ;  they  have 
fought  three  times,  and  another  battle  is  expected  to- 
morrow." 

And,  after  a  few  words  about  King  Milan's  proclama- 
tion, and  the  immense  effect  which  it  might  have,  the 
two  men  separated  at  the  ringing  of  the  second  bell  and 
went  to  their  respective  compartments. 


CHAPTER  VI 

As  SergyeY  Ivanovitch  had  not  known  just  when  it 
would  be  possible  for  him  to  leave  Moscow,  he  did  not 
telegraph  his  brother  to  send  for  him.  Levin  was  not 
at  home  when  he  and  Katavasof,  black  as  negroes  with 
smoke  and  dust,  reached  Pokrovskoye  about  noon,  in  a 
tarantas  which  they  hired  at  the  station. 

Kitty  was  sitting  on  the  balcony  with  her  father  and 
sister  when  she  saw  her  brother-in-law  approaching,  and 
she  ran  to  meet  him. 

"  Your  conscience  ought  to  prick  you  for  not  letting 
us  know,"  said  she,  shaking  hands  with  Sergyeif  Ivano- 
vitch, and  offering  her  brow  to  be  kissed. 

"  We  got  along  splendidly,  and  we  did  not  have  to 
bother  you.  I  am  so  dusty  that  I  fear  to  touch  you. 
I  was  so  busy  that  I  did  not  know  when  I  could  leave. 
And   you   look  the  same   as   ever,"    said   he,  smiling, 


ANNA    KARENINA  353 

"  enjoying  the  gentle  current  of  your  softly  flowing  hap- 
piness. And  here  is  our  friend,  Feodor  Vasilyevitch 
who  has  come  at  last." 

"  But  I  am  not  a  negro.  When  I  have  washed,  I 
shall  look  like  a  human  being,"  said  Katavasof,  with 
his  usual  pleasantry,  offering  his  hand,  and  laughing, 
so  that  his  white  teeth  gleamed  out  from  his  dusty  face. 

"  Kostia  will  be  very  glad.  He  is  out  on  the  farm, 
but  he  ought  to  be  back  by  this  time." 

"Always  occupied  with  his  estate,"  said  Katavasof. 
"  The  rest  of  us  can  think  of  nothing  but  the  Serbian 
war.  How  does  my  friend  regard  this  subject?  He  is 
sure  not  to  think  as  other  people  do." 

"  Yes,  he  does, ....  but ....  perhaps  not  like  everybody," 
said  Kitty,  a  little  confused,  looking  at  Sergye'i  Ivano- 
vitch.  "  I  will  send  some  one  to  find  him.  We  have 
papa  with  us  just  now ;  he  has  recently  come  back  from 
abroad." 

And  Kitty,  while  making  her  arrangements  to  send 
for  Levin,  and  to  furnish  her  guests  a  chance  to  wash 
off  the  dust  —  the  one  in  the  library,  the  other  in  the 
room  assigned  to  Dolly  —  and  then  to  have  luncheon 
ready  for  them,  enjoyed  the  full  power  of  quick  mo- 
tion which  before  her  baby  was  born  she  had  been 
so  long  deprived  of.  Then  she  went  to  the  balcony 
where  her  father  was  :  — 

"  It 's  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  and  Professor  Katavasof." 

"  Okh  !  in  this  heat !     It  will  be  a  bore !  " 

"  Not  at  all,  papa ;  he  is  very  nice,  and  Kostia  loves 
him  dearly,"  said  Kitty,  laughing  at  the  expression  of 
consternation  on  her  father's  face. 

"  Go  entertain  them,  dushenka,"  she  said  to  her  sister. 
"  They  saw  Stiva  at  the  station ;  he  was  well.  And  I 
am  going  to  the  baby  for  a  little  while.  I  actually  have 
not  nursed  him  since  morning ;  he  will  be  crying  if  I 
don't  go,"  and  she,  feeling  the  pressure  of  milk,  hastened 
to  the  nursery.  In  reality  it  had  not  been  guesswork 
with  her,  —  the  tie  that  bound  her  to  the  child  was  still 
unbroken,  —  she  actually  knew  by  the  flow  of  milk  that 
he  needed  something  to  eat.     Even  before  she  reached 

VOL.  III.  —  23 


354  ANNA    KARENINA 

the  nursery  she  knew  that  he  would  be  crying.  And, 
indeed,  he  was. 

She  heard  his  voice,  and  quickened  her  steps.  But 
the  more  she  hurried,  the  louder  he  cried.  It  was  a  fine, 
healthy  scream,  a  scream  of  hunger  and  impatience. 

"Am  I  late,  nurse,  late.''"  asked  Kitty,  sitting  down, 
and  getting  ready  to  suckle  the  child.  "  There,  give 
him  to  me,  give  him  to  me,  quick,  Akh,  nurse !  how 
stupid  !  Take  off  his  cap  afterward,"  said  she,  quite  as 
impatient  as  her  baby. 

The  baby  screamed  as  if  it  were  famished.  "  Now, 
now,  it  can't  be  helped,  little  mother !  "  said  Agafya 
Mikhaiflovna,  who  could  not  keep  out  of  the  nursery. 
"  You  must  do  things  in  order.  Agu,  agu,"  she  chuckled 
to  the  infant,  not  heeding  Kitty's  impatience. 

The  nurse  gave  the  child  to  his  mother.  Agafya 
Mikhaiflovna  followed  the  child,  her  face  all  aglow  with 
tenderness. 

"  He  knows  me !  He  knows  me !  God  is  my  witness, 
he  knew  me,  Matushka  Katerina  Aleksandrovna,"  she 
cried. 

But  Kitty  did  not  hear  what  she  said.  Her  impatience 
was  as  great  as  the  baby's.  It  hindered  the  very  thing 
that  they  both  desired.  The  baby,  in  his  haste  to  suckle, 
could  not  manage  to  take  hold,  and  was  vexed.  At  last, 
after  one  final  shriek  of  despair,  the  arrangements  were 
perfected ;  and  mother  and  child,  simultaneously  breath- 
ing a  sigh  of  content,  became  calm. 

"The  poor  little  thing  is  all  in  a  perspiration,"  whis- 
pered Kitty.  "  Do  you  really  think  he  knew  you  ? "  she 
added,  looking  down  into  the  child's  eyes,  which  seemed 
to  her  to  peep  out  roguishly  from  under  his  cap,  as  his 
little  cheeks  sucked  in  and  out,  while  his  Httle  hand,  with 
rosy  palm,  flourished  around  his  head.  "  It  cannot  be. 
For,  if  he  knew  you,  he  would  surely  know  me,"  con- 
tinued Kitty,  with  a  smile,  when  Agafya  Mikhaiflovna 
persisted  in  her  belief  that  he  knew  her. 

She  smiled,  because  though  she  said  that  he  could  not 
recognize  her,  yet  she  knew  in  her  heart  that  he  not 
only  recognized  Agafya  Mikhaiflovna,  but  that  he  knew 


ANNA    KARENINA  355 

and  understood  all  things,  and  knew  and  understood  what 
no  one  else  understood,  and  things  which  she,  his  mother, 
was  now  beginning  to  understand  only  through  his 
teaching.  For  Agafya  Mikhallovna,  for  the  nurse,  for 
his  grandfather,  even  for  his  father,  Mitya  was  just  a 
little  human  being,  who  needed  nothing  but  physical 
care;  for  his  mother,  he  was  a  being  endowed  with 
moral  faculties,  who  already  had  a  whole  history  of  spirit- 
ual relationships. 

"  You  will  see  if  he  does  n't  when  he  wakes  up. 
When  I  do  this  way,  his  face  will  light  up,  the  little 
dove !  It  will  light  up  like  a  bright  day,"  said  Agafya 
Mikhailovna. 

"  There !  very  well,  very  well,  we  shall  see,"  whispered 
Kitty;  "now  go  away;  he  is  going  to  sleep." 


CHAPTER   VII 

Agafya  Mikhailovna  went  away  on  tiptoe ;  the 
nurse  closed  the  blinds,  chased  away  the  flies  which 
were  hidden  under  the  muslin  curtain  of  the  cradle ; 
then  she  sat  down,  and  began  to  wave  a  little  withered 
branch  over  the  mother  and  child. 

"  It 's  hot,  hot !  pray  God,  He  may  send  a  little 
shower,"  she  said. 

"  Da !  da !  sh-sh-sh,"  was  the  mother's  reply,  as  she 
rocked  gently  to  and  fro,  and  pressed  Mitya  to  her 
breast.  His  eyelids  now  opened,  and  now  closed ;  and 
he  languidly  moved  his  chubby  arm.  This  little  arm 
disturbed  Kitty ;  she  felt  a  strong  inclination  to  kiss 
it,  but  she  feared  to  do  so  lest  it  should  wake  him.  At 
last  the  arm  began  to  droop,  and  the  eyes  closed  more 
and  more.  Only  rarely  now  he  would  raise  his  long 
lashes,  and  gaze  at  his  mother  with  his  dark,  dewy  eyes. 
The  nurse  began  to  nod,  and  dropped  off  into  a  nap. 
Overhead  she  could  hear  the  old  prince's  voice,  and 
Katavasof's  sonorous  laugh. 

"  Evidently,  they  don't  need  me  to  help  in  the  con- 
versation," thought  Kitty;  "but it  is  too  bad  that  Kostia 


3S6  ANNA    KARENINA 

is  not  there ;  he  must  have  gone  to  his  bees.  Some- 
times it  disturbs  me  to  have  him  spend  so  much  time 
over  them ;  but  then,  on  the  whole,  I  am  glad ;  it 
diverts  him,  and  he  is  certainly  more  cheerful  than  he 
was  in  the  spring.  Then  he  was  so  gloomy,  and  so 
unhappy  !     What  a  strange  man  he  is  !  " 

Kitty  knew  what  caused  her  husband's  disquiet.  It 
was  his  doubting  spirit ;  and  although,  if  she  had  been 
asked  if  she  believed  that,  in  the  world  to  come,  he 
would  fail  of  salvation  owing  to  his  want  of  faith,  she 
would  have  been  compelled  to  say  yes,  yet  his  skepti- 
cism did  not  make  her  unhappy ;  and  she,  who  believed 
that  there  was  no  salvation  for  the  unbeHeving,  and 
loved  more  than  all  else  in  the  world  her  husband's  soul, 
smiled  as  she  thought  of  his  skepticism,  and  called  him 
a  strange  man. 

"  Why  does  he  spend  all  his  time  reading  those  philo- 
sophical books  ?  If  all  this  is  written  in  those  books, 
then  he  can  understand  them.  But  if  it  is  not  true,  why 
does  he  read  them .''  He  himself  says  that  he  longs  for 
faith.  Why  does  n't  he  believe .''  Probably  he  thinks 
too  much ;  and  he  thinks  too  much  because  he  is  lonely. 
He  is  always  alone.  He  can't  speak  out  all  his  thoughts 
to  us.  I  think  he  will  be  glad  that  these  guests  have 
come,  especially  Katavasof.  He  likes  to  discuss  with 
him." 

And  immediately  Kitty's  thoughts  were  diverted  by 
the  question  where  it  would  be  best  for  Katavasof  to 
sleep.  Ought  he  and  Sergyei  Ivanovitch  to  have  a 
room  together  or  apart .-"  And  here  a  sudden  thought 
made  her  start,  so  that  she  disturbed  Mitya,  who  opened 
his  eyes  and  looked  at  her  reproachfully. 

"  The  washerwoman  has  n't  brought  back  the  linen. 
I  hope  Agafya  Mikhaflovna  has  n't  given  out  all  we 
had  !  "  and  the  color  rushed  to  Kitty's  forehead. 

"There,  I  must  find  out  myself,"  thought  she;  and, 
reverting  to  her  former  thoughts,  she  remembered  that 
she  had  not  finished  the  important  train  of  spiritual 
thoughts  which  she  had  begun,  and  she  once  more 
repeated :  — 


ANNA    KARENINA  357 

"Yes,  Kostia  is  an  unbeliever;"  and,  as  she  did  so, 
she  smiled. 

"  Yes,  he  is  an  unbeliever,  but  I  'd  far  liefer  he  should 
always  be  one  than  a  person  like  Madame  Stahl,  or  as  I 
wanted  to  be  when  I  was  abroad.  At  any  rate,  he  will 
never  be  hypocritical."  And  a  recent  example  of  his 
goodness  recurred  vividly  to  her  memory. 

Several  weeks  before,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch  had  writ- 
ten Dolly  a  letter  of  repentance.  He  begged  her  to  save 
his  honor  by  selling  her  property  to  pay  his  debts. 

Dolly  was  in  despair.  She  hated  her  husband,  despised 
him ;  and  at  first  she  made  up  her  mind  to  refuse  his 
request,  and  apply  for  a  divorce ;  but  afterward  she  de- 
cided to  sell  a  part  of  her  estate.  Kitty,  with  an  involun- 
tary smile  of  emotion,  recalled  her  husband's  confusion, 
his  various  awkward  attempts  to  find  a  way  of  helping 
Dolly,  and  how,  at  last,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  only  way  to  accompHsh  it  without  wounding  her  was 
to  make  over  to  Dolly  their  part  of  this  estate. 

"  How  can  he  be  without  faith,  when  he  has  such  a 
warm  heart,  and  is  afraid  to  grieve  even  a  child.''  He 
never  thinks  of  himself  —  always  of  others.  Sergyef 
Ivanovitch  finds  it  perfectly  natural  to  consider  him  his 
business  manager;  so  does  his  sister.  Dolly  and  her 
children  have  no  one  else  but  him  to  lean  upon.  He  is 
always  sacrificing  his  time  to  the  peasants,  who  come  to 
consult  him  every  day. 

"Yes ;  you  cannot  do  better  than  to  try  to  be  like  your 
father,"  she  murmured,  touching  her  lips  to  her  son's 
cheek,  before  laying  him  into  the  nurse's  arms. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Ever  since  that  moment  when,  as  he  sat  beside  his 
dying  brother.  Levin  had  examined  the  problem  of  life 
and  death  in  the  light  of  the  new  convictions,  as  he 
called  them,  which  from  the  age  of  twenty  to  thirty-four 
years  had  taken  the  place  of  his  childhood's  beliefs,  he 


358  ANNA    KARENINA 

was  terrified  not  only  at  death,  but  at  life ;  because  it 
seemed  to  him  that  he  had  not  the  slightest  knowledge 
of  its  origin,  its  purpose,  its  reason,  its  nature.  Our 
organism  and  its  destruction,  the  indestructibility  of  mat- 
ter, the  laws  of  the  conservation  and  development  of 
forces,  were  words  which  were  substituted  for  the  terms 
of  his  early  faith.  These  words,  and  the  scientific  theo- 
ries connected  with  them,  were  doubtless  interesting  from 
an  intellectual  point  of  view,  but  they  stood  for  nothing 
m  the  face  of  real  life. 

And  Levin  suddenly  felt  in  the  position  of  a  man  who 
in  cold  weather  had  exchanged  his  warm  shuba  for  a 
muslin  garment,  and  who  for  the  first  time  should  indu- 
bitably, not  with  his  reason,  but  with  his  whole  being, 
become  persuaded  that  he  was  absolutely  naked,  and 
inevitably  destined  to  perish  miserably. 

From  that  time,  without  in  the  least  changing  his  out- 
ward fife,  and  though  he  did  not  like  to  confess  it,  even 
to  himself,  Levin  never  ceased  to  feel  a  terror  of  his 
ignorance. 

Moreover,  he  vaguely  felt  that  what  he  called  his 
convictions  not  only  came  from  his  ignorance,  but  were 
idle  for  helping  him  to  a  clearer  knowledge  of  what  he 
needed. 

At  first  his  marriage,  with  its  new  joys  and  its  new 
duties,  completely  blotted  out  these  thoughts  ;  but  they 
came  back  to  him,  with  increasing  persistence  demand- 
ing an  answer,  after  his  wife's  confinement,  when  he 
lived  in  Moscow  without  any  serious  occupation. 

The  question  presented  itself  to  him  in  this  way  :  — 

"  If  I  do  not  accept  the  explanations  offered  me  by 
Christianity  on  the  problem  of  my  existence,  then  what 
answer  shall  I  find  ? " 

And  he  scrutinized  the  whole  arsertal  of  his  scientific 
convictions,  and  found  no  answer  whatever  to  his  ques- 
tions, and  nothing  like  an  answer. 

He  was  in  the  position  of  a  man  who  seeks  to  find 
food  in  a  toy-store  or  a  gun-shop. 

Involuntarily  and  unconsciously  he  sought  now  in  every 
book,  in  every  conversation,  and  in  every  person  whom 


ANNA    KARENINA  359 

he  met,  some  sympathy  with  these  questions  and  their 
solution. 

More  than  by  anything  else,  he  was  surprised  and 
puzzled  by  the  fact  that  the  men  of  his  class,  who  for 
the  most  part  had,  like  himself,  substituted  science  for 
religion,  seemed  to  experience  not  the  least  moral  suffer- 
ing, but  to  live  entirely  satisfied  and  content.  Thus  in 
addition  to  the  main  question  there  were  others  which 
tormented  him  :  Were  these  men  sincere  .■*  Were  they 
not  hypocrites.  Or  did  they  understand  more  clearly 
than  he  did  the  answer  science  gave  to  these  trouble- 
some questions .''  And  he  took  to  studying  these  men, 
and  books  which  might  contain  the  solutions  which  he 
so  desired. 

One  thing  which  he  had  discovered,  however,  since 
these  questions  had  begun  to  occupy  him,  was  that  he 
had  made  a  gross  error  in  taking  up  with  the  idea  of 
his  early  university  friends,  that  religion  had  outlived 
its  day,  and  no  longer  existed.  The  best  people  whom 
he  knew  were  believers,  —  the  old  prince,  Lvof,  of  whom 
he  was  so  fond,  Sergyel  Ivanovitch,  and  all  women  had 
faith  ;  and  his  wife  believed  just  as  he  had  believed  when 
he  was  a  child,  and  nine-tenths  of  the  Russian  people 
—  all  people  whose  lives  inspired  the  greatest  respect  — 
were  believers. 

Another  strange  thing  was  that,  as  he  read  many 
books,  he  became  convinced  that  the  men  whose  opinions 
he  shared  did  not  attach  to  them  any  importance ;  and  that 
without  explaining  anything  they  simply  ignored  these 
questions,  without  an  answer  to  which  life  seemed  to 
him  impossible,  and  took  up  others  which  were  to  him 
utterly  uninteresting,  —  such,  for  example,  as  the  devel- 
opment of  the  organism,  the  mechanical  explanation  of 
the  soul,  and  others. 

Moreover,  at  the  time  of  his  wife's  illness,  he  had 
what  to  him  seemed  a  most  extraordinary  experience  : 
he,  the  unbeliever,  had  prayed,  and  prayed  with  sincere 
faith.  But  as  soon  as  the  danger  was  over,  he  felt  that 
he  could  not  give  that  temporary  disposition  any  abiding- 
place  in  his  life. 


36o  ANNA   KARENINA 

He  could  not  avow  that  the  truth  appeared  to  him 
then,  but  that  he  was  mistaken  now  ;  because,  as  he  began 
calmly  to  analyze  his  feelings,  they  eluded  him.  He 
could  not  avow  that  he  had  been  deceived  then,  because 
he  had  experienced  a  temporary  spiritual  condition ;  and 
if  he  pretended  that  he  had  succumbed  to  a  moment  of 
weakness,  he  would  sully  a  sacred  moment.  He  was  in 
a  state  of  internal  conflict,  and  he  strove  with  all  the 
strength  of  his  nature  to  free  himself  from  it. 


CHAPTER   IX 

These  thoughts  tormented  him  with  varying  intensity, 
but  he  could  not  free  himself  from  them.  He  read  and 
meditated ;  but  the  more  he  read  and  meditated,  the  end 
desired  seemed  to  grow  more  and  more  remote. 

During  the  latter  part  of  his  stay  in  Moscow,  and 
after  he  reached  the  country,  he  became  convinced  of 
the  uselessness  of  seeking  in  materialism  an  answer  to 
his  doubts ;  and  he  read  over  the  philosophers  whose 
explanations  of  life  were  opposed  to  materialism,  — 
Plato  and  Spinoza,  and  Kant  and  Schelling,  and  Hegel 
and  Schopenhauer. 

These  thoughts  seemed  to  him  fruitful  while  he  was 
reading,  or  was  contrasting  their  doctrines  with  those  of 
others,  especially  with  those  of  a  materialistic  tendency ; 
but  just  as  soon  as  he  attempted,  independently,  to  apply 
these  guides  to  some  doubtful  point,  he  fell  back  into 
the  same  perplexities  as  before.  The  terms  ''mind,'' 
''will"  "freedom,''  "essence,"  had  a  certain  meaning  to 
his  intellect  as  long  as  he  followed  the  clew  established 
by  the  deductions  of  these  philosophers,  and  allowed 
himself  to  be  caught  in  the  snare  of  their  subtle  dis- 
tinctions ;  but  when  practical  life  asserted  its  point  of 
view,  this  artistic  structure  fell,  like  a  house  built  of 
cards ;  and  it  became  evident  that  the  edifice  was  built 
only  of  beautiful  words,  having  no  more  connection  than 
logic  with  the  serious  side  of  life. 

Once,  as  he  was  reading  Schopenhauer,  he  substituted 


ANNA    KARENINA  361 

the  term  "  love  "  for  that  which  this  philosopher  calls 
"  will,"  and  this  new  philosophy  consoled  him  for  a  few 
days  while  he  clung  to  it.  But  it  also  proved  unsatis- 
factory when  he  regarded  it  from  the  standpoint  of 
practical  life ;  then  it  seemed  to  be  the  thin  muslin  with- 
out warmth  as  a  dress. 

Sergyef  Ivanovitch  advised  him  to  read  Khomyakof 's  ^ 
theological  writings  :  and  though  he  was  at  first  repelled 
by  the  excessive  affectation  of  the  author's  style,  and  his 
strong  polemic  tendency,  he  was  struck  by  their  teach- 
ings regarding  the  Church  ;  he  was  struck  also  by  the 
development  of  the  following  thought :  — 

"  Man  when  alone  cannot  attain  the  knowledge  of 
theological  truths.  The  true  light  is  kept  for  a  com- 
munion of  souls  who  are  filled  with  the  same  love ;  that 
is,  for  the  Church." 

He  was  delighted  with  the  thought :  How  much  easier 
it  is  to  accept  the  Church,  which  united  with  it  all  believ- 
ing people  and  was  endowed  with  holiness  and  infallibil- 
ity, since  it  had  God  for  its  head,  —  to  accept  its  teachings 
as  to  Creation,  the  Fall,  and  Redemption,  and  through 
it  to  reach  God,  —  than  to  begin  with  God,  a  far-off, 
mysterious  God,  the  Creation,  and  the  rest  of  it. 

But,  as  he  read,  after  Khomyakof,  a  history  of  the 
Church  by  a  Catholic  writer,  and  the  history  of  the 
Church  by  an  Orthodox  writer,  and  perceived  that 
the  Orthodox  Greek  Church  and  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  both  of  them  in  their  very  essence  infallible, 
were  antagonistic,  he  saw  that  he  had  been  deluded  by 
Khomyakof 's  church-teachings ;  and  this  edifice  also 
fell  into  dust,  like  the  constructions  of  philosophy. 

During  this  whole  spring  he  was  not  himself,  and 
passed  hours  of  misery. 

"  I  cannot  live  without  knowing  what  I  am,  and  why 

1  Aleksel  Stepanovitch  Khomyakof  was  born  in  1804  ;  after  serving  in 
the  Guard  and  taking  active  part  in  the  Turkish  campaign,  he  retired  to 
private  life.  He  wrote  several  romantic  tragedies  in  verse,  also  a  number 
of  poems  of  Panslavonic  tendencies  ;  he  is  chiefly  remembered  as  a  theo- 
logical writer,  and  some  of  his  works  have  been  translated  into  French  and 
even  English.  In  1858  he  was  president  of  the  Moscow  Society  of  the 
Friends  of  Russian  Literature.     He  died  in  i860.  —  Ed. 


362  ANNA    KARENINA 

I  exist.  Since  I  cannot  reach  this  knowledge,  Ufe  13 
impossible,"  said  Levin  to  himself. 

"  In  the  infinitude  of  time,  in  the  infinitude  of  matter, 
in  the  infinitude  of  space,  an  organic  cell  is  formed, 
exists  for  a  moment,  and  bursts.     That  cell  is  —  I." 

This  was  a  cruel  lie  ;  but  it  was  the  sole,  the  supreme, 
result  of  the  labor  of  the  human  mind  for  centuries. 

It  was  the  final  creed  on  which  were  founded  the  latest 
researches  of  the  scientific  spirit ;  it  was  the  dominant 
conviction ;  and  Levin,  without  knowing  exactly  why, 
simply  because  this  theory  seemed  to  him  the  clearest, 
was  involuntarily  held  by  it. 

But  this  conclusion  was  not  merely  a  lie,  it  was  the 
cruel  jest  of  some  evil  spirit,  —  cruel,  inimical,  to  which 
it  was  impossible  to  submit. 

To  get  away  from  it  was  a  duty ;  deliverance  from  it 
was  in  the  power  of  every  one,  and  the  one  means  of 
deliverance  was  —  death. 

And  Levin,  the  happy  father  of  a  family,  a  man  in 
perfect  health,  was  sometimes  so  tempted  to  commit 
suicide,  that  he  hid  ropes  from  sight,  lest  he  should 
hang  himself,  and  feared  to  go  out  with  his  gun,  lest  he 
should  shoot  himself. 

But  Levin  did  not  hang  himself,  or  shoot  himself,  but 
lived  and  struggled  on. 


CHAPTER  X 

When  Levin  puzzled  over  what  he  was,  and  why  he 
was  born,  he  found  no  answer,  and  fell  into  despair  ;  but 
when  he  ceased  to  ask  himself  these  questions,  he  seemed 
to  know  what  he  was  and  why  he  was  alive,  for  the  very 
reason  that  he  resolutely  and  definitely  lived  and  worked ; 
even  during  the  more  recent  months  he  had  Hved  far  more 
strenuously  and  resolutely  than  ever  before. 

Toward  the  end  of  June  he  returned  to  the  country  and 
resumed  his  ordinary  work  at  Pokrovskoye.  The  super- 
intendence of  the  estates  of  his  brother  and  sister,  his 
relations  with  his  neighbors  and  his  muzhiks,  his  family 


ANNA    KARENINA  :i63 

cares,  his  new  enterprise  in  bee-culture,  which  he  had 
taken  up  this  year,  occupied  all  his  time.  These  inter- 
ests occupied  him,  not  because  he  carried  them  on  with  a 
view  to  their  universal  application,  as  he  had  done  before, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  because  being  now  on  the  one  hand 
disillusionized  by  the  lack  of  success  in  his  former 
undertakings  for  the  common  good,  on  the  other  being 
too  much  engrossed  by  his  own  thoughts  and  the  very 
multitude  of  affairs  calling  for  his  attention,  he  entirely 
relinquished  all  his  attempts  of  cooperative  advantage 
and  he  occupied  himself  with  his  affairs,  simply  because  it 
seemed  to  him  that  he  was  irresistibly  impelled  to  do  what 
he  did,  and  could  not  do  otherwise. 

Formerly  —  almost  from  childhood  till  he  reached 
manhood  —  when  he  began  to  do  anything  that  would 
be  good  for  all,  for  humanity,  for  Russia,  he  saw  that  the 
thought  of  it  gave  him,  in  advance,  a  pleasing  sense  of 
joy ;  but  the  action  in  itself  never  realized  his  hopes, 
nor  had  he  full  conviction  that  the  work  was  neces- 
sary, and  the  activity  itself  which  seemed  at  first  so 
important  kept  growing  smaller  and  smaller,  and  came 
to  naught. 

But  now  that  since  his  marriage  he  had  become  more 
and  more  restricted  by  life  for  its  own  sake,  though 
he  had  no  pleasure  at  the  thought  of  his  activity,  he  felt 
a  conviction  that  his  work  was  indispensable,  and  saw 
that  the  results  gained  were  far  more  satisfactory  than 
before. 

Now,  quite  against  his  will,  he  cut  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  soil,  like  a  plow  that  cannot  choose  its 
path,  or  turn  from  its  furrow. 

To  live  as  his  fathers  and  grandfathers  had  lived,  to 
carry  out  their  work  so  as  to  hand  it  on  in  turn  to  his 
children,  seemed  to  him  a  plain  duty.  It  was  as  neces- 
sary as  the  duty  of  eating  when  hungry  ;  and  he  knew 
that,  to  reach  this  end,  he  was  under  obligation  so  to 
conduct  the  machinery  of  the  estate  ^  at  Pokrovskoye 
that  there  might  be  profit  in  it.  As  indubitably  as  a 
debt  required  to  be  paid,  so  was  it  incumbent  on  him  to 
*  Khozhydlstventtaya  mashina. 


364  ANNA    KARENINA 

preserve  his  paternal  estate  in  such  a  condition  that  his 
son,  receiving  it  in  turn,  might  say,  "  Thank  you,  my 
father,"  just  as  Levin  himself  was  grateful  to  his  ancestors 
for  what  they  had  cleared  and  tilled.  He  felt  that  he 
had  no  right  to  rent  his  land  to  the  muzhiks,  but  that  he 
himself  must  keep  everything  under  his  own  eye,  — 
maintain  his  cattle,  fertilize  his  fields,  set  out  trees. 

It  was  as  impossible  not  to  look  out  for  the  interests 
of  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  and  his  sister,  and  all  the  peasants 
that  came  to  consult  him,  as  it  was  to  abandon  the  child 
that  had  been  given  into  his  hands.  He  felt  obliged  to 
look  after  the  interests  of  his  sister-in-law,  who  with  her 
children  was  living  at  his  house,  and  of  his  wife  with 
her  child,  and  he  had  to  spend  with  them  at  least  a  small 
part  of  his  time.  And  all  this,  together  with  his  hunt- 
ing and  his  new  occupation  of  bee-culture,  filled  to  over- 
flowing his  life,  the  meaning  of  which  he  could  not 
understand  when  he  reflected  on  it. 

Not  only  did  Levin  see  clearly  what  it  was  his  duty 
to  do,  but  he  saw  Jiow  he  must  fulfil  it,  and  what  had 
paramount  importance. 

He  knew  that  it  was  requisite  to  hire  laborers  as 
cheaply  as  possible;  but  to  get  them  into  his  power  by 
paying  down  money  in  advance,  and  getting  them  at  less 
than  market  price,  he  would  not  do,  although  this  was 
very  advantageous.  It  was  permissible  to  sell  fodder 
to  the  muzhiks  in  time  of  scarcity,  even  though  he  felt 
sorry  for  those  who  were  improvident ;  but  he  felt  it  his 
duty  to  do  away  with  inns  and  drinking-places,  even 
though  they  brought  in  great  profit.  On  principle  he 
punished  as  severely  as  he  could  thefts  from  his  wood; 
but  when  he  found  cattle  straying  he  was  not  inclined 
to  exact  a  fine,  and  though  it  annoyed  the  guards  and 
brought  the  punishment  into  contempt,  he  always  insisted 
on  having  the  cattle  driven  out  again.  He  advanced 
money  to  Piotr,  to  save  him  from  the  claws  of  a  money- 
lender, who  charged  him  ten  per  cent  a  month  ;  but  he 
made  no  allowance  for  arrears  in  the  obrok  or  money 
due  him  from  negligent  muzhiks.  He  found  it  impos- 
sible to  pardon  an  overseer  because  a  small  meadow  was 


ANNA   KARENINA  365 

not  mowed  and  the  grass  was  wasted ;  but  he  would  not 
let  them  mow  a  piece  of  land  amounting  to  eighty 
desyatins  —  or  two  hundred  and  sixteen  acres  —  on  which 
a  young  forest  had  been  planted.  He  would  not  excuse  a 
muzhik  who  went  home  in  working  hours  because  his 
father  had  died,  —  sorry  as  he  was  for  him,  —  and  he  had 
to  pay  him  lower  wages  for  the  costly  months  of  idle- 
ness ;  but  he  was  bound  to  give  board  and  lodging  to 
old  servants  who  were  superannuated. 

Levin  felt  that  it  was  right,  on  returning  home,  to  go 
first  to  his  wife,  who  was  not  well,  though  some  muzhiks 
had  been  waiting  for  three  hours  to  see  him ;  and  he 
knew,  in  spite  of  all  the  pleasure  that  he  should  have  in 
seeing  his  bees  hived,  nevertheless  he  felt  in  duty  bound 
to  deprive  himself  of  this  pleasure  and  let  his  old  bee- 
man  transfer  the  swarm  without  him,  and  go  and  talk 
with  the  muzhiks  who  had  come  to  the  apiary  for  him. 

Whether  he  did  well  or  ill,  he  knew  not ;  and  he  did 
not  try  to  settle  it,  but,  moreover,  he  avoided  all  thoughts 
and  discussions  on  the  subject.  Reasoning  led  him  to 
doubt,  and  prevented  him  from  seeing  what  was  right 
to  do,  or  not  to  do.  When  he  ceased  to  consider,  but 
simply  /zved,  he  never  failed  to  find  in  his  soul  the 
presence  of  an  infallible  judge,  telling  him  which  of  two 
possible  courses  was  the  best  to  take,  and  which  was  the 
worst ;  and  when  he  failed  to  follow  this  inner  voice,  he 
was  instantly  made  aware  of  it. 

Thus  he  lived,  not  knowing,  and  not  seeing  the  pos- 
sibility of  knowing,  what  he  was,  or  why  he  lived  in  the 
world,  and  tortured  by  his  ignorance  to  such  a  degree 
that  he  feared  committing  suicide  and  yet  resolutely  pur- 
suing the  course  of  life  traced  out  for  him. 


CHAPTER   XI 

The  day  on  which  Sergyef  Ivanovitch  reached  Pokrov- 
skoye  had  been  unusually  full  of  torment  for  Levin. 

It  was  at  that  hurried,  busy  season  of  the  year  when 
all  the  peasantry  are  engaged  in  putting  forth  an  extraor 


366  ANNA   KARENINA 

dinary  effort,  and  showing  an  endurance,  which  are 
quite  unknown  in  the  ordinary  conditions  of  their  liv^es, 
and  which  would  be  prized  very  highly  if  it  were  not 
repeated  every  year,  and  did  not  produce  such  very 
simple  results.  Mowing  and  sowing  rye  and  oats,  reap- 
ing, harvesting,  threshing,  —  these  are  labors  which  seem 
simple  and  commonplace;  but  to  accomplish  them  in  the 
short  time  accorded  by  nature,  every  one,  old  and  young, 
must  set  to  work.  For  three  or  four  weeks  they  must 
be  content  with  the  simplest  fare,  —  black  bread,  garlic, 
and  kvas ;  must  sleep  only  a  few  hours,  and  must  not 
pause  night  or  day.  And  every  year  this  happens 
throughout  all  Russia. 

Having  lived  the  larger  part  of  his  life  in  the  coun- 
try, and  in  the  closest  relations  with  the  peasantry,  Levin 
always  at  harvest-time  felt  that  this  universal  activity 
among  the  people  embraced  his  own  life. 

In  the  early  morning  he  had  gone  to  the  field  of  early 
rye,  to  the  field  where  they  were  carrying  off  the  oats  in 
ricks.  Then  he  came  back  to  breakfast  with  his  wife 
and  sister-in-law,  and  had  afterward  gone  off  on  foot  to 
the  farm,  where  he  was  trying  a  new  threshing-machine. 

This  whole  day.  Levin,  as  he  talked  with  the  overseer 
and  the  muzhiks  in  the  field,  as  he  talked  at  the  house 
with  his  wife  and  Dolly  and  the  children  and  his  father- 
in-law,  thought  of  only  one  thing ;  and  constantly  the 
same  questions  pursued  him :  "  What  am  I  .''  and  where 
am  I }  and  why  am  I  here  .-* " 

As  he  stood  in  the  cool  shadow  of  his  newly  thatched 
bam,  where  the  hazelwood  timbers,  still  smelling  of  the 
fragrant  leaves,  held  down  the  straw  to  the  freshly  peeled 
aspen  timbers  that  made  the  roof,  Levin  gazed,  now 
through  the  open  doors,  where  whirled  and  played  the 
dry  and  choking  dust  thrown  off  by  the  threshing- 
machine  ;  now  at  the  hot  sunlight  lying  on  the  grass  of 
the  threshing-floor,  and  at  the  fresh  straw  just  brought 
out  of  the  barn ;  now  at  the  white-breasted  swallows 
with  their  spotted  heads,  as  they  flew  about  twittering, 
and  settled  under  the  eaves,  or,  shaking  their  wings, 
darted  through  the  open  doors ;  and  then  again  at  the 


ANNA   KARENINA  367 

peasantry,  bustling  about  in  the  dark  and  dusty  barn, 
and  strange  ideas  came  into  his  mind  :  — 

"  Why  is  all  this  done  ?  "  he  asked  himself.  "  Why 
am  I  standing  here  ?  Why  am  I  compelling  them  to 
work,  and  why  are  they  working  so  hard  ?  Why  are 
they  doing  their  best  in  my  presence  ?  Why  is  my  old 
friend  Matriona  putting  in  so  with  all  her  might  ?  I 
cured  her  when  a  beam  fell  on  her  at  the  fire,"  he  said 
to  himself,  as  he  looked  at  a  hideous  old  baba,  who  was 
walking  with  bare,  sunburned  feet  across  the  hard, 
uneven  soil,  and  was  plying  the  rake  vigorously.  "She 
got  well  then.  But  if  not  to-day  or  to-morrow,  then  in 
ten  years,  she  must  be  borne  to  her  grave,  and  there  will 
be  nothing  left  of  her,  nor  of  that  pretty  girl  in  red,  who 
is  husking  corn  with  such  graceful,  swift  motions.  They 
will  bury  her.  And  that  dappled  gelding  will  soon  die," 
he  thought,  as  he  looked  at  the  horse,  breathing  painfully 
with  distended  nostrils  and  heavily  sagging  belly,  as  it 
struggled  up  the  ever  descending  treadmill.  "They  will 
carry  him  off.  And  Feodor,  the  machine-tender,  with 
his  curling  beard,  full  of  chaff,  and  his  white  shoulder 
showing  through  a  tear  in  his  shirt  — they  will  carry  him 
off  too.  But  now  he  gathers  up  the  sheaves,  and  gives  his 
commands,  and  shouts  to  the  women,  and,  with  quick 
motions,  arranges  the  belt  on  the  machine.  And  it  will  be 
the  same  with  me.  They  will  carry  me  aw^y,  and  nothing 
of  me  will  be  left.     Why  .?  " 

And,  in  the  midst  of  his  meditations,  he  mechanically 
took  out  his  watch  to  calculate  how  much  they  threshed 
in  an  hour.  It  was  his  duty  to  do  this,  so  that  he  could 
pay  the  men  fairly  for  their  day's  work. 

'*  So  far,  only  three  ricks,"  he  said  to  himself ;  and 
he  went  to  the  machine-tender,  and,  trying  to  make 
his  voice  heard  above  the  racket,  told  him  to  work 
faster. 

"  You  put  in  too  much  at  once,  Feodor ;  you  see  it 
stops  it,  so  it  wastes  time.     Do  it  more  regularly." 

Feodor,  his  face  black  with  dust  and  sweat,  shouted 
back  some  unintelligible  reply,  but  entirely  failed  to 
carry  out  Levin's  directions. 


368  ANNA   KARENINA 

He  mounted  the  drum,  took  Feodor's  place,  and  began 
to  do  the  feeding. 

He  worked  thus  till  it  was  the  muzhiks'  dinner-hour, 
not  a  very  long  time  ;  and  then,  in  company  with  Feodor, 
he  left  the  barn,  and  talked  with  him,  leaning  against  a 
beautifully  stacked  pile  of  yellow  rye  saved  for  plant- 
ing. 

Feodor  was  from  a  distant  village,  the  very  one  where 
Levin  had  formerly  let  the  association  have  some  land. 
Now  it  was  rented  to  a  dvornik. 

Levin  talked  with  Feodor  about  this  land,  and  asked 
him  if  it  were  not  possible  that  Platon,  a  rich  and  trust- 
worthy muzhik  of  his  village,  would  take  it  for  the  next 
year. 

"  Price  too  high  ;  won't  catch  Platon,  Konstantin  Dmi- 
tritch,"  replied  the  muzhik,  wiping  the  chaff  from  his 
sweaty  chest. 

"  Yes ;  but  how  does  Kirillof  make  money  out  of 
it?" 

"  Mitiukh  !  "  —  by  this  contemptuous  diminutive  Feo- 
dor called  the  dvornik,  —  "  what  does  n't  he  make  money 
out  of !  He  puts  on  the  screws  and  gets  the  last  drop  ! 
He  has  no  pity  on  the  peasants.  But  Uncle  Fokanuitch," 
—  so  he  called  the  old  man  Platon,  —  "  does  he  try  to 
fleece  a  man .-'  And  he  gives  credit,  when  any  one  owes 
him.  He  does  not  try  to  squeeze  it  out  of  them.  He 's 
that  kind  of  a  man  !  " 

"  Yes  ;  but  why  does  he  give  credit  ? " 

"  Well,  of  course  men  differ.  One  lives  for  his  belly, 
like  Mitiukh  ;  but  Fokanuitch,  —  he  's  an  honest  man,  — 
he  lives  for  his  soul.     He  remembers  God." 

"  How  does  he  remember  God  and  hve  for  his  soul .'' " 
exclaimed  Levin,  eagerly. 

"  Why,  that 's  plain  enough.  It 's  to  live  according  to 
God, ....  according  to  truth.  People  differ.  Take  you, 
Konstantin  Dmitritch,  for  example  ;  you  could  n't  wrong 
a  man."  .... 

"Yes,  yes;  prashcha'i — good-by,"  exclaimed  Levin, 
deeply  moved ;  and,  taking  his  cane,  he  turned  toward 
the  house. 


ANNA    KARENINA  369 

As  he  recalled  the  muzhik's  words,  how  "  Fokanuitch 
lived  for  his  soul,  according  to  God ....  according  to 
truth,"  confused  but  weighty  thoughts  arose  within  him 
from  some  hidden  source,  and  filled  his  soul  with  their 
brilliant  light. 


CHAPTER    XII 

Levin,  with  long  steps,  strode  along  the  highway, 
filled,  not  so  much  with  his  thoughts,  —  he  could  not 
as  yet  get  rid  of  them,  —  as  with  a  spiritual  impulse, 
such  as  he  had  never  known  before. 

The  peasant's  words  had  had  in  his  soul  the  effect  of 
an  electric  spark,  suddenly  condensing  the  cloud  of  dim, 
incoherent  thoughts,  which  had  not  ceased  to  fill  his 
mind,  even  while  he  was  talking  about  the  letting  of  his 
field. 

He  felt  that  some  new  impulse,  inexplicable  as  yet, 
filled  his  heart  with  joy. 

"  Not  to  live  for  one's  self,  but  for  God !  What  God } 
Could  he  have  said  anything  more  meaningless  than 
what  he  said .''  Ho  said  that  we  must  live,  not  for  our- 
selves, that  is,  for  what  interests  and  pleases  us,  but  for 
something  incomprehensible,  for  God,  whom  no  one 
knows  or  can  define.  Still,  call  it  nonsense,  did  I  under- 
stand Feodor .''  Did  n't  I  also  feel  convinced  of  its  truth  ? 
Did  I  find  it  either  false  or  absurd  ? 

"  Nay ;  I  understood  it,  and  find  in  it  the  same  mean- 
ing as  he  finds,  and  understood  it  more  completely  and 
clearly  than  anything  else  in  life.  And  not  alone  I, 
but  all,  all  the  world,  perfectly  imdcrstand  this  and  have 
no  doubt  of  it,  and  are  unanimous  in  its  favor. 

"  And  I  was  seeking  for  miracles,  and  regretting  that 
I  could  not  see  one  which  might  fill  me  with  amazement. 
A  material  miracle  would  have  seduced  me.  But  the 
real  miracle,  the  only  one  possibly  existing,  surrounds 
me  on  all  sides  —  and  I  have  not  remarked  it. 

"  Feodor  says  Kirillof,  the  dvornik,  lives  for  his  belly. 
t   know  what   he  means  by  that.     No  rational  being, 

VOL.  III.  —  24 


370  ANNA    KARENINA 

none  of  us,  can  live  in  any  other  way.  But  Feodor  says, 
too,  that  it  is  wrong  to  live  for  the  belly,  but  that  we 
should  live  for  truth,  for  God ;  and  I  know  what  that 
means  as  well.  I,  and  millions  of  men,  muzhiks,  and 
sages  who  have  thought  and  written  on  the  subject,  or 
in  their  obscure  language  have  talked  about  it,  in  the 
past  and  in  the  present,  —  we  are  in  accord  on  one 
point  ;•  and  that  is,  that  we  should  live  for  '  the  good.' 
The  only  knowledge  that  I  and  all  men  possess  that 
is  clear,  indubitable,  absolute,  is  here.  We  have  not 
reached  it  by  reason.  Reason  excludes  it,  for  it  has 
neither  cause  nor  effect.  'The  good,'  if  it  had  a  cause, 
would  cease  to  be  the  good ;  if  it  had  an  effect,  —  a  re- 
ward, —  it  would  cease  to  be  the  good.  The  good  must 
be  outside  of  the  chain  of  cause  and  effect.  And  I 
know  this,  and  we  all  know  it.  Can  there  be  greater 
miracle  than  this  ? 

"  Have  I  really  found  the  solution  of  my  doubts } 
Shall  I  cease  to  suffer .'' "  Levin  asked  himself  as  he 
followed  the  dusty  road,  insensible  to  weariness  and 
heat,  and  feeling  that  his  long  travail  was  at  an  end. 
The  sensation  was  so  delightful,  that  he  could  not  be- 
lieve that  it  was  true.  He  choked  with  emotion ;  his 
strength  failed  him ;  and  he  left  the  highroad,  and  went 
into  the  woods,  and  sat  down  under  the  shadow  of 
an  aspen  on  the  unmown  grass.  '  He  uncovered  his 
moist  forehead,  and  stretched  himself  out  on  the  succu- 
lent wood-grass,  and  leaned  his  head  on  his  hand. 

"  Yes,  I  must  reflect  and  consider,"  he  thought,  look- 
ing attentively  at  the  untrodden  grass  in  front  of  him, 
and  watching  the  movements  of  an  earth-beetle  crawl- 
ing up  the  stalk  of  couch-grass,  and  stopped  by  a  leaf. 
"  What  discovery  have  I  made .-'  "  he  said  to  himself, 
removing  the  leaf  from  the  beetle's  way,  and  bending 
down  another  stalk  of  couch-grass  to  help  the  beetle  on. 
**  What  makes  me  so  happy }  What  discovery  have  I 
made  ? 

"  I  have  made  no  discovery.  I  have  only  opened  my 
eyes  to  what  I  already  know.  I  have  learned  to  recog- 
nize that  power  which  formerly  gave  me  life,  and  gives 


ANNA   KARENINA  371 

me  life  again  to-day.  I  have  freed  myself*  from  error. 
I  have  come  to  know  my  master. 

"  I  used  to  say  that  there  was  going  on  in  my  body, 
in  the  body  of  this  grass,  in  the  body  of  this  beetle,"  — 
the  beetle  did  not  want  to  go  to  the  other  stalk,  but 
spread  its  wings,  and  flew  away,  —  "  incessant  change 
of  matter,  in  conformity  to  certain  physical,  chemical, 
and  physiological  laws ;  and  in  all  of  us,  together  with 
the  aspens  and  the  clouds,  and  the  nebulae,  there  was 
evolution.  Evolution  from  what .''  into  what  ?  Endless 
evolution  and  conflict.  —  But  was  conflict  with  the  Infi- 
nite possible .''  And  I  was  surprised  to  find  nothing 
along  this  line,  in  spite  of  my  best  efforts,  which  could 
reveal  to  me  the  meaning  of  my  life,  my  motives,  my 
longings.  But  the  consciousness  that  there  is  a  mean- 
ing is,  nevertheless,  so  strong  and  clear,  that  it  forms 
the  very  foundation  of  my  existence ;  and  I  marveled 
and  rejoiced  when  the  muzhik  said,  'To  live  for  God, 
for  the  soul.' 

"  Now  I  can  say  that  I  know  the  meaning  of  life  :  it 
is  to  live  for  God,  for  my  own  soul.  And  this  meaning, 
in  spite  of  its  clearness,  is  mysterious  and  miraculous. 
And  such  is  the  meaning  of  all  existence.  Yes,  there 
is  pride,"  said  he  to  himself,  turning  over  on  his  stomach 
and  beginning  to  tie  into  a  knot  the  stalks  of  grass, 
while  trying  not  to  break  them.  **  Not  only  pride  of 
intellect,  but  the  stupidity  of  intellect.  Yes,  it  is  the 
wickedness  of  intellect,"  he  repeated. 

He  succinctly  went  over  in  memory  the  course  of  his 
thought  for  the  last  two  years,  from  the  day  when  the 
idea  of  death  struck  him,  on  seeing  his  beloved  brother 
hopelessly  sick. 

Then  he  had  clearly  resolved  that,  since  man  had  no 
other  prospect  than  suffering,  death,  and  eternal  oblivion, 
he  must  either  commit  suicide,  or  find  the  explanation 
of  the  problem  of  existence,  and  in  such  manner  as  to 
see  in  it  something  more  than  the  cruel  irony  of  a  malevo- 
lent spirit. 

But  he  had  not  done  either,  but  continued  to  live,  to 
think,  and  to  feel.     He  had  married,  and  had  experienced 


372  ANNA   KARENINA 

new  joys,  wh'ich  made  him  happy  when  he  did  not  pon- 
der on  the  meaning  of  Hfe. 

What  did  this  mean  ?  It  meant  that  he  was  thinking 
badly,  and  living  well.  Without  knowing  it,  he  had  been 
sustained  by  those  spiritual  verities  which  he  had  sucked 
in  with  his  mother's  milk,  and  he  indulged  in  thought, 
not  only  now  not  recognizing  those  truths,  but  even  stren- 
uously avoiding  them.  Now  it  was  clear  to  him  that  he 
could  live  only  through  the  blessed  influence  of  the  faith 
in  which  he  had  been  taught. 

"  What  should  I  have  been,  how  should  I  have  lived, 
if  I  had  not  absorbed  these  behefs....  if  I  had  not  known 
that  I  must  live  for  God,  and  not  for  the  satisfaction  of 
my  desires  .-*  I  should  have  been  a  thief,  a  liar,  a  mur- 
derer. Nothing  of  what  seems  the  chief  joy  of  my  life 
would  have  had  any  existence  for  me." 

And,  though  he  made  the  most  strenuous  efforts  of  his 
imagination,  he  could  not  picture  to  himself  what  kind 
of  a  wild  creature  he  might  have  been,  if  he  had  not 
really  known  the  aim  of  his  existence. 

"  I  was  in  search  of  an  answer  to  my  question  ;  thought 
could  not  give  it,  for  the  problem  was  too  lofty.  Life 
itself,  with  the  innate  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  alone 
could  give  me  an  answer.  And  this  knowledge  I  did 
not  acquire.  It  was  given  to  me,  like  all  the  rest ;  given, 
I  could  not  know  where  to  get  it.  Did  I  get  it  from 
reason  }  But  would  reason  ever  have  proved  to  me  that 
I  ought  to  love  my  neighbor,  instead  of  choking  him } 
I  was  taught  it  in  my  childhood  ;  but  I  believed  it  gladly, 
because  it  was  already  existent  in  my  soul.  Reason  dis- 
covered the  struggle  for  existence,  —  that  law  which 
demands  the  overthrow  of  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
our  desires.  That  is  the  result  of  reason ;  but  reason 
has  nothing  to  do  with  loving  our  neighbor." 

CHAPTER    XIII 

Levin  remembered  a  recent  scene  between  Dolly  and 
her  children.  The  children  had  been  left  alone,  and  had 
amused  themselves  by  making  raspberry  jam  over  a  can- 


ANNA   KARENINA  373 

die,  and  throwing  milk  into  each  other's  faces.  Their 
mother,  catching  them  in  the  act,  scolded  them  in  their 
uncle's  presence,  and  sought  to  make  them  understand 
how  much  work  was  involved  in  what  they  were  destroy- 
ing, that  the  labor  was  performed  for  their  benefit ;  that, 
if  they  broke  the  cups,  they  could  n't  have  anything  to 
drink  from  ;  and  if  they  wasted  their  milk,  they  would  n't 
have  any  more,  and  would  starve  to  death. 

Levin  was  struck  by  the  indifference  and  skepticism 
with  which  the  children  heard  their  mother's  words. 
They  were  only  sorry  to  have  their  interesting  sport 
interrupted,  and  they  did  not  believe  a  word  of  what 
she  said.  They  did  not  believe,  because  they  did  not 
know  the  value  of  what  they  were  playing  with,  and  did 
not  understand  that  they  were  destroying  their  own 
means  of  subsistence. 

"That  is  all  very  well,"  they  thought;  "but  there  is 
nothing  interesting  or  worth  while  in  it,  because  it  is 
always  the  same,  and  always  will  be.  And  it  is  monoto- 
nous. We  don't  have  to  think  about  it,  it  is  done  for 
us ;  but  we  do  like  to  do  something  new  and  original ; 
and  here  we  were  making  jam  in  a  cup  over  the  candle, 
and  squirting  the  milk  into  each  others'  faces.  It  is  fun. 
It  is  new,  and  not  half  so  stupid  as  to  drink  milk  out  of 
a  cup." 

"Is  it  not  thus  that  we  act,  is  it  not  the  way  I  have 
acted,  in  trying  to  penetrate  by  reasoning  the  secrets  of 
nature  and  the  problem  of  human  life  ?  Is  it  not  the 
same  that  all  the  philosophers  have  done  with  their 
theories  which  lead,  by  a  course  of  reasoning  strange 
and  unnatural  to  man,  to  the  knowledge  of  what  he  long 
has  known,  and  known  so  surely  that  without  it  he  could 
not  live  ?  Do  we  not  see  clearly,  in  the  development  of 
the  theory  of  each,  that  the  real  meaning  of  human  exis- 
tence is  as  indubitably  known  as  it  is  known  to  Feodor, 
the  muzhik ;  and  do  they  see  any  more  clearly  than  he 
does  the  principal  meaning  of  life.-'  Do  they  not  all 
come  back  to  this,  even  though  it  be  by  a  route  which 
is  often  equivocal .-'  If  we  were  to  leave  the  children  to 
get  their  own  living,  make  their  own  utensils,  do  the 


374  ANNA    KARENINA 

milking,  instead  ot  playing  pranks,  they  would  die  of 
hunger. 

"  There,  now !  give  us  over  to  our  own  ideas  and  pas- 
sions, with  no  knowledge  of  our  Creator,  without  the 
consciousness  of  moral  good  and  evil,  and  what  would 
be  the  result?  We  reason  because  we  are  spiritually 
satiated.  We  are  children.  Whence  comes  this  joyous 
knowledge,  which  I  share  with  the  muzhik,  and  which 
alone  gives  me  serenity  of  spirit  ?  Where  did  I  get  it } 
Here  am  I,  a  Christian,  brought  up  in  the  faith,  sur- 
rounded by  the  blessings  of  Christianity,  living  upon 
these  spiritual  blessings  without  being  conscious  of  them  ; 
and  like  children  I  have  been  reasoning,  or  at  least  try- 
ing to  reason,  out  the  meaning  of  life. 

"  But  in  the  serious  moments  of  life,  in  the  hour  of 
suffering,  just  as  when  children  are  cold  and  hungry,  I 
turn  to  Him,  and,  like  these  same  children  whom  their 
mother  reprimands  for  their  childish  faults,  I  feel  that 
my  childish  efforts  to  get  out  of  the  mad  circle  of  rea- 
soning have  done  me  no  good. 

"Yes,  reason  has  taught  me  nothing.  What  I  know 
has  been  given,  revealed  to  me  through  the  heart,  and 
especially  through  faith  in  the  teachings  of  the  Church. 

"The  Church,  the  Church.?"  repeated  Levin,  turning 
over  again,  and,  as  he  rested  his  head  on  his  hand,  look- 
ing at  a  herd  of  cattle  down  by  the  river  at  a  distance. 
"Can  I  really  believe  all  that  the  Church  teaches.?"  said 
he,  to  test  himself,  and  to  bring  up  everything  that  might 
destroy  his  present  feeling  of  security.  He  expressly 
called  to  mind  the  Church  teachings  which  more  than 
all  had  seemed  strange  to  him,  and  disgusted  him. 

"Creation.?  Yes;  but  how  did  I  myself  explain  ex- 
istence .?  existence .?  the  devil .?  sin .?  How  did  I  explain 
evil.?  redemption? 

"  But  I  know  nothing  and  can  know  nothing  except 
what  is  told  me  and  every  one  else." 

And  now  it  seemed  to  him  that  not  one  of  these  Church 
dogmas  was  inimical  to  the  great  objects  of  life,  —  faith 
in  God,  in  goodness. 

On  the  contrary,  all  tended  to  produce  that  greatest 


ANNA    KARENINA  375 

of  miracles,  that  which  consists  in  enabling  the  whole 
world,  with  its  millions  of  human  beings,  young  and  old, 
the  muzhik  and  Lvof,  and  Kitty  and  peasants  and  tsars, 
married  and  single,  to  comprehend  the  same  great  truths, 
so  as  to  live  that  life  of  the  soul  which  alone  is  worth 
living,  and  which  is  our  only  aim. 

Lying  on  his  back,  he  looked  up  into  the  high,  cloud- 
less sky.  "Do  I  not  know,"  thought  he,  "that  that  is 
infinity  of  space,  and  not  a  vault  of  blue  stretching  above 
me  ?  But,  however  I  strain  my  sight,  I  can  see  only  a 
vaulted  dome;  and,  in  spite  of  my  knowledge  of  infinite 
space,  I  have  more  satisfaction  in  looking  at  it  as  a  blue, 
vaulted  dome,  than  when  I  try  to  look  beyond." 

Levin  stopped  thinking.  He  listened  to  the  myste- 
rious voices  which  seemed  to  wake  joyfully  in  him. 

"Is  it  really  faith.?"  he  thought,  fearing  to  believe  in 
his  happiness.  "My  God,  I  thank  Thee!"  he  cried; 
and  he  swallowed  down  the  sobs  that  arose,  and  brushed 
away  with  both  hands  the  tears  that  filled  his  eyes. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

Levin  looked  away,  and  saw  the  herd,  and  his  one- 
horse  telyega  and  his  coachman,  who  approached  the 
herd  of  cattle,  and  began  to  talk  to  the  herdsman.  Then 
he  heard  the  sound  of  wheels  and  the  neighing  of  the 
horse  ;  but  he  was  so  occupied  with  his  thoughts  that  he 
did  not  think  why  it  was  that  his  coachman  was  coming 
for  him. 

He  only  realized  it  when  the  coachman,  while  still 
some  distance  off,  cried:  — 

"The  mistress  sent  for  you.  Your  brother  and  an- 
other barin  have  come." 

Levin  got  in  at  once,  and  took  the  reins. 

As  if  awakened  from  sleep,  it  was  long  before  he 
could  collect  his  thoughts.  He  looked  at  the  well-fed 
horse,  and  at  the  spot  on  his  neck  where  the  harness 
rubbed;  and  he  looked  at  Ivan,  the  coachman,  sitting 
beside  him ;  and  he  thought  of  how  he  had  been  expect- 


376  ANNA    KARENINA 

ing  his  brother,  and  that  his  wife  was  probably  troubled 
because  he  was  gone  so  long,  and  he  tried  to  guess  who 
the  unknown  guest  who  had  come  with  his  brother  might 
be.  And  his  brother  and  his  wife  and  the  unknown  guest 
now  seemed  to  him  different  from  what  they  had  been 
before.  He  felt  that  henceforth  all  his  relations  with 
these  friends  would  be  more  pleasant  than  they  had  been. 

"  Now  there  shall  be  no  more  of  that  coldness,  such 
as  there  used  to  be,  between  my  brother  and  me ....  no 
more  disputes.  Nor  will  Kitty  and  I  quarrel  any  more  ; 
and  whoever  my  guest  is  I  shall  be  polite  to  him,  and 
kind  to  the  servants  and  to  Ivan  ....  all  will  be  dif- 
ferent." 

And  holding  in  his  good  horse,  which  was  whinnying 
with  impatience  and  pleading  for  permission  to  show  his 
paces,  Levin  kept  looking  at  Ivan,  who  was  sitting  next 
him,  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  his  idle  hands,  and 
constantly  pulling  down  his  shirt,  which  the  wind  tugged 
at ;  and  in  his  attempt  to  find  a  pretext  for  beginning  a 
conversation  with  the  man,  he  thought  of  saying  that 
the  horse's  girth  was  buckled  up  too  tightly,  but  then 
this  seemed  like  censuring  him,  and  he  wanted  to  say 
something  pleasant. 

"You  had  better  turn  to  the  right  and  avoid  that 
stump,"  said  the  coachman,  taking  hold  of  one  of  the 
reins. 

"  Please  not  touch,  or  try  to  give  me  lessons,"  said 
Levin,  exasperated  by  his  coachman's  interference. 
Just  the  same  as  always  he  was  made  angry  by  any 
interference  with  his  affairs,  and  he  immediately  became 
conscious  how  mistaken  he  was  in  supposing  for  a 
moment  that  his  new  spiritual  condition  could  keep  its 
character  unchanged  on  contact  with  the  reality. 

When  they  had  arrived  within  a  quarter  of  a  verst  of 
the  house,  Levin  saw  Grisha  and  Tania  running  to  meet 
him. 

"  Uncle  Kostia,  mamma  is  coming,  and  grandpa  and 
SergyeT  Ivanovitch  and  some  one  else,"  they  cried,  as 
they  ran  up  to  the  cart. 

"  Tell  me,  who  is  it }  " 


ANNA    KARENINA  377 

"  Oh,  he  *s  an  awful,  horrid  man,  who  does  so  with  his 
arms,"  said  Tania,  climbing  up  into  the  cart  and  mimick- 
ing Katavasof. 

"  Tell  me,  is  he  young  or  old  ? "  asked  Levin,  laugh- 
ing, reminded  of  some  one  by  Tania's  performance. 

"  Akh,  I  only  hope  he  is  not  a  bore,"  said  Levin  to 
himself. 

As  soon  as  they  reached  a  turn  in  the  road  and  saw 
the  party  approaching.  Levin  recognized  Katavasof,  who 
was  in  a  straw  hat,  and  gesticulating  exactly  as  Tania 
had  represented  it. 

Katavasof  was  very  fond  of  talking  philosophy,  and 
his  conceptions  were  wholly  drawn  from  the  natural 
sciences,  which  had  always  been  his  specialty ;  and 
in  Moscow  Levin  had  frequently  had  discussions  with 
him. 

And  one  of  these  discussions,  in  which  Katavasof  had 
evidently  felt  that  he  was  victorious,  occurred  to  Levin's 
mind  as  soon  as  he  saw  him. 

"  Henceforth,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  I  will  not  enter 
into  discussions,  or  express  myself  so  flippantly." 

Leaping  from  the  cart  and  joining  Katavasof  and  his 
brother,  he  asked  where  Kitty  was. 

"  She  has  taken  Mitya  to  Kolok,"  —  Kolok  was  a  piece 
of  woodland  near  the  house,  —  "  she  wanted  to  get  him 
established  there,  it  was  so  hot  at  the  house,"  said 
Dolly. 

Levin  always  advised  his  wife  against  taking  the  baby 
to  the  woods,  because  he  felt  it  was  dangerous ;  so  this 
news  was  not  pleasant  to  him. 

"  She  carries  that  son  of  hers  from  one  place  to 
another,"  said  the  old  prince.  "  I  told  her  she  'd  better 
try  the  ice-house." 

"  She  wanted  to  go  to  the  beehives.  She  thought 
you  were  there,"  added  Dolly.  "  That  is  where  we  were 
going." 

"  Well,  what  have  you  been  doing  that 's  good  ? " 
said  Sergyei  Ivanovitch,  dropping  behind  the  others, 
and  walking  with  his  brother. 

"  Oh,  nothing  particular ;  as  usual,  busy  with  the  farm- 


378  ANNA    KARENINA 

ifig.^  ■  You  '11  stay  with  us  awhile,  now  ?  We  've  been 
expecting  you  a  long  time." 

"  Only  a  fortnight.  I  have  a  great  deal  to  do  at 
Moscow." 

At  these  words  the  two  brothers  looked  at  one  another, 
and  Levin,  in  spite  of  his  usual  and  now  especially 
strong  desire  to  have  friendly,  and  above  all  simple, 
relations  with  his  brother,  felt  that  it  was  awkward  for 
him  to  look  at  him.  He  dropped  his  eyes  and  was  at 
a  loss  what  to  say. 

Trying  to  select  some  topic  of  conversation  which 
would  be  agreeable  to  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch,  and  avoiding 
the  Serbian  war  and  the  Slavonic  question,  a  hint  at 
which  Sergyet  Ivanovitch's  remark  about  his  occupation 
in  Moscow  gave,  Levin  began  to  talk  about  his  brother's 
book. 

"  Well,"  he  asked,  "have  there  been  many  reviews  of 
your  book .? " 

Sergyef  Ivanovitch  smiled  at  the  intention  of  the 
question. 

"  No  one  thinks  anything  about  it,  —  I,  least  of  all," 
he  said.  "  You  see,  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  we  're  going 
to  have  a  shower,"  he  added,  pointing  with  his  umbrella 
to  the  white  clouds  which  were  piling  up  above  the 
aspen-tops. 

It  was  evident  by  these  words  that  the  relationship 
between  the  brothers,  which  Levin  wanted  to  overcome, 
was  just  the  same  as  of  old,  —  if  not  unfriendly,  at  least 
cool. 

Levin  approached  Katavasof. 

"  How  good  it  was  of  you  to  come  to  us  !  "  said  he. 

"  I  have  wanted  to  come  for  a  long  time.  Now  we 
shall  have  time  to  talk.     Have  you  read  Spencer.'' " 

"  Not  thoroughly,  I  don't  get  anything  out  of  him." 

"  How  so .''  that  is  interesting.     Why  is  that  ?  " 

"  I  have  definitely  made  up  my  mind  that  the  answers 
to  certain  questions  which  interest  me  are  not  to  be 
found  in  him  or  his  followers.     Now ...." 

But  he  was  suddenly  struck   by   the    pleasant   and 

.//  /HOC         -^  Khozyalstvo. 


ANNA    KARENINA  379 

serene  expression  of  Katavasot's  face,  and  he  felt  so 
sorry  at  having  evidently  disturbed  his  mental  equi- 
librium by  his  remark,  that,  suddenly  remembering  his 
resolution,  he  stopped  short.  '  However,  we  will  talk 
about  that  by  and  by,"  he  added.  "If  we  are  going  to 
the  apiary  let  us  go  this  way,  by  this  path,"  he  said, 
turning  to  the  others. 

Passing  through  a  narrow  path  along  by  an  unmown 
field,  covered  on  one  side  with  an  abundance  of  those 
bright  flowers  called  Ivan-da-Marya,  and  in  the  midst  of 
which  grew  frequent  patches  of  the  tall,  dark  green 
hellebore.  Levin  led  his  guests  —  who  were  afraid  of 
being  stung  —  to  the  cool  dense  shade  of  some  young 
aspens,  and  established  them  on  some  benches  and  logs 
especially  prepared  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  the  bee- 
hives, and  he  himself  went  to  the  storehouse  to  fetch 
for  the  children,  and  the  grown  people  as  well,  some 
bread,  cucumbers,  and  fresh  honey. 

Trying  to  make  as  little  disturbance  as  possible,  and 
listening  to  the  bees,  which  came  flying  more  and  more 
thickly  around  him,  he  strode  along  the  path  that  led 
to  the  izba.  At  the  very  door,  a  bee  entangled  in  his 
beard  began  to  buzz,  but  he  carefully  freed  himself  from 
it.  Going  into  the  cool  entry,  he  took  his  wire  mask 
down  from  the  peg  where  it  hung,  and  put  it  on,  and, 
thrusting  his  hands  into  his  pockets,  he  went  into  the 
inclosure  of  the  apiary,  where,  amid  a  smoothly  shaven 
lawn,  stood  in  straight  rows  on  linden  stakes  all  the  old 
hives,  each  having  for  him  its  own  special  history,  while 
the  newer  ones  which  had  been  set  up  that  year  were 
ranged  along  the  wall.  At  the  entrance  of  the  hives 
he  could  see  the  young  bees  and  the  drones  clustering 
together  and  tumbling  over  one  another,  while  in  their 
midst  the  working  bees  were  industriously  darting  off  in 
a  straight  line  toward  the  forest,  where  the  linden  trees 
were  in  bloom,  and  quickly  returning  laden  with  their 
pollen. 

Kis  ears  were  filled  with  the  incessant,  monotonous 
humming  made  by  the  workers  as  they  flew  in  with 
their  burdens,  by  the  drones  enjoying  their  holiday,  and 


38o  ANNA    KARENINA 

by  the  guardian  bees  giving  warning  of  the  approach  of 
an  enemy  and  ready  to  sting. 

On  one  side  of  the  inclosure  the  old  bee-keeper  was 
smoothing  a  hoop,  and  did  not  see  Levin ;  and  Levin, 
without  speaking  to  him,  stood  in  the  midst  of  his 
apiary. 

He  was  glad  of  the  chance  of  being  alone  so  as  to 
collect  himself  in  face  of  the  reality  which  had  so  sud- 
denly come  into  vivid  contrast  with  his  recent  state  of 
mind. 

He  remembered  that  he  had  already  been  angry  with 
Ivan,  had  shown  coldness  to  his  brother,  and  had  spoken 
foolishly  with  Katavasof. 

"  Can  it  be  possible  that  my  happiness  was  only  a 
transitory  feeling,  which  will  pass  away,  and  leave  no 
trace  behind  .-* " 

But  at  the  same  moment  as  he  analyzed  his  state  of 
mind,  he  felt  with  joy  that  his  experience  had  left  new 
and  important  results.  Practical  life  had  only  temporarily 
disturbed  the  spiritual  calm  which  he  had  found ;  but  in 
his  heart  it  was  still  intact.  Just  as  the  bees,  buzzing 
around  him,  threatened  him,  and  robbed  him  of  his 
physical  calm,  and  compelled  him  to  defend  himself, 
so  did  the  cares  which  surrounded  him,  as  he  sat  in  his 
little  cart,  disturb  his  spiritual  calm ;  but  this  lasted  only 
while  he  was  in  their  midst.  Just  as  his  physical  strength 
was  intact  while  he  was  defending  himself  against  the 
bees,  so  his  newly  attained  spiritual  power  was  also 
unimpaired. 


CHAPTER   XV 

"  Do  you  know,  Kostia,  whom  Sergyelf  Ivanovitch 
found  on  the  train  ? "  said  Dolly,  after  she  had  given 
her  children  their  cucumbers  and  honey.  "  Vronsky. 
He  's  going  to  Serbia." 

"Yes!  and  not  alone  either.  He's  taking  out  a 
squadron  of  cavalry  at  his  own  expense,"  said  Katavasof. 

"That's  like  him,"  answered  Levin.     "But  are  vol 


ANNA    KARENINA  381 

unteers  still  going  off  ? "  added  he,  looking  at  Sergyei 
Ivanovitch. 

Sergyei  Ivanovitch  was  busy  with  a  knife-blade  rescu- 
ing a  live  bee  from  the  honey  that  had  flowed  out  of  the 
white  honeycomb  at  the  bottom  of  his  cup,  and  he  did 
not  answer. 

"  Indeed  !  I  should  say  so  !  "  said  Katavasof,  biting 
into  a  cucumber.  "  If  you  had  only  seen  them  at  the 
station  this  morning  !  " 

"  Now,  what  an  idea  this  is  !  For  Christ's  sake,  tell 
me,  SergyeT  Ivanovitch,  where  all  these  volunteers  are 
going,  and  whom  they  are  going  to  fight  with  ? "  asked 
the  old  prince,  evidently  pursuing  a  conversation  which 
they  had  begun  before  Levin  joined  them. 

"With  the  Turks,"  answered  Sergyei  Ivanovitch, 
smiling  quietly,  as  he  at  last  rescued  the  helpless  honey- 
smeared  bee  on  the  point  of  his  knife,  and  set  him  on 
an  aspen  leaf. 

"  But  who  has  declared  war  on  the  Turks  ?  Is  it  Ivan 
Ivanovitch  Ragozof  and  the  Countess  Lidia  Ivanovna 
and  Madame  Stahl  ?  " 

"  No  one  has  declared  war ;  but  the  people  sympathize 
with  their  oppressed  brethren,  and  want  to  help  them," 
said  Sergyei  Ivanovitch. 

"  The  prince  was  not  speaking  of  help,  but  of  war," 
said  Levin,  coming  to  the  assistance  of  his  father-in-law. 
"  The  prince  means  that  private  persons  have  no  right 
to  take  part  in  a  war  without  being  authorized  by  the 
government." 

"  Kostia,  look  out !  there  's  a  bee  !  Won't  he  sting  ? " 
cried  Dolly,  defending  herself  from  a  wasp. 

"  That 's  not  a  bee  ;  that 's  a  wasp  !  "  said  Levin. 

"  Come,  now !  give  us  your  theory,"  demanded  Kata- 
vasof, evidently  provoking  Levin  to  a  discussion.  "  Why 
shouldn't  private  persons  have  that  right.''" 

"  Well,  my  theory  is  this  :  war,  on  the  one  hand,  is 
such  a  terrible,  such  an  atrocious,  thing  that  no  man,  at 
least  no  Christian  man,  has  the  right  to  assume  the 
responsibility  of  beginning  it ;  but  it  belongs  to  govern- 
ment alone,  when  it  becomes  inevitable.     On  the  other 


382  ANNA    KARENINA 

hand,  both  in  law  and  in  common  sense,  where  there  are 
state  questions,  and  above  all  in  matters  concerning  war, 
private  citizens  have  no  right  to  use  their  own  wills." 

Sergyei'  Ivanovitch  and  Katavasof  were  both  ready 
at  the  same  instant  with  answers. 

"That's  where  you're  mistaken,  batyushka,"  said 
Katavasof.  "There  may  be  cases  when  government 
does  not  carry  out  the  will  of  its  citizens,  and  then 
society  declares  its  own  will." 

But  Sergyelf  Ivanovitch  did  not  approve  of  this  reply. 
He  frowned  as  Katavasof  spoke,  and  put  it  another 
way :  — 

"You  state  the  question  all  wrong.  Here  there  is  no 
declaration  of  war,  but  simply  an  expression  of  human, 
of  Christian,  sympathy.  Our  brethren,  men  of  the  same 
blood,  the  same  faith,  are  butchered.  Now,  we  do  not 
merely  regard  them  as  brethren  and  as  corehgionists, 
but  as  women,  children,  old  men.  Our  feelings  are 
stirred,  and  the  whole  Russian  people  fly  to  help  check 
these  horrors.  Suppose  you  were  walking  in  the  street, 
and  saw  a  drunken  man  beating  a  woman  or  a  child. 
I  think  you  would  not  stop  to  ask  whether  war  had  been 
declared  or  had  not  been  declared  on  such  a  man  before 
you  attacked  him  and  protected  the  object  of  his  fury," 

"  No  ;  but  I  should  not  kill  him." 

"Yes,  you  might  even  kill  him." 

"  I  don't  know.  If  I  saw  such  a  sight,  I  might  yield 
to  the  immediate  feeling.  I  cannot  tell  how  it  would 
be.  But  in  the  oppression  of  the  Slavs,  there  is  not, 
and  cannot  be,  such  a  powerful  motive." 

"  Perhaps  not  for  you,  but  other  people  think  differ- 
ently," said  Sergyelf  Ivanovitch,  angrily.  "  The  people 
still  keep  the  tradition  of  sympathy  with  brethren  of  the 
orthodox  faith,  who  are  groaning  under  the  yoke  of  the 
'  unspeakable  Turk.'  They  have  heard  of  their  terrible 
sufferings,  and  are  aroused." 

"That  may  be,"  answered  Levin,  in  a  conciliatory 
tone,  "only  I  don't  see  it.  I  myself  am  one  of  the 
people,  and  I  don't  feel  it." 

"  I  can  say  the  same,"  put  in  the  old  prince,  -  "  I  was 


ANNA    KARENINA  383 

living  abroad ;  I  read  the  newspapers,  and  I  learned 
about  the  Bulgarian  atrocities  ;  but  I  never  could  under- 
stand why  all  Russia  took  such  a  sudden  fancy  for  their 
Slavic  brethren.  I  am  sure  I  never  felt  the  slightest 
love  for  them.  I  was  greatly  ashamed.  I  thought  I 
must  be  either  a  monster,  or  that  Carlsbad  had  a  bad 
effect  on  me.  But  since  I  have  come  back,  I  don't  feel 
stirred  at  all ;  and  I  find  that  I  am  not  the  only  one 
who  is  not  so  much  interested  in  the  Slav  brethren  as  in 
Russia.     Here  is  Konstantin." 

"Private  opinions  are  of  no  consequence  —  there  is 
no  meaning  in  private  opinions  —  when  all  Russia,  whe.n 
the  whole  people,  signified  what  they  wished,"  said 
Sergyeif  Ivanovitch. 

"  Yes.  Excuse  me.  I  don't  see  this.  The  people 
don't  know  anything,"  said  the  prince. 

"  But,  papa,  how  about  that  Sunday  in  church .-' "  said 
Dolly,  who  had  been  listening  to  the  conversation.  — 
"  Get  me  a  towel,  please,"  she  said  in  an  aside  to  the 
old  bee-keeper,  who  was  looking  at  the  children  with  a 
friendly  smile.     "  It  can't  be  that  all ..,." 

"  Well !  What  about  that  Sunday  at  church  ?  They 
tell  the  priest  to  read  a  prayer.  He  reads  it.  Nobody 
understands  one  word.  They  snore  just  as  they  do  dur- 
ing the  whole  sermon,"  continued  the  prince.  "  Then 
they  tell  them  that  the  salvation  of  their  souls  is  in 
question.  Then  they  pull  out  their  kopeks,  and  give 
them,  but  why  they  have  not  the  least  idea," 

"  The  people  cannot  know  their  destiny.  They  have 
an  instinctive  feeling,  and  at  times  Hke  these  they  show 
it,"  said  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  looking  at  the  old  bee- 
keeper. 

The  handsome,  tall  old  man,  with  his  black  beard, 
wherein  a  few  gray  hairs  were  beginning  to  show,  and 
with  his  thick,  silvery  hair,  stood  motionless,  holding  a 
cup  of  honey  in  his  hand,  looking  at  the  gentlemen 
with  a  mild,  placid  air,  evidently  not  understanding  a 
word  of  the  conversation,  nor  caring  to  understand. 

He  nodded  his  head  with  deliberation  as  he  heard 
SergyeY  Ivanovitch's  words,  and  said  :  — 


384  ANNA    KARENINA 

"  That 's  certainly  so." 

"Well,  now!  Ask  him  about  it,"  said  Levin.  "He 
does  n't  know.  He  does  n't  think.  —  Have  you  heard 
about  the  war,  Mikhafluitch  }  "  asked  he  of  the  old  man. 
"  You  know  what  was  read  on  Sunday  at  church,  don't 
you  .''  What  do  you  think .-'  Ought  we  to  fight  for  the 
Christians? " 

"  Why  should  we  think .-'  Our  Emperor  Aleksandet 
Nikolayevitch  will  think  for  us,  as  in  everything  else. 
He  knows  what  to  do.  —  Should  you  like  some  more 
bread .-'  shall  I  give  some  to  the  little  lad  ? "  asked  he, 
turning  to  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  and  pointing  to  Grisha, 
who  was  munching  a  crust. 

"  What 's  the  use  of  asking  him  } "  said  Sergyeif  Ivan- 
ovitch.  "  We  have  seen,  and  still  see,  hundreds  and 
hundreds  of  men  abandoning  all  they  possess,  giving 
their  last  penny,  enlisting  and  trooping  from  every 
corner  of  Russia,  all  clearly  and  definitely  expressing 
their  thought  and  purpose.     What  does  that  signify  .-*  " 

"  It  signifies,  in  my  opinion,"  said  Levin,  beginning 
to  get  excited,  "  that  out  of  eighty  millions  of  men,  there 
will  always  be  found  hundreds,  and  even  thousands, 
who  have  lost  their  social  position,  are  restless,  and  are 
ready  to  take  up  the  first  adventure  that  comes  along, 
whether  it  is  to  follow  Pugatchof  or  to  go  to  Khiva  or 
to  fight  in  Serbia." 

"  I  tell  you  they  are  not  adventurers  who  devote  them- 
selves to  this  work,  but  they  are  the  best  representatives 
of  the  nation,"  cried  SergyeY  Ivanuitch,  excitedly,  as 
if  he  were  defending  his  last  position.  "  There  are  the 
contributions  ;  is  n't  that  a  test  of  popular  feeling  ?  " 

"  That  word  '  people  '  is  so  vague,"  said  Levin  ;  "  long- 
haired scribblers,  professors,  and  perhaps  one  in  a  thou- 
sand among  the  peasants  understand  what  it  is  all  about, 
but  the  rest  of  the  eighty  millions  do  as  Mikhailuitch 
here  does.  They  not  only  don't  express  their  will,  but 
they  have  n't  the  slightest  idea  that  they  have  any  will 
to  express.  What  right,  then,  have  we  to  say  that  this 
is  the  will  of  the  people  ? " 


ANNA   KARENINA  385 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Sergyei  Ivanovitch  was  skilled  in  dialectics,  and 
without  replying  he  took  up  another  side  of  the  ques- 
tion. 

"  Yes,  if  you  want  to  get  at  the  mind  of  the  nation  by 
an  arithmetical  process,  of  course  it  will  be  very  hard 
work.  We  have  not  the  proper  gifts,  and  cannot  reckon 
it  that  way.  But  there  are  other  means  of  learning  it 
besides  arithmetic.  It  is  felt  in  the  air,  it  is  felt  in  the 
heart,  not  to  speak  of  those  submarine  currents  which 
flow  through  the  stagnant  ocean  of  the  people  and  which 
are  evident  to  every  unprejudiced  person.  Take  society 
in  a  narrower  sense.  Take  the  intelligent  classes,  and 
see  how  on  this  point  even  the  most  hostile  parties  com- 
bine. There  is  no  longer  a  difference  of  opinions ;  all 
the  organs  of  society  express  the  same  thing.  They 
have  all  become  aware  of  an  elemental  force  which  fills 
the  nation  with  its  own  motive  power." 

"  Yes ;  the  newspapers  all  say  the  same  thing,  that 
is  true,"  said  the  old  prince,  "but  then,  so  do  all  the 
frogs  croak  before  a  storm.    That  does  n't  signify  much." 

"  Whether  frogs  or  not,  —  I  don't  edit  newspapers, 
and  I  don't  set  up  to  defend  them.  I  am  talking  of 
the  unanimity  of  opinion  among  intelligent  people," 
said  Sergyei  Ivanovitch,  turning  to  his  brother. 

Levin  was  about  to  reply,  but  the  old  prince  took  the 
words  from  his  mouth  :  — . 

"  Well,  something  else  may  be  said  in  regard  to  that 
unanimity.  Here 's  my  son-in-law,  Stepan  Arkadyevitch, 
you  know.  He  has  just  been  appointed  member  of  some 
committee,  commission,  or  other,  —  I  don't  know  what, 
—  with  a  salary  of  eight  thousand  a  year,  and  nothing 
to  do.  —  Now,  Dolly,  that's  not  a  secret. — Ask  him  if 
his  office  is  useful ;  he  will  tell  you  that  it  is  indispensa- 
ble. And  he  is  an  upright  man ;  but  you  could  not 
make  him  cease  to  believe  in  his  full  eight  thousand 
salary." 

"  Oh,  yes !  he  told  me  to  tell  Darya  Aleksandrovna 
VOL.  III.  —  25 


386  ANNA   KARENINA 

that  he  had  got  that  place,"  said  Sergyef  Ivanovitch, 
angrily,  considering  that  the  prince's  remark  was  not 
a  propos. 

**  Of  course  the  newspapers  are  unanimous.  That  is 
easily  explained.  War  will  double  their  circulation. 
How  can  they  help  supporting  the  Slavic  question  and 
the  national  instinct .'' " 

"  I  don't  like  many  of  the  papers,  but  you  are  unjust," 
said  SergyeT  Ivanovitch. 

"  I  will  only  add  one  more  suggestion,"  said  the  old 
prince.  "Alphonse  Karr  wrote  a  clever  thing  just 
before  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  when  he  said,  *  You 
say  this  war  is  absolutely  necessary  ?  very  good ;  go  to 
the  front,  then,  and  be  under  the  first  fire,  and  lead  the 
first  onslaught.'  " 

"  Good  editors  would  be  glad  to  do  that,"  said  Katava- 
sof,  with  a  loud  laugh,  and  trying  to  imagine  certain 
editorial  friends  of  his  in  this  chosen  legion. 

"Yes ;  but  when  they  ran  away,"  said  Dolly,  " they  'd 
bother  the  others." 

"  Just  as  soon  as  they  begin  to  run  put  a  miimilleuse 
behind  them,  or  some  Cossacks  with  whips,"  said  the 
prince. 

'*  Well,  that 's  a  joke,  but  not  a  very  good  joke ;  excuse 
me,  prince,"  said  Sergyel  Ivanovitch. 

**  I  don't  think  it  was  a  joke,"  said  Levin ;  "  it  was  ....  " 

But  his  brother  interrupted  him. 

"Every  member  of  society  is  called  upon  to  do  his 
duty,"  said  he,  "  and  thoughtful  men  perform  theirs  by 
giving  expression  to  public  opinion ;  and  the  unanimous 
and  full  expression  of  public  opinion  is  creditable  to  the 
press,  and  at  the  same  time  a  good  symptom.  Twenty 
years  ago  we  should  have  kept  quiet ;  to-day  we  hear 
the  voice  of  the  Russian  people,  which  is  ready  to  rise 
like  one  man,  and  ready  to  sacrifice  itself  for  its  op- 
pressed brethren.  It  is  a  great  step  taken,  —  a  proof 
of  power." 

"Yes,  not  only  to  avenge  their  brethren,  but  to  kill 
the  Turks,"  said  Levin,  timidly.  "  The  people  will 
sacrifice  itself  and  be  ready  to   sacrifice   itself  for  the 


ANNA    KARENINA  387 

salvation  of  their  souls,  but  not  for  murder,"  he  added, 
involuntarily  connecting  this  conversation  with  the 
thoughts  of  the  morning. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  soul?  That,  to  a  naturalist, 
you  must  remember,  is  a  very  puzzling  expression. 
What  is  the  soul?"  demanded  Katavasof,  with  a  smile. 

"  Oh,  you  know." 

"Ton  my  word,^  I  haven't  the  least  idea,"  and  the 
professor  broke  into  a  burst  of  laughter. 

"  Christ  said,  *  I  am  come  not  to  bring  peace,  but  a 
sword,'  "  remarked  Sergyei"  Ivanovitch,  quoting  as  simply 
as  if  it  were  something  comprehensible,  a  passage  from 
the  Gospel  which  had  always  troubled  Levin. 

"That's  just  so,"  repeated  the  old  bee-keeper,  who 
had  been  standing  near  them,  in  response  to  a  chance 
look  directed  to  him. 

"  Come,  batyushka,  you  're  beaten,  you  're  beaten,  — 
wholly  beaten  !  "  cried  Katavasof,  gayly. 

Levin  reddened  with  vexation,  not  because  he  was 
beaten,  but  because  he  had  been  drawn  into  discussion 
again. 

"  No ;  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  dispute  with  them," 
he  thought;  "their  armor  is  impenetrable,  and  I  am 
defenseless." 

He  saw  that  he  could  not  defeat  his  brother  and  Kata- 
vasof, and  it  was  equally  impossible  to  agree  with  them. 
Their  arguments  were  the  fruit  of  that  same  pride  of  the 
intellect  which  had  almost  ruined  him.  He  could  not 
admit  that  a  handful  of  men,  his  brother  among  them, 
had  the  right,  on  the  ground  of  what  was  told  them  by 
a  few  hundred  eloquent  volunteers  who  came  to  the 
capital,  to  claim  that  they  and  the  newspapers  expressed 
the  will  and  sentiment  of  the  people,  especially  when 
this  sentiment  expressed  itself  in  vengeance  and 
butchery. 

He  could  not  agree  with  this  because  he  did  not  dis- 
cover the  expression  of  these  thoughts  among  the  peo- 
ple in  whose  midst  he  lived,  and  he  did  not  find  them  in 
himself —  and  he  could  not  consider  himself  as  anything 
1  Vot yet  Bogu,  literally,  "Here  by  God." 


388  ANNA    KARENINA 

else  than  one  of  the  men  constituting  the  Russian  na- 
tion —  but  principally  because  he  did  not,  any  more  than 
the  rest  of  men,  know  —  nor  could  he  know  —  what  con- 
stituted  the  general  good  ;  but  he  firmly  believed  that  the 
attainment  of  this  general  good  was  brought  about  only 
by  the  strenuous  fulfilment  of  that  law  of  right  which  is 
revealed  to  every  one,  and  therefore  he  could  not  desire 
war,  or  preach  it  as  a  means  of  attaining  any  general 
end  whatever. 

He  and  Mikhaflovitch,  and  the  people  in  general,  ex- 
pressed themselves  in  somewhat  the  same  language  as 
was  used  when  the  early  Russians  invited  the  Variags 
to  come  from  Scandinavia  :  — 

"  Come  and  rule  over  us,  we  gladly  promise  absolute 
submission.  We  are  enduring  all  trials,  all  humilia- 
tions, all  sacrifices,  but  we  do  not  judge  and  we  do  not 
decide." 

And  now,  according  to  SergyeT  Ivanovitch,  the  peo- 
ple were  ready  to  turn  their  backs  on  a  right  which  they 
had  purchased  at  such  a  price ! 

He  wanted  to  say  in  addition  that  if  the  general  opin- 
ion is  an  infallible  judge,  then  why  should  not  the  Revo- 
lution, the  Commune,  be  as  useful  to  the  Slavs  as  law- 
ful means  ? 

But  all  these  were  thoughts  which  could  not  decide 
anything.  The  only  thing  that  he  could  clearly  see  was 
that  at  the  present  moment  the  discussion  was  exasper- 
ating to  Sergyef  Ivanovitch,  and  therefore  it  was  wrong 
to  discuss  it.  So  Levin  held  his  peace,  and  turned  the 
attention  of  his  guests  to  the  clouds  that  were  rolling  up, 
and  he  advised  them  to  hurry  home  if  they  did  not  want 
to  get  wet. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

The  prince  and  Sergyeif  Ivanovitch  seated  themselves 
in  the  cart  and  drove  on  ;  the  rest  of  the  party,  quick- 
ening their  steps,  started  back  on  foot. 

But  the  thunder-storm,  white  on  top,  black  under 


ANNA    KARENINA  389 

neath,  came  up  so  rapidly  that  they  had  to  hurry  so  as 
to  reach  the  house  before  the  rain  was  on  them.  The 
clouds  coming  on  as  the  vanguard,  hung  low,  were  as  black 
as  soot,  and  drove  across  the  sky  with  extraordinary 
rapidity.  They  had  reached  within  two  hundred  feet  of 
the  house,  and  already  the  wind  had  begun  to  rise,  and 
the  downpour  might  be  expected  at  any  second. 

The  children  ran  on  ahead  laughing  and  screaming 
with  delight  and  terror.  Darya  Aleksandrovna,  strug- 
gling with  her  skirts,  which  the  wind  blew  round  her 
legs,  no  longer  walked,  but  ran,  not  letting  the  children 
out  of  her  sight.  The  gentlemen,  holding  on  their  hats 
with  difficulty,  walked  with  long  strides.  They  had  just 
reached  the  porch  when  the  great  drops  began  to  strike 
and  splash  against  the  edge  of  the  iron  gutter.  The 
children,  and  just  behind  them  their  elders,  with  gay 
exclamations  ran  under  the  shelter  of  the  porch. 

"  Where  is  Katerina  Aleksandrovna  ?  "  asked  Levin 
of  Agafya  Mikhailovna,  who  was  coming  out  of  the 
door,  loaded  with  shawls  and  plaids. 

"  We  supposed  she  was  with  you." 

"  And  Mitya  ?  " 

"  He  must  be  in  the  Kolok  woods  with  his  nurse." 

Levin  seized  the  plaids,  and  started  for  Kolok. 

In  the  few  minutes  that  had  elapsed,  the  storm  had 
reached  beyond  the  sun,  and  it  was  as  dark  as  if  there 
was  an  eclipse.  The  wind  blew  obstinately  as  if  insist- 
ing on  its  own  way,  tried  to  stop  Levin,  and,  tearing 
off  the  leaves  and  flowers  from  the  lindens,  and  rudely 
and  strangely  baring  the  white  branches  of  the  birches, 
bent  everything  to  one  side,  —  acacias,  flowers,  bur- 
docks, the  grass,  and  the  tree-tops.  The  girls  working 
in  the  garden  ran  squealing  under  the  shelter  of  the 
servants'  quarters.  The  white  screen  of  the  pouring 
rain  had  already  cut  off  the  distant  forest  and  half  of 
the  adjacent  field,  and  was  rapidly  advancing  on  Kolok. 
The  dampness  of  the  shower  was  felt  in  the  atmosphere 
like  fine  drops. 

Bending  his  head,  and  fighting  vigorously  against  the 
gale,  which  tugged  at  his  shawls,  Levin  was  already  on 


390  ANNA    KARENINA 

his  way  to  Kolok.  He  thought  he  already  saw  white 
forms  behind  a  well-known  oak,  when  suddenly  a  glare 
of  light  seemed  to  burst  from  the  ground  before  him, 
and  the  vault  of  the  sky  above  him  to  fall  with  a  crash. 
When  he  opened  his  dazzled  eyes,  he  looked  through 
the  thick  curtain  formed  by  the  rain,  which  cut  him  off 
from  the  Kolok  woods,  and  saw,  to  his  horror,  that  the 
green  top  of  a  well-known  oak  which  stood  in  the  forest 
had  strangely  changed  its  position.  Even  before  he 
could  ask,  "  Can  the  lightning  have  struck  it  ? "  he  saw 
it  bending  over  more  and  more  rapidly,  and  then  disap- 
pearing behind  the  other  trees,  and  he  heard  the  crash 
the  great  oak  made  as  it  fell,  carrying  with  it  the  neigh- 
boring trees.  The  glare  of  the  lightning,  the  crash  of 
the  thunder,  and  the  sensation  of  chill  running  over  his 
whole  body  blended  for  Levin  in  one  impression  of 
horror. 

"My  God!  my  God!  keep  them  safe,"  he  ex- 
claimed. 

And  though  he  instantly  felt  the  absurdity  of  the 
prayer,  since  the  oak  had  already  fallen,  he  neverthe- 
less said  it  over  and  over,  for  he  knew  that,  absurd  as 
it  was,  he  could  not  do  anything  else  to  help  them. 

He  hastened  toward  the  spot  where  they  generally 
went,  but  he  did  not  find  them.  They  were  in  another 
part  of  the  woods  under  an  old  linden,  and  they  called 
to  him.  Two  figures  dressed  in  dark  clothes  —  they 
usually  wore  white  —  were  bending  over  something 
under  the  trees.  It  was  Kitty  and  the  nurse.  The 
rain  had  stopped,  and  it  was  beginning  to  grow  lighter 
when  Levin  reached  them.  The  bottom  of  the  nurse's 
dress  was  dry,  but  Kitty's  gown  was  wet  through  and 
clung  to  her.  Though  it  was  no  longer  raining,  they 
were  standing  just  as  they  had  been  when  the  shower 
began.  Both  were  leaning  over  the  baby-carriage,  with 
its  green  parasol. 

•*  Alive  ^  safe  ?  God  be  praised  !  "  he  cried,  as,  splash- 
ing through  the  puddles,  he  ran  to  them  with  his  shoes 
full  of  water. 

Kitty's  glowing  face,  all  wet,  was  turned  to  him,  and 


ANNA    KARENINA  391 

she  smiled  timidly  from  under  her  hat,  which  had  lost 
its  shape  in  the  rain. 

"  There  now,  are  n't  you  ashamed  ?  I  can't  understand 
how  you  could  do  such  a  careless  thing,"  he  began,  in 
his  vexation  scolding  his  wife. 

"  Goodness,^  it  was  not  my  fault.  We  were  just  start- 
ing to  go  when  he  began  to  be  restless.  We  had  to 
change  him.  We  were  just ...."  Kitty  said,  trying  to 
defend  herself. 

Mitya  was  safe,  dry,  and  still  soundly  sleeping. 

"  Well !  God  be  thanked  !  I  don't  know  what  I  'm 
saying." 

They  hastily  picked  up  the  wet  diapers,  the  nurse  took 
the  baby,  and  Levin,  ashamed  of  his  vexation,  gave  his 
arm  to  his  wife,  and  led  her  away,  pressing  her  hand 
gently. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

In  the  course  of  all  that  day,  during  the  most  varied 
conversations  in  which  Levin  took  part,  as  it  were,  only 
with  the  external  side  of  his  mind,  and  notwithstanding 
his  disillusion  at  finding  that  the  moral  regeneration  had 
not  taken  place  in  his  nature  after  all,  he  did  not  cease 
to  be  pleasantly  conscious  that  his  heart  was  full. 

After  the  shower,  it  was  too  wet  to  go  out  for  a  walk, 
and,  moreover,  other  threatening  clouds  were  piling  up 
on  the  horizon,  and  here  and  there  reaching  up  high  into 
the  sky,  black,  and  laden  with  thunder.  All  the  house- 
hold spent  the  rest  of  the  day  within  doors. 

Discussions  were  avoided,  and  after  dinner  all  were  in 
the  gayest  frame  of  mind. 

Katavasof  at  first  kept  the  ladies  laughing  by  his 
original  turns  of  wit,  which  always  pleased  people  when 
they  made  his  acquaintance  ;  then  afterward  being  drawn 
out  by  Sergyei"  Ivanovitch,  he  related  his  very  interesting 
observations  on  the  different  characteristics  and  features 
of  male  and  female  flies,  and  their  habits. 

^  Yet  Bogn. 


392  ANNA    KARENINA 

SergyeY  Ivanovitch  also  was  very  gay ;  and  at  tea  he 
explained  the  future  of  the  Eastern  question  so  simply 
and  well  that  all  could  follow  him.  Kitty  alone  did  not 
hear  him.  She  had  been  summoned  to  the  nursery  to 
give  Mitya  his  bath. 

A  few  moments  after  Kitty  had  left  the  room,  Levin 
also  was  called  to  follow  her. 

Leaving  his  tea,  and  feeling  regretful  at  having  an 
interesting  conversation  interrupted,  and  at  the  same 
time  troubled  because  they  had  called  him  to  the  nur- 
sery, a  thing  which  had  hitherto  happened  only  in  cases 
of  emergency,  Levin  followed  his  wife. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  was  greatly  interested  in 
his  brother's  partly  outlined  scheme  of  making  thf? 
newly  enfranchised  world  of  forty  millions  of  Slavs  join 
with  Russia  in  establishing  a  new  epoch  in  history  —  for 
it  was  something  entirely  novel  to  him,  in  spite  of  his 
curiosity  and  anxiety  at  having  been  summoned  to  the 
nursery,  as  soon  as  he  had  left  the  drawing-room  and 
was  once  more  alone,  he  immediately  remembered  his 
thoughts  of  the  morning.  And  all  these  theories  as  to 
the  significance  of  the  Slav  element  in  the  universal  his- 
tory seemed  to  him  so  insignificant  in  comparison  with 
what  was  taking  place  in  his  own  soul,  that  for  a  mo- 
ment he  forgot  all  about  it,  and  returned  to  the  moral 
state  that  had  so  delighted  him  at  the  beginning  of  the 
day. 

This  time  he  did  not  wholly  retrace  the  course  of 
thought  which  had  led  him  to  this  state  of  mind,  nor 
was  it  necessary.  He  was  borne  immediately  back  to 
that  feeling  which  had  guided  him,  which  had  been  con- 
nected with  those  thoughts,  and  he  now  found  the  feel- 
ing stronger  and  more  definite  in  his  soul  than  ever  be- 
fore. Now  there  was  no  longer  what  had  always  marked 
his  previous  imaginary  attempts  at  gaining  spiritual 
calmness,  when  he  had  been  obhged  to  call  a  halt  to  the 
whole  course  of  his  thoughts  in  order  to  find  the  feel- 
ing ;  now,  on  the  contrary,  the  feeling  of  joy  and  calm- 
ness was  more  vivid  than  before,  but  thought  did  not 
overtake  the  feeling.     He  walked  along  the  terrace,  and 


ANNA    KARENINA  393 

saw  two  stars  glowing  in  the  already  darkening  sky,  and 
suddenly  he  remembered  a  course  of  reasoning  :  — 

"Yes,"  said  he  to  himself,  "as  I  looked  at  the  heav- 
ens I  thought  that  the  vault  which  I  gaze  at  is  not  a  lie. 
But  there  was  the  something  that  remained  half  thought 
out  in  my  mind,  —  something  that  I  hid  from  myself. 
Now,  what  was  it .''  There  cannot  be  an  answer.  If 
one  could  think  it  out,  all  things  would  be  explained." 

Just  as  he  entered  the  child's  chamber,  he  remem- 
bered what  it  was  that  he  hid  from  himself.  It  was 
this : — 

"  If  the  chief  proof  of  the  existence  of  God  lies  in 
th^  revelation  of  good,  why  should  this  revelation  be 
limited  to  the  Christian  Church  .-'  How  about  those 
millions  of  Buddhists  and  Mohammedans,  who  are  also 
seeking  for  the  truth  and  doing  right  ? " 

It  seemed  to  him  that  there  must  be  an  answer  to 
this  question,  but  he  could  not  find  and  express  it  before 
entering  the  room. 

Kitty,  with  her  sleeves  rolled  up,  was  bending  over 
the  bath-tub,  in  which  she  was  washing  the  baby.  As 
she  heard  her  husband's  steps,  she  turned  her  face  to 
him,  and  with  a  smile  called  him  to  her.  With  one 
hand  she  was  supporting  the  head  of  the  plump  little 
fellow,  who  was  floating  on  his  back  in  the  water  and 
kicking  with  his  legs  ;  with  the  other  she  was  squeezing 
the  sponge  on  him. 

"  Come  here !  look,  look  !  "  said  she,  as  her  husband 
came  up  to  ,  her.  "  Agafya  Mikhailovna  is  right ;  he 
knows  us." 

The  fact  was  that  Mitya  to-day  for  the  first  time  gave 
indubitable  proof  that  he  knew  his  friends. 

As  soon  as  Levin  went  to  the  bath-tub,  the  experi- 
ment was  tried,  and  it  was  wholly  successful.  A  cook, 
who  was  called  for  the  purpose,  bent  over  the  tub.  The 
baby  frowned  and  shook  his  head.  Kitty  bent  over  him, 
and  he  smiled  radiantly,  and  clung  with  his  little  hands 
to  the  sponge  and  sucked  with  his  lips,  producing  such 
a  strange  and  contented  sound  that  not  only  the  mother 
and  the  nurse,  but  Levin  himself,  were  enchanted 


394  ANNA   KARENINA 

They  took  the  baby  from  the  water,  wiped  him,  and, 
after  he  had  expressed  his  disapprobation  with  a  pierc- 
ing scream,  they  gave  him  to  his  mother. 

"  Well,  I  am  very  glad  to  see  that  you  begin  to  love 
him,"  said  Kitty,  as  she  sat  down  in  a  comfortable  seat, 
with  the  child  at  her  breast.  "  I  am  very  glad.  It 
really  troubled  me  when  you  said  you  had  n't  any  feel- 
ing for  him." 

"  No !  did  I  say  that  I  had  no  feeling  for  him  ?  I 
only  said  that  I  was  disappointed." 

"  How  were  you  disappointed  .-'  " 

"  I  was  n't  disappointed  in  him,  but  in  the  feeling 
that  he  would  arouse.  I  expected  more.  I  expected  .as 
a  surprise  some  new  and  pleasant  feeling ;  and  instead 
of  that,  it  was  pity,  disgust." 

She  listened  to  him  as  she  put  on  her  slender  fingers 
the  rings  which  she  had  taken  off  while  bathing  the 
baby. 

"And  more  of  fear  and  pity  than  of  satisfaction.  I 
never  knew  until  to-day,  after  the  storm,  how  I  loved 
him." 

Kitty  smiled  with  radiant  joy. 

"  Were  you  very  much  afraid  ? "  she  asked.  "  And 
so  was  I.  But  it  seems  more  terrible  to  me  now  when 
the  danger  is  all  past.  I  shall  go  and  look  at  the 
oak  to-morrow.  How  nice  Katavasof  is  !  Well,  the 
whole  day  has  been  so  pleasant.      You  are  so  delightful 

with  your  brother  when  you  want  to  be Well,  go  to 

them.  It  is  always  hot  and  stifling  here  after  the 
bath." 


CHAPTER   XIX 

Levin,  on  leaving  the  nursery  and  finding  himself 
alone,  began  to  follow  out  his  line  of  thought,  in  which 
there  had  been  something  obscure. 

Instead  of  going  back  to  the  drawing-room,  where  he 
heard  the  sound  of  voices,  he  remained  on  the  terrace, 
and,  leaning  over  the  balustrade  of  the  terrace,  he  looked 


ANNA    KARENINA  395 

at  the  sky.  It  had  grown  very  dark,  and  there  was  not 
a  cloud  in  the  south  where  he  was  looking.  The  clouds 
were  all  in  the  opposite  quarter.  From  time  to  time  it 
would  lighten,  and  the  distant  thunder  would  be  heard. 
Levin  listened  to  the  drops  of  rain  falling  rhythmically 
from  the  lindens,  and  looked  at  the  stars  and  then  at  the 
Milky  Way.  Whenever  the  lightning  flashed,  then  not 
only  the  Milky  Way  but  also  the  bright  stars  would  dis- 
appear from  his  vision ;  but  by  the  time  the  thunder 
sounded  they  would  reappear  in  their  places  as  if  a 
careful  hand  had  readjusted  them  in  the  firmament. 

"Well,  now  what  is  it  that  troubles  me."*"  Levin 
asked  himself,  already  beginning  to  feel  that  a  resolu- 
tion of  his  doubts,  though  it  had  not  yet  become  a 
matter  of  knowledge,  was  ready  in  his  soul. 

"  Yes,  there  is  one  evident,  indubitable  manifestation 
of  the  Divinity,  and  that  is  the  laws  of  right  which  are 
made  known  to  the  world  through  Revelation,  and  of 
which  I  am  conscious  as  existing  in  myself,  and  in  the 
recognition  of  them  I  am  in  spite  of  myself,  willingly 
or  unwillingly,  united  with  other  men  into  one  brother- 
hood of  believers,  which  is  called  the  Church. 

"  Yes ;  but  are  Hebrews,  Confucians,  Mohammedans, 
Buddhists,  in  the  same  relation .'' "  he  asked  himself,  re- 
curring to  the  dilemma  which  had  seemed  so  portentous 
to  him.  "Can  these  hundreds  of  millions  of  men  be 
deprived  of  the  greatest  of  blessings,  of  that  which 
alone  gives  a  meaning  to  life  ? " 

He  paused,  but  immediately  recovered  his  train  of 
thought. 

"What  am  I  asking  myself.? 

"  I  am  questioning  the  relation  of  the  various  forms 
of  human  belief  to  Divinity.  I  am  questioning  the  rela- 
tion of  God  to  the  whole  universe,  with  all  its  nebulae. 
But  what  am  I  doing  ?  And  at  the  moment  when 
knowledge,  sure,  though  inaccessible  to  reason,  is  re- 
vealed to  me,  shall  I  still  persist  in  dragging  in 
logic  ? 

"  Do  I  not  know  that  the  stars  do  not  move  ?  "  said  he, 
noticing  the  change  that  had  taken  place  in  the  position 


396  ANNA    KARENINA 

of  the  brilliant  planet  which  he  had  seen  rising  over  the 
birches;  "but,  seeing  the  stars  change  place,  and  not 
being  able  to  imagine  the  revolution  of  the  earth,  then 
I  should  be  right  in  saying  that  they  moved.  Could 
the  astronomers  have  made  any  calculations,  and  gained 
any  knowledge,  if  they  had  taken  into  consideration  the 
varied  and  complicated  motions  of  the  earth  ?  Have 
not  their  marvelous  conclusions  as  to  the  distances,  the 
weight,  the  motions,  and  revolutions  of  the  celestial 
bodies  all  been  based  on  the  apparent  movements  of 
the  stars  around  a  motionless  earth,  —  these  very  move- 
ments which  I  now  witness,  as  millions  of  men  for 
centuries  have  witnessed  them,  and  which  can  always 
be  verified  ?  And  just  as  the  conclusions  of  the  astrono- 
mers would  have  been  inaccurate  and  false  if  they  had 
not  been  based  on  their  observations  of  the  heavens 
such  as  they  appeared  relatively  to  a  single  meridian 
and  a  single  horizon,  so  all  my  conclusions  as  to  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil  would  be  inaccurate  and 
false  if  they  were  not  founded  on  that  comprehension 
of  good  and  evil  which  for  all  men  always  has  been  and 
always  will  be  one  and  the  same,  and  which  Christianity 
has  revealed  to  me  and  which  my  soul  can  always  verify. 
The  relations  of  human  belief  to  God  must,  for  me,  re- 
main unfathomable;  to  search  them  out  belongs  not 
to  me." 

"Haven't  you  gone  in  yet.''"  said  Kitty's  voice,  sud- 
denly. She  was  on  her  way  to  the  drawing-room  by 
the  way  of  the  terrace.  "  There  's  nothing  that  troubles 
you,  is  there  ? "  asked  she,  looking  wistfully  up  into  her 
husband's  face  and  trying  to  study  its  expression  by  the 
starlight.  By  the  light  of  a  flash  of  lightning  on  the 
horizon,  she  saw  that  he  was  calm  and  happy,  and  she 
smiled. 

"  She  understands  me,"  thought  he.  "  She  knows 
what  I  am  thinking.  Shall  I  tell  her,  or  not  ?  Yes,  I 
will  tell  her." 

But  just  as  he  was  about  to  speak,  Kitty  broke  in. 

"  Kostia,"  said  she,  "  do  be  so  kind  and  go  to  the  cor- 
ner room  and  see  how  they  have  arranged  for  Sergyel 


ANNA    KARENINA  397 

Ivanovitch.  I  don't  like  to.  See  if  they  put  in  the  new 
washstand  properly." 

"  Certainly,  I  '11  go,"  answered  Levin,  rising,  and  kiss- 
ing her. 

"  No ;  better  be  silent,"  thought  he,  as  she  went  past ; 
"  this  secret  has  no  importance  save  for  me  alone,  and 
words  could  not  explain  it.  This  new  feeling  has  neither 
changed  me  nor  suddenly  enlightened  me  nor  made  me 
happy,  as  I  imagined  it  would.  It  is  just  like  my  feel- 
ing for  my  son.  There  is  no  element  of  surprise  in  it. 
But  it  is  faith  ....  no,  not  faith ....  I  know  not  what  it  is. 
But  the  feeling  stole  into  my  soul  through  suffering,  and 
there  it  is  firmly  established. 

"  I  shall  continue  to  be  vexed  with  Ivan  the  coach- 
man, and  get  into  useless  discussions,  and  express 
my  thoughts  blunderingly.  I  shall  always  be  blaming 
my  wife  for  what  annoys  me,  and  repenting  at  once.  I 
shall  always  feel  a  certain  barrier  between  the  Holy  of 
Holies  of  my  inmost  soul,  and  the  souls  of  others,  even 
my  wife's.  I  shall  continue  to  pray  without  being  able 
to  explain  to  myself  why.  But  my  whole  life,  every 
moment  of  my  life,  independently  of  whatever  may 
happen  to  me,  will  be,  not  meaningless  as  before,  but 
full  of  the  deep  meaning  which  I  shall  have  the  power 
to  impress  upon  it." 


THE  END 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


«-^ 


klLA 


A     000  132  743     6 


